Chapter 16
Sixteen
X arielle
Being back on Jackson Island was a blessing. After telling me about the conversation he had with his father, I knew Kept needed time to process. There was no better place for him to do that than in the comfort of his own home.
We brought the luggage into the house, ate the gluten-free pizza we picked up on the way home, and got the girls ready for their baths. Once they were down, Kept read them a story while I showered, then we switched duties. He was still in the shower when they dozed off to the book I was reading.
“They’re asleep,” he commented softly from the doorway of their bedroom.
I nodded. “Finally. Their sleep schedule is all messed up. They were kicking it until the midnight hour with Auntie Trinity and Mama Reese.”
“They were.” He agreed with a chuckle. “I’m glad that Reese’s surgery was a success, and I’m glad as hell to be home.”
“Same. I never noticed how depressing and stifling Londynville is until I left it.” I took a beat before speaking again. “You wanna hang out on the deck for a little while?”
“Nah. I wanna lay it down for the night.”
I nodded my understanding. “Cool. Good night.”
I wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him.
“Xari.”
“Yeah?” I glanced up at him.
“I want you in my bed tonight.”
I wasn’t expecting him to say that, so I gasped.
“Every night,” he continued. “You can still keep the room downstairs as your personal space if you need to escape. But I really want your body and your everyday belongings in my bedroom.”
His expression was serious, and so was his tone. We shared the primary bedroom and the king-sized bed at the rented house in Londynville, but that was out of necessity. There were only two bedrooms in that house and only two beds. But here . . .
“Are you serious?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? I’ve been sleeping with your soft body pressed up against mine for the last six nights.”
His hands moved to my ass, and he cupped it.
He lowered his head and placed an open-mouthed kiss on my neck.
My body melted for him. He was right. We’d spent almost a week sleeping next to each other and making love to one another whenever the mood struck, which was often.
Of course he wouldn’t want to sleep alone. I didn’t want to sleep alone.
“M’kay,” I muttered, before moaning at the sensation of him kissing lightly up my jawline.
He broke the kiss, took my hand, and led me into his bedroom. I was surprised when we walked through the space and out the French door that led to a spacious balcony. It overlooked a portion of the pool, and past that, all I could see was the ocean and the horizon.
“Can anybody see us out here?” I questioned, because while I could see other houses, I didn’t see any windows.
“Nah, the way this balcony is situated, it’s hidden from their view. I designed it this way, so if I ever wanted to step out here naked, I could.”
He sat down on the only chair he had out there. I straddled his lap. Taking his face in my hands, I placed a gentle kiss on his full lips.
“You’ve been more quiet than usual, Kept Boudreaux. I know your mind is probably going one thousand miles a minute. Tell me what I can do to help it slow down.”
“This.” He kissed my lips and lightly nipped the bottom one. “And thank you for offering.”
“Anytime.”
He slid his hand under my sleepshirt and discovered my surprise.
“Damn, Xa. Why’re you not wearing any panties?”
I kissed his mouth.
“Because.” I stood up.
He didn’t ask any more questions. He just pulled his shorts down and let his dick spring to life in front of me. I sat back down on his lap, slowly guiding his hardness into me.
“Ooh,” I moaned, fighting to keep my eyes open so I could watch his face morph into a picture of satisfaction. “You’re perfect.”
“Oh yeah?” He grinded up slowly while I grinded down slowly, and the friction we created was paradise.
Over and over, I bounced down on him.
“Damn, this feels good,” I said, placing my hands on his chest.
He cupped my ass and lifted me a little. His dick sank deeper. “Right there, baby.”
“You’re so deep.”
“I always wanna be as deep as possible in you.”
“Yes, I love this.” I pressed myself into him, rolling my hips.
“You feel so fucking good.” He groaned before bringing his mouth to mine and kissing me deeply. “You’re so wet.”
“I’m about to cum,” I warned him.
“Give it to me, pretty baby.”
My orgasm was hard and fierce.
“Ahhhhhhhhh.”
I rode the waves of ecstasy while chanting, “Yes!” over and over again.
His dick jumped inside of me, and I felt his semen saturate my insides in spurts.
“I love having sex with you.”
“Same,” I confessed before burying my face in his sweaty chest.
“I’m gonna have to talk to Vivienne,” he mumbled into the top of my hair as I adjusted myself on his semi-deflated penis. “She might not be who I’ve always thought she was.”
I couldn’t help thinking about the revelation Aunt Bobbie made about my grandmother suffering from undiagnosed depression all those years.
I couldn’t help thinking about how present she’d been with me during our last few encounters.
I wouldn’t say that knowing she was depressed while I was growing up would’ve made me more empathetic or sympathetic.
I was a kid, and I wouldn’t have understood the scope of her depression.
What I could say is that I wished the grandmother I had growing up was more like the grandmother I seemed to be getting now.
“True.”
He pulled my body closer to his. “I’m gonna have to talk to Vivienne.”
Life with Kept fell into a joy-inducing routine as August turned into September, and September turned into October. Before I knew it, I’d been living on Jackson Island for six months.
“Let’s say the memory verse,” I told my three favorite people as we sat at the table eating a dinner of baked chicken, Ceasar salad, and oven-roasted potatoes.
“First Thessalonians 5:16-18,” Kept began, and the rest of us joined in.
“ Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks. For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. First Thessalonians 5:16-18.”
I wanted to giggle at how cute the girls looked doing the movements I’d taught them to help them remember the scripture.
It was a mnemonic device that helped develop kinesthetic memory by linking physical actions to information, making it easier to recall.
Instead of giggling, I just smiled like a proud teacher.
“What’s going on at the house?” Kept wondered.
When he first told me that he wanted me to decorate the house out in Port Jackson, I’d been excited and honestly scared, but he helped me break it down into small chunks so that I didn’t get overwhelmed.
He was so kind and patient with me. His encouraging words, gentle demeanor, easy smile, and pure heart had me eating out of the palm of his hand.
I had always been the type of woman who would eat Lake Londynville with a fork before I would fight over a man.
But the way Kept had me gone, I’d go toe to toe with a tiger if she thought she could take my man from me.
But luckily, Kept wasn’t that type of guy.
His concentration and his attention stayed on the girls and me.
“Second coat of exterior paint went on today. It looks so good, Kept.” I knew my eyes were shining. It felt good to watch the decisions I made about the house come to fruition. “I’m glad I went with Harbor Horizon. It’s the perfect shade of blue.”
“It’s gonna look good,” he assured me.
“How are things going over at Destin Sky?” It was the project he was currently working on.
“The board of trustees came back with the decision that twenty different elevations was way too many. They agreed with my assessment that there wouldn’t be much cohesion to the subdivision if we did that.”
“Good, because I always thought that was d-u-m-b.”
He chuckled. “Ambitious for sure. Anyway, they want to go with six elevations. And they approved the six mock-ups today.”
“Yes!” I clapped my hands and danced around in my seat a little, and Destin mimicked me while popping a crouton from the salad into her mouth.
Both Kept and I snickered.
“Eat some chicken, Des,” he told her.
“Can we go to the beach after dinner, Daddy?” Dakota asked, taking a bite of her chicken leg.
His eyes shot over to mine. It always made me feel like even more a part of the family when he solicited my opinion about things.
“Pretty soon it will be too cold to walk on the beach at night. I definitely think we should enjoy it while we can,” I said.
“Yeah. And time goes back in a few weeks, so it’ll be getting dark much earlier. Eat up, and we can take our dessert to the beach.”
The beach was quiet and almost empty. I sat on a beach chair and took a sip of ice-cold water from my travel cup.
Kept grabbed the kite he’d brought with him and gathered the girls. He gave them some instructions that I couldn’t hear over the sound of the surf, and they took off down the beach. I watched as he helped Destin keep the string from getting tangled as she took off across the sand.
“That girl is gonna run track one day,” I muttered while I watched the three of them with the kite.
The girls were in T-shirts and shorts. Kept was still wearing the white button-up he wore to work with the sleeves rolled up, though he’d traded his slacks for board shorts that hung low on his slim waist.
Dakota trailed behind them until Kept scooped up Destin, reversed direction, and turned and scooped up Dakota too. The three of them laughed heartily as Kept spun them around and the kite danced deliriously in the evening sky.
“Look at him with them.” I thought aloud, a smile so big on my face that my cheeks started to ache. I’m in love with this man .