Chapter 3
Three
Haydyn
Present day
The snow was sticking.
It coated the roofs of the quaint buildings on Castle Street, dusted car hoods, and sprinkled over fences and walls.
Powdery whiteness lightly covered the cobblestones and pavements.
The old-fashioned Victorian-style streetlights had come on, and it felt very much like we were just an hour’s snowfall away from being in a Dickens novel.
Kenna drove away two minutes ago, and I was still staring after her. Yes, I’d been avoiding her, and yes, I should keep avoiding her …
I glanced up at the sky, at the snowfall that looked nowhere close to stopping.
“Did you see the news?”
The male voice brought my gaze down, and I locked eyes with an older male villager. I shook my head. “Not yet.”
He pointed upward. “This came out of nowhere, but they say it’s going to snow from now until tomorrow evening. We’ll be lucky if we can get out our front doors by the time it stops.”
Shit.
“Just getting some more supplies for the wife before we shelter in for Christmas. Thankfully, our daughter and grandkids arrived yesterday, or they’d never have made it up here.”
I nodded at him as I strode toward my car. “Merry Christmas.”
“To you too!” he called as I picked up my pace.
It was bad enough that this was my first Christmas without Michael in ten years and the house felt horribly lonely without him, but now I was about to do something I knew could break me.
Driving toward the caravan park where Kenna stayed, I cursed myself for going to her, even as I cursed myself for allowing her to stay in that damn caravan over the winter.
Fear had kept my mouth shut. Fear of what I’d do if I let her close.
And I had a right to worry about my actions after what happened on Halloween …
Three months earlier
Halloween
I’d asked Kenna to stay and watch a movie or two with me. The thought of sending her home after her crying jag didn’t sit right. Moreover, it didn’t seem like her flat with her cousin Una was much of a home.
It truly was an innocent suggestion. We settled on the couch, snacks on the coffee table, and she’d told me a bit more about her parents and how close she’d been to them.
I could fully empathize. The hardest thing I’d ever done was hold myself together for Michael after my dad died.
All I’d wanted to do was fall apart. But I couldn’t.
Soon Kenna’s spirits seemed lifted. As if merely by talking about her parents and letting it all out, a huge weight had eased from her.
That made me feel good, and my guard lowered.
We chose a comedy, and I loved the sound of Kenna’s laugh.
Anytime something funny happened, we both looked at each other as we chuckled to see if the other found it funny, happy to discover that we laughed at all the same parts and groaned at all the jokes we felt fell flat.
Afterward, reluctant to lose her, I suggested we watch another movie. It was getting late, but I intended to offer for Kenna to sleep in Michael’s bed so she didn’t have to drive home in the dark. Kenna agreed easily to another movie.
We didn’t know what to watch, so we ended up picking a new psychological thriller that sounded good.
Unfortunately, it was an erotic thriller.
A very graphic erotic thriller.
I tried to ignore my reaction to the sex scenes and why my reactions were heightened by the beautiful, kind brunette at my side. But when I snuck a glance at her out of the corner of my eye and saw her breasts heaving with her shallow breaths, desire struck me hard.
Her fingers were curled on her knees, her cheeks rosy pink.
“Kenna,” I half groaned, half whispered as the sexy moans and whimpers of the couple in the movie played in the background.
Kenna’s gorgeous gaze flew to meet mine.
Whatever she saw in my expression made her reach out with a trembling hand.
She placed it on my thigh and slowly moved it up, caressing me.
Blood thickened my cock and it strained to break free of my trousers.
Her hand had almost reached my dick when I grabbed it tightly in mine.
All rational thought had fled south.
I tugged on her wrist, yanking her against me, heat flushing across my skin at the sound of her excited gasp. A noise I swallowed in my kiss as I slid my palm beneath her hair to grip her slender nape. My kiss was voracious, and she met it with equal ferocity.
The taste of her. Fuck, the taste of Kenna Smith was unbelievable. It was right.
Her fingers sank into my hair as her whole body melted into me, and I tugged her over so she straddled my lap.
Months of pent-up sexual tension, and this was the explosion.
My skin burned and my nerve endings sparked and I was desperate to be inside her.
Kenna’s fingers flexed in my hair as she moaned into my mouth.
My arms tightened around her waist, drawing her closer.
Her breasts crushed against me, the kiss changing from passionate to pure sex.
It was suddenly biting and wet, our tongues tangling and licking and learning every inch of each other’s mouths.
It wasn’t enough.
I squeezed her perfect arse and pushed her down on my lap so my hard-on rubbed her directly between the legs, but there was too much fabric between us. She whimpered, rubbing harder, seeking the friction, riding me until our mouths parted in brief increments to catch our breaths.
With a growl of impatience, I tugged her thin sweater off and Kenna raised her arms, our movements hurried and frantic as I divested her of the top and then her lacy white bra. Her small, gorgeous tits bounced with the movement.
“So perfect,” I murmured hoarsely, cupping and squeezing them gently. “So fucking perfect.” I captured her right nipple with my hot mouth and she cried out in pleasure.
Lustful madness took control of me, and I pushed Kenna down onto the sofa.
She watched with a fiery, low-lidded gaze as I whipped off my shirt and then unbuttoned her jeans.
Her eyes lowered to my abs, and the way she licked her lips hungrily made me thankful for the many hours spent at the university gym.
Yanking down her jeans and knickers, I threw them to the floor.
The whole time I devoured the sight of her.
Perfect olive skin. All slender curves and long fucking legs.
Plump lips parted on excited pants. Eyes flared with arousal.
So beautiful. So beautiful I’d lost my mind.
I came down over her, our lips crashing together, her hard nipples brushing my naked chest, her thighs gripping my hips.
I still wore my suit trousers and her kisses turned desperate as she reached for the button and zipper on them.
She pushed them and boxer briefs down and slid her hand inside to grasp and tug my cock out.
“Fuck!” I groaned at the sensation of her tight grip. I was throbbing and hot and hard and I needed either her hand or pussy. Preferably her pussy.
“Jesus.” I thrust into her palm as she pressed my mushroomed head against her clit.
She released me to grip my waist, tilting her hips as I teased her with just the head.
I kissed her hard, feeling her wet against my tip.
Needing her tight heat, I slid my cock to her entrance and began to push inside.
She grasped my buttocks, fingers biting as she moaned, “Haydyn, yes, please, fuck me.”
Something about her saying my name cut through my fog. I froze, staring down at her flushed face and impassioned expression.
Hours ago I’d held her in my arms while she cried, grieving for her parents.
Kenna was vulnerable.
My son’s nanny.
And I was about to fuck her. Bare.
Shit.
Her eyes widened. “Haydyn?”
I scrambled off her, horrified by my selfishness. I yanked up my boxers and trousers and dove to pick up her jeans. “Kenna, we can’t.”
I didn’t get a chance to explain why I’d stopped. Kenna had jumped off the couch, hauled on her knickers and jeans, red-faced and angry. She’d stormed out, ignoring my pleading calls of her name.
My skin burned from the memory of that night as I pulled my SUV into the caravan site.
Driving slowly past the caravans, I stopped at the sight of Kenna’s Audi.
It sat beside a static home. It was at least in the back row, farther from the water and tucked in between two other caravans.
But it looked like no one else was on site, and the snow was sticking here too.
The next time I saw Kenna after that Halloween, I tried to broach the subject of what happened between us, but she said she just wanted to forget about it.
And I was afraid to lose her from our lives, so I didn’t mention it again.
It stung that she’d decided she didn’t want me after all, even though I knew it was for the best, so I’d avoided her.
Shrugging off all the reasons I shouldn’t be here, I concentrated on all the reasons I should. There was no way Kenna should be living in a caravan during a snowstorm and no way she should be alone on her first Christmas without her parents.
Slamming out of the car, I hurried toward the narrow steps and didn’t even make it to the door before it opened. Kenna stood there, still wearing her coat and shoes. A frown marred her pretty brow.
“You followed me?” she huffed.
“Grab your things.”
Her eyes grew adorably round. “Excuse me?”
Impatience rode me. “Grab your things and get in the car. There’s no way in hell I’m letting you stay in this caravan during a snowstorm.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Letting me?”