Chapter 45
FORTY-FIVE
KANE
“It’s fucking weird,” Cash’s voice drifts through the car speakers. I’m parked outside Jessica’s college, waiting for her class to end so I can finally take her out for the afternoon.
“The senator is going out of his mind. Apparently, she left a note. Told him she didn’t want to be found.”
“Sounds shady as hell,” I mutter, staring at the front doors like I could will them to burst open and reveal my girl.
Cash continues. “It has the Society written all over it. What if our father had something to do with it?”
It’s a possibility. He values his reputation and personal desires above everything else. I had already threatened him, and Beverly was starting to become a problem.
My father wants the senator all to himself, so I wouldn’t put it past him to make her disappear if she threatened him or got in the way of his affair.
Maybe he hoped to be a shoulder to cry on and a hole to fill for her husband?
God only fucking knows. Either way, I don’t care as long as they stay out of my way.
“Where are you?” Cash asks.
“Waiting to pick up my girl.”
“Is her brother still nice to you? Want me to beat him up?” He chuckles at his own bad humor.
“Chris isn’t pissing on me so there’s that. Baby steps.”
Cash bursts out laughing. “At least it’s a story you can tell to the grandkids.”
The doors finally open, and students stream through. I exit the car, shutting the door. “Look, I need to go. Let me know if you hear anything else.”
“Will do.”
As I hang up, I hear him shout, “Wear protection.”
Suppressing an eye roll behind my sunglasses, I pocket my phone and lean against the car door.
The sun is beating down on me, but I barely notice the heat, and the moment she appears, my heart races faster.
Jessica steals my breath every damn time I see her.
I doubt there will be a day when I don’t get weak in the knees at seeing her smile.
I slide off my sunglasses. “Little thief.”
She approaches me with a soft smile that does weird shit to me, books pressed against her chest, and I drag my eyes down her body.
She looks really hot in denim shorts, a navy tank top, and white tennis shoes.
I love that her style is always relaxed and comfortable, unlike the women back in the Heights who dress as if they’re ready to walk the runway at any moment.
I open the door. “Want to go for a ride?”
Her sister giggles, whispering something to her. Rain scoffs and calls me a puppy. Then she drags Jessica’s sister away with her.
“Call me later,” Jessica shouts to Rain, who waves her off, her bangles jingling on her wrist. When Jessica looks at me again, my lips lift into a smile.
“Did you miss me, little thief?”
She shakes her head and walks away with a teasing sway of her hips.
“Where do you think you’re going?” I shout. “Get back here.”
She turns and walks backward. “You’ll have to catch me first, but let me warn you, this little rabbit is fast.”
A grin spreads across my lips. “And this fox is cunning.”
For a moment, her mouth curves with trouble. Then she starts running, looking back over her shoulder. I’m not one to back down from a challenge, so I chase after her.
Students stop to stare at us as we sprint past. Jessica slips between a set of benches, squealing with laughter. I leap over them easily, knocking a soda can to the ground.
Seconds later, I catch her around the waist as her books scatter on the ground, one landing page up.
I carry her to the car despite her loud protests. Students pass by, staring at us, and I ask, “What’s up?”
Jessica struggles in my grip. Her tennis shoes swing in the air as she laughs.
With an arm still wrapped around her waist, I open the passenger door. It’s harder than it looks when the girl in my arms is wiggling like a worm. I struggle to get her inside, strap her in, and then close the door.
“What about my books?” she asks when I finally slide in behind the wheel.
“I’ll buy you new ones.”
“You’re impossible, Kane Ravencourt,” she comments, turning on the radio. Her words unlock something inside me. That part that’s sinking deeper every time I see her. I never stood a chance. It was naive to think otherwise.
We peel out of the parking lot, and as we merge onto the main road, I say, “No, I’m in love.”
The window is down, and the breeze whips Jessica’s long hair around her face. She spots me looking and takes my hand, eyeing me while kissing my knuckles. I have to admit, I never imagined I’d fall this hard. She’s from the Falls, she’s stubborn, and she doesn’t take any of my crap.
But when she surprised me with her gun in the office, I knew two things right away.
I had been outsmarted in my own game, and I needed to see her again.
“I’m so damn in love with you,” I say.
She smiles. “Keep your eyes on the road. My brother will kill you if we crash.”
“I’m serious.” I reach for her hand and nip her wrist, watching the road. “You’re mine now.”
“And if I run?”
Another sharp nip. “You already know the answer.”
Her smile makes it impossible to look away, but she’s right. If I don’t watch the road, we’ll crash.
Twenty minutes later, I park at the lake and turn off the engine. The sun glitters on the glassy surface as I unclip my seatbelt and hers.
I pull her onto my lap, tangling my hands in her hair. We kiss, clawing at each other’s clothing while music plays softly from the speakers.
I’d never admit this to her, but as we kiss beside the lake, the only place I’ve ever felt truly happy and safe, I thank my lucky stars that she broke into my house that day. That decision brought her to me. It was the moment everything finally aligned—time, space and the stars.
Jessica breaks the kiss long enough to pull off her top, then crushes her lips against mine. She kisses me so deeply that her tongue brushes the back of my mouth. An answering groan rumbles in my chest.
I pull her against me, wishing we could make this moment last forever. One hand buries itself in her soft hair while the other wraps around her waist and holds her close.
Jessica breaks the kiss to reach for my belt. “I want you inside me.”
We undress as best as we can in the small space, which is nearly impossible, but at least it makes us laugh.
But then she’s back on my lap, sliding her slick pussy lips back and forth along my shaft.
The way she looks at me now, eyes heavy with desire and lips swollen from our kissing, makes my fingers twitch on her bare waist. I feel so much when I’m with her and it’s hard to explain or make sense of, but when she lowers herself down and takes me inside her tight cunt, my chest burns with it.
My heart strains toward her, beating so hard it bruises itself against my ribs. She’s beautiful like this. Taking my cock. Swallowing my length. I’m in awe as I crush my lips to hers again, desperate to taste her.
The sun streams in through the window and gleams off the thin sheen of sweat on her smooth skin. I palm her breast, then take her nipple into my mouth. She tugs on my hair, and I tip my chin up. Our mouths meet again, tongues crashing together like waves.
“Little thief,” I whisper, kneading her breasts, gripping her ribs, trailing my touch over every inch of glistening skin.
She digs her nails into my shoulders and whispers, “I love you,” against my mouth.
Grabbing her ass and pulling her harder onto me, I nip at her with a smile and say, “Love doesn’t even begin to explain what I feel for you.”
Our bodies crash together again and again and again. She gazes at my mouth, my eyes, then my mouth again. “It doesn’t?” she asks.
I shake my head, my lips spreading into a smile. “Not even close, baby. Love is a lazy word—”
She kisses me. Deep and slow. “Lazy?”
I can’t respond, so I nod, grunting when her pussy ripples around me. “I don’t just want you happy, little thief. I want to be the reason behind your smiles.”
“No?” She’s smiling now, rolling her hips in time with my throbbing heartbeat. The sun glints through the trees.
A desperate groan escapes me, and my grip on her hips turns punishing. I shake my head again, my balls drawing up tight, ready to unload, as I speak. “I want the world to rearrange itself so it can never hurt you again.”
“Same,” she breathes against my lips, and I sense there’s something unspoken behind her words. Something that sounds almost broken beneath the softness.
She continues, tugging the hair at my nape. “And if the world doesn’t rearrange itself, then I’ll rearrange it for you, Mr. Ravencourt.”
A teasing smile pulls at my lips. “Mr. Ravencourt, huh?”
She smiles back, biting her lip.
“Well, Miss Holt, why don’t you show me why I should make you Mrs. Ravencourt one day?”
She sits back. “Who says I’m taking your surname?”
“I do.” I grab the back of her neck and pull her back to my mouth. “Stop arguing and fuck me, little thief.”
“Are you bossing me around, Kane?” she teases, even as she picks up the pace, bouncing on my lap.
I drag her over my cock. Harder, faster, racing for the finish line.
My abs clench, and my engorged cock fills with even more blood, growing painfully hard as Jessica’s blonde hair falls wild around her face.
Her breasts bounce in front of me, and God help me, it’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.
It’s a good thing I fucked my hand earlier today before picking her up, or I’d be screwed now.
Breathless, we kiss again. I’m so close to coming, I know I can’t hold off much longer. She tastes so fucking good, and she feels even better.
Her pussy clamps down like a vice, and I fuck up into her, coming so hard I damn near suffer a stroke. A moan escapes her before she breaks away, grinding down on my hammering cock. I can feel my cum dripping out of her, and it turns me feral.
We clutch each other as we fall over the edge, panting and struggling to calm our racing heartbeats.
I’ve had a lot of sex in my life, but every time I fuck Jessica, I’m left speechless in the aftermath. My cock is still a hard, slick mess when she climbs off and collapses into the passenger seat. I stroke it once, shuddering because I’m that sensitive now.
Jessica smiles at me. “I hope you don’t mind that I’m dripping on the leather.”
I never liked a mess in my car before Jessica.
It was never something I thought was hot.
Probably because I didn’t care about anyone else’s pleasure.
Now, as I reach down to stroke her too-sensitive, swollen clit and slide a finger inside her stretched hole, I find myself wishing she’d rub her pussy all over the leather.
I suck my finger clean, watching her cheeks turn pink.
The afternoon stretches on. We take a quick dip in the lake, fuck again on the grass, then dress before settling back into the car.
We watch as the sun slowly sets behind the trees, casting a golden glow through the windshield.
It’s the most peaceful I’ve felt in a long time.
I don’t get many soft moments like these.
Jessica is teaching me to spell my name in sign language when her phone starts ringing.
She grabs it from the center console and goes still. “It’s the hospice.”
“Answer it.”
She taps the screen and presses the phone to her ear while I twirl a strand of her hair around my finger.
For a moment, Jessica locks her gaze on mine, but then she swallows, and her eyes fill with tears.
Fearful and sad. She rubs the back of her neck, listening and nodding even though the nurse on the other end can’t see her response. “How long?”
I hate the world the most when it hurts my girl. When it strips her of her smile, like she’s undeserving of happiness. When it makes her chin tremble, and when her tears finally spill over.
When she wipes them away and says in a quiet, broken voice, “I’m on my way.”
That’s when I hate the world the most, because I feel helpless.
She hangs up, sniffling and pressing the heels of her palms to her eyes. I try to get her attention by stroking her cheek, but she shies away, shaking her head.
When she finally lowers her hands and looks at me, I reach out and gently wipe away a tear with my thumb. More tears fall, silently sliding down her cheeks.
“Is it time?” I ask, already knowing the answer. This is the call she’s dreaded for so long.
A sob escapes her. She presses the back of her hand over her mouth and the other over her belly. The pain is physical, an ache so deep, it turns every breath into something barbed.
“Want me to take you, baby?”
Her voice trembles as much as her chin as she whispers, “Yes.”
I gently touch her face and lean in to kiss her temple. “I’m sorry, baby.”
“Will you stay with me?”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
She breaks in my arms, and I press my mouth to her hair and make a promise to be the reason for all her smiles from now on. She will never cry again. So help me fucking God, I’ll make sure of it.