Breathe

Chapter Fourteen He Was Gone

Chace was outside the Station putting the crate with Malachi’s books in the back of the Yukon when his phone went.

He slid the crate in, straightened out of the truck and grabbed his phone.

The display said, “Faye Calling”.

He hit the button and put it to his ear.

“Baby.”

“He moved his fingers and toes!” she screeched in his ear.

Chace dropped his head and smiled at his boots.

That morning, he’d gone for a run, come home, dragged his girl out of bed and into the shower then he’d taken her to La-La Land. They got breakfast while Faye filled Sunny and Shambles in on all things Malachi. He left her on the sidewalk outside La-La Land with a kiss. He was going to his truck and drive to the Station. She was walking the two blocks to her place to change then go to the store to get Malachi treats and last, to the hospital.

He’d separated from her a little over two hours ago. After a briefing from the boys that coincided with the two he had from Deck the day before, he’d asked the interns to modify their search to include missing siblings. Then he’d taken care of some business and now he was on his way to the hospital to check in and get Malachi his books.

He was doing this because the kid had nothing. Those books, the way he had them organized, meant something.

So Chace was going to take them to him.

“They said he ate all his breakfast even though they had to help him and he’s been awake all morning,” she told him. “He hasn’t spoken yet but when I walked in he smiled at me.”

She said this like her favorite movie star walked off the red carpet, picked her up in his arms, carried her to his limousine and drove off into the sunset with her.

“Great, honey,” Chace muttered.

“They’re moving him to a normal room now. But they say they’re only keeping him another day,” she stated.

“Karena is meeting with your parents as we speak, Faye.”

“I know, Mom called and said that’s why they’re not here. Is that going to go okay?”

“Yes.”

“Sure?” she pressed.

“Yeah, baby, I –”

He stopped speaking because he felt a nasty prickle on the back of his neck. There was a presence with him. Not a good one.

His head came up and he saw his father walking his way.

No.

Shit. Fuck.

No.

“Chace?” Faye called as Chace stared at his father who was staring at him.

He turned, lifted a hand and slammed the back to his truck, assuring her, “It’ll go fine.”

“Is everything okay?”

She read him instantly even on the phone. He wondered, distractedly, if it was that obvious or if that was how far he’d let her in and he decided it was both.

“Yeah,” he lied, shifting around the side of his SUV. “I’m comin’ to you now. Bringing his books.”

“I don’t think he can hold them yet.”

“Maybe not but he’ll want ‘em.”

She was silent a second then he got a quiet, sweet, “Yeah.”

“Chace,” he heard his father’s terse voice call as he yanked open his door.

“Gotta go,” Chace muttered into the phone.

“Oh, right. Okay, see you soon,” Faye said in his ear.

“Chace!” his father clipped.

“Who’s that?” Faye asked.

“No one. Gotta go, honey,” he whispered, angling up into the truck. “See you soon.”

“Soon,” she whispered back. It was hesitant. She knew he was lying since someone was calling his name. It sucked doing it but he disconnected quickly as he tried to pull the door closed.

This didn’t work because Trane Keaton was standing in his door hand on it, firm and strong, holding it open.

Chace’s eyes went to his father.

In the many jokes life had to play on him, it saw fit to make him look like his father. Same height. Same build. Same hair. Same eyes. There was barely any of his mother in him, even though she was blonde and blue-eyed. He got what he got from his father. He’d heard it from his father’s cronies since he could remember.

Spitting image, Trane.

So Chace knew in thirty years, he’d look like his father.

Straight, lean, the strong features and good looks he’d been fortunate to be endowed with hardly faded. He was the kind of man whose looks enhanced with age, then, as that advanced, grew interesting, still retaining the handsome, the strong, the vital.

If Trane Keaton was another man, Chace would look forward to this and appreciate his father gave him good genes.

Instead, he dreaded a lifetime of looking in the mirror and remembering his father.

“You’re not returning my calls,” Trane accused, his voice hard, his face angry. He was pissed he had to make the trek from Aspen. Pissed his son didn’t do his bidding. Pissed to see Chace in jeans, a shirt, sweater, coat and boots with a badge on his belt folding into a Yukon when he should be wearing a five thousand dollar suit folding into a BMW.

“No, I’m not,” Chace confirmed then ordered in a cold voice, “Step back.”

“I need to speak to you privately and immediately.”

“You aren’t gettin’ this, Dad, but that is not gonna happen.”

“You aren’t getting this but that is not going to happen.”

Jesus, he was thirty-five and the man was correcting his fucking English.

“Step back,” Chace growled.

“You live with rednecks, Chace, but you don’t have to sound like them,” Trane returned, voice superior and fuck, but Chace hated that and Trane talked like that all the time.

“Got somethin’ to do, step back.”

“Personally, I blame Jacob Decker. I should have put a stop to you spending time with him when you both were at school. Your mother wouldn’t hear of it. Now I hear he’s back.”

Chace’s body went solid.

He was making a point and not the usual one.

Deck hated Chace’s Dad. Trane Keaton returned the favor.

Deck won a full scholarship to the private school Chace attended but he didn’t come from money. His father was an electrician. A skilled trade but not acceptable in the life of the Aspen Keatons. It didn’t matter that Deck had an IQ of one fifty, a certified fucking genius. He was not good enough for Chace. When Deck didn’t go on to cure cancer or help the government create space age weaponry but used his superior reasoning and higher intellect to do shit that was a little fucking scary, Trane felt this was proof positive he’d been right all along.

But this wasn’t the point Trane was making.

He was telling Chace they were keeping an eye on him.

Not a surprise but an annoyance. Deck could definitely take care of himself. When, in the flash of an eye, you could calculate your height, weight, muscle mass, the poundage behind your swing, aim and connect knowing exactly what kind of damage you’d inflict to wherever you connected, you could seriously fuck someone up. This wasn’t theoretical. When they were in high school and college together, Chace had seen it firsthand. Jacob Decker never got bested, not only because he was freaking tall and seriously strong but because he was fucking smart.

But if Trane and his band of assholes got impatient, they could aim at anyone to make their point to Chace.

Deck was in that firing line.

He made a mental note to phone Deck on the way to the hospital and repeated, “Step back.”

Trane’s eyes locked to his son.

“And, if you see Faye Goodknight any longer, your mother will want to meet her.”

Trane stepped back then. This was because Chace angled out of the car and he had no choice.

But Trane didn’t retreat, just gave him room so Chace, unfortunately, ended up nose to nose with him.

“You don’t breathe her air,” he whispered.

“You’ll never learn it’s not advantageous to wear your heart on your sleeve,” Trane replied, sounding put out that Chace had not learned one of the many useless lessons he’d tried to drill into him when he was a kid.

“Wore it for Ma. Anyone who wants to get at me knows I’m that kinda man. Got nothin’ left to hide. The thing you don’t get is, that kinda man is the kinda man a real man wants to be so there’s nothin’ to hide.”

“Foolish?” Trane’s voice was snide.

“Protective.” Chace’s was firm.

“If you give it all away, Chace, you’re not protecting yourself.”

“It isn’t me I’m gonna protect.”

“Therein lies your faulty strategy.”

“No, see, the kind of man you are expends his energy to save his own ass. The kind of man I am doesn’t do shit to have to worry about that and instead, he works his ass off to keep those worth his efforts safe. So the message I’m sending is, I give a shit about someone, you do not fuck with them or you fuck with me.”

“And is Faye Goodknight worth those efforts?”

Chace didn’t reply.

Trane kept his eyes locked to his son’s for a while then he muttered, “At least she has a Master’s Degree.”

They’d looked into Faye.

This wasn’t entirely unexpected. It was sooner than he would have guessed. It was also annoying.

“Faye doesn’t exist for you and she’ll exist for Ma when I decide she does,” Chace told him.

“Then I’m sorry to disappoint you further, Chace, since I shared with your mother over breakfast this morning that you’re seeing someone. I thought it wise, since I learned you’d had dinner with her parents at Rosalinda’s last night.”

Chace felt a muscle in his cheek jump.

“Things are progressing swiftly,” Trane noted quietly.

Chace held his gaze and kept his jaw clenched.

“Valerie will give it time. She won’t want to pressure you. My guess, you have about fifteen minutes before you get her call to ask you and Faye to dinner.”

Fuck.

Fuck.

“She’s very excited,” Trane continued then his lips twitched and the piece of shit had the balls to finish, “She never much liked Misty.”

Chace was done. “You gonna move back or am I gonna have to drive over you?”

“We haven’t had our talk.”

“A talk we’re not gonna have. Two seconds. Move away or I roll over you.”

Trane held his eyes.

Then his changed slightly and he whispered, “You know I didn’t like that happening to you. You also have to know I didn’t want you to see what you saw.”

“It happened. I saw it. All your money, you can’t undo it.”

“You need to look after the Walkers,” Trane advised quietly.

“They’re lookin’ after themselves. Ty is gettin’ me your tapes. I’ll text you when you can send a lackey to pick them up.”

It was barely there but Chace was close enough to see the relief flash through his father’s features.

Then he said, “Newcomb.”

“By the book.”

“Chace –”

Chace leaned into him so their noses were almost touching.

“By the book, Dad. Call off your goon squad. This shit is not gonna go away unless you pull your fingers out, pay attention and stop makin’ your problems everyone else’s.”

“They’re getting impatient,” Trane whispered.

“That hasn’t escaped my notice, seein’ as a man’s dead.”

Trane opened his mouth to speak but when he did, Chace’s gut roiled in a sick way because he had to give the bastard something.

“Don’t,” he whispered and the way that word came out, Trane shut his mouth. “For Ma, I’ll give you this warning. You say shit right now, I will walk right into that building and report it. So don’t. Don’t give indication you have knowledge about a murder and a break-in. Help me help Ma and keep your fuckin’ mouth shut.”

Trane held his eyes for long moments but he didn’t speak.

Chace was done.

“Ma calls, I take Faye to her, you are not there,” he told his father.

“She won’t like that,” Trane replied quietly.

“Make some excuse and make it a good one. That won’t be a problem. You’re a practiced hand at that.”

Trane shook his head. “She wants us to be a family, Chace, and if this relationship with Faye Goodknight progresses she’ll want that even more.”

“Then get creative because she’ll get that from me, from Faye but you will not be involved.”

“Regardless of the outside situation, I agree with your mother. You’re my son. If you marry this woman –”

Chace cut him off to growl, “She’s not ‘this woman’. She’s Faye.”

Trane nodded, his eyes flashing, Chace’s words giving it away but he let it alone and carried on, “You marry Faye, you have children, those will be my grandchildren.”

“You’ll have not one thing to do with them either.”

A flinch.

Jesus.

The asshole flinched.

“Chace,” Trane said softly before Chace could process the flinch, “I made a mistake. Men make mistakes.”

“My dead wife shoved shit up your ass in order to blackmail you so she could maneuver her body into my bed,” Chace clipped, Trane flinched again and Chace went on crudely, going in for the kill. “I get a man might like ass play. Your kind of play, I don’t get. You’re correct. I’m your son. Means you’re my father and I should never have seen my father doin’ that shit. It’s entirely fucked up in a way so jacked it can’t be described that we’re even having this conversation. Then you got nailed after you got off, protected your ass and set mine swinging. That is not a father. Takin’ us back to earlier, Dad, a good man, a real man, he fucks up, he lets his ass swing so his son’s doesn’t. You not only didn’t protect me, you pulled me right into your shit. So, breakin’ that down, you’re my father but you also are not. That means, when I put a ring and Faye’s finger and yeah, Dad, I said when, you will not be her father-in-law and you sure as fuck will not be a Granddad to our kids. Please, God, do one fuckin’ thing for me in my life as your son. Give me that. Give my woman that. And give my kids that.”

Done, he turned, angled up into his truck and slammed the door.

Without looking at his father, he shoved the key in the ignition, turned it, put it in gear and threw an arm around the passenger seat, looking over his shoulder to back out.

He didn’t scan to see where his father was when he pulled out of the Station parking lot.

He did, five minutes later, pull out his phone to take his mother’s call.

She was in a state but luckily a good one. So excited she was babbling.

“I’ll get Donatta to cook! All your favorites! Oh Chace, darling, I’m so pleased you’re finally healing after Misty. This is excellent news and I cannot wait to meet her. I’m just certain she’ll be fabulous.”

What she both did and didn’t mean was, after Misty, anyone would be fabulous. She didn’t mean it nasty. It was nonetheless true.

When she actually met Faye, she’d be beside herself and undoubtedly the next day would go shopping. For what, it was a tossup but Chace guessed baby shit first, wedding shit second and expensive presents for Faye that would convince her she had Keaton Love third. She’d hide the baby shit and wedding shit and she’d be in Carnal the day after to lay the expensive shit at Faye’s feet.

Fuck.

As he’d done his whole life, he gave in because he didn’t have it in him to burst her bubble. He did manage to delay this dinner for three weeks. They needed time to settle Malachi. He needed time to prepare Faye for the dinner. Last, he needed time to prepare for it himself.

She was disappointed at the delay but she was eventually getting what she wanted so she hid it, just not well.

Chace disconnected with her, connected with Deck, gave him the head’s up and then he pulled into the hospital parking lot. He grabbed the books, headed in, got Malachi’s new room number and went to his room.

He stopped just at the door when he saw what was happening inside.

Malachi’s color was definitely better. He was wearing the pajamas Sondra had bought him. He was awake, alert, his hair cleaned, the bruising on his face fading and he was smiling at Faye who was sitting in a chair beside his bed and had her hands up in front of her.

“Are you this old?” she asked, moving her fingers around, flashing numbers at him that Chace couldn’t entirely see because he could only see her left hand but that hand opened wide and fisted three times. In other words, he counted fifteen on just one hand.

Still smiling, Malachi shook his head.

“Okay, how about this old?” Faye went on.

More flashing of hands. More of Malachi smiling and shaking his head.

Her voice got softer, sweeter and she asked, “How about this old?”

Malachi’s eyes dropped to her hands, they shifted to her face and, the smile still in place, he nodded.

“Nine,” she whispered then, “I have a nephew who’s going to be nine this week. His name is Jarot.” She leaned in and shared conspiratorially, “But when you meet him, you can’t tease him and call him carrot. He doesn’t like that.”

Malachi’s smile got bigger but it fled his face when his eyes darted to the door and he saw Chace.

Faye twisted in her chair and she aimed a smile at him.

He smiled at her then looked at Malachi. “You’re good, buddy. I’m just here to bring your books.”

Malachi’s eyes dropped to the crate Chace was carrying and stayed there as Chace rounded his bed, giving it plenty of room as he went to the windowsill.

“I’ll set them up here and you can tell Faye where you want them after I’m gone,” Chace muttered.

He moved to the deep windowsill, set the crate down and carefully arranged the books as they’d been arranged in the box, keeping them in order and placing them as Malachi had had them in the shed.

When he turned back to the bed, he stayed at the window and saw Malachi’s eyes on the books, going up and down, counting, reading, assessing they were all there. Chace also saw, on the hospital table positioned over his bed, the book Faye had been reading him last night as well as a row of plastic wrapped Snickers bars that had been opened, two empty wrappers showing he’d dug in.

“I’m gonna steal Faye a second, talk with her and then I gotta go back to work,” Chace told Malachi and the kid’s eyes shot to him. “You need me to pick anything up when I come back after work?”

Malachi stared at him then shifted his eyes to Faye.

“Malachi isn’t up to talking yet, honey,” Faye said quietly and Chace looked to her. “You have to give him yes or no questions,” she advised.

When Chace looked back to Malachi he saw a hint of fear in his face and tenseness in his body. This said loud and clear he wasn’t up to communicating with Chace at all.

When Faye spoke again, Chace would know she’d read this as well.

“Chace is staying over there, sweetheart,” she said gently. “He would never hurt you. He was the one who sent his friend to find you so we could get you to the hospital, make you better then take care of you. But we both get things are a little scary now. Still, he’s willing to do a favor for you so maybe you could help him out by letting him know what you want like you do with me. Just nod your head but to Chace. Okay?”

Malachi held her eyes for some time then, what Chace assumed was a yes, he looked at Chace.

So Chace asked, “Do you want a cucumber?”

Malachi’s head jerked slightly, his eyes flashed then, thank fuck, his lips twitched before he shook his head no.

“Broccoli?” Chace went on and he heard Faye’s soft, quiet giggle but he didn’t take his eyes from Malachi who again shook his head no.

“Twix?” Chace continued and Malachi pressed his lips together and nodded. “Strawberries?” Another nod, another eye flash, the kid liked strawberries. Finally, quieter, Chace asked, “Have you read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe?”

His lips parted, he liked that a fuckuva lot better than strawberries and he shook his head.

“When I was your age, bud, that was my favorite,” Chace shared. “You want Faye to read that to you?”

He bit his lip but nodded his head.

“I’ll pick it up,” Chace muttered.

Malachi just stared at him.

Chace gave him a smile then looked at Faye and asked gently, “Can I talk to you a minute?”

She nodded, turned to Malachi and got out of her chair but bent slightly over him. “I won’t be gone long and then I’ll be back and we can talk some more.”

He held her gaze and nodded.

She reached out, touched his cheek lightly, going in slowly but the touch was fleeting before Chace watched her profile give him a gentle smile and she whispered, “Be back soon, sweetheart.”

She moved, Chace rounded the bed at a distance feeling Malachi’s eyes on him so he gave him a flick of two fingers and a wink and walked out with Faye. He stopped her outside his room so Malachi could see her through the window by the door.

Her eyes were searching and he knew her mind was still on their phone conversation when she asked, “Is everything all right?”

“My Dad paid me a surprise visit,” he shared, saw her body give a small, surprised jolt as her brows shot together and he moved into her, curling his arms loosely around her. She lifted her hands and rested them lightly on his chest as he muttered, “It’s okay.”

“Why did he visit you?” she asked.

“Why does he do anything?” Chace evaded. “Mostly to be an asshole.”

“Is your Mom okay?”

He nodded. “She’s good. Got a call from her too. We’re invited to dinner, three weeks.”

“All right,” she replied hesitantly, her eyes still searching his face.

“It’ll be okay. Dad won’t be there,” he assured her.

She continued studying him before, for him, she let it go by whispering, “I’m sorry, honey. I don’t know what went down but I do know it’s unpleasant seeing him. So I’m sorry.”

Chace gave her a lift of his chin and changed the subject. “Those books, they’re special to him. My advice, talk to him, put them where he wants them. He’ll probably want them close and tell the staff to leave them be.”

She nodded.

“Should we be concerned about the fact he’s not speaking?” he asked.

“I don’t know yet. They’re having a child psychologist come up and have a chat with him after lunch. They say at this point that it isn’t really surprising considering how he was living and how he was found. He’s not refusing to eat. He’s communicating nonverbally. He’s not agitated. Except for not talking, he seems to be in good spirits. He does have some hesitation around the nurses but they’re going gentle and he settles pretty easily. He doesn’t seem to like men very much so it isn’t just you. They have a male nurse on this ward, he came in, Malachi didn’t like it. He noted it immediately and assured me he isn’t coming back.”

That said a lot but Chace didn’t share what it said.

Faye went on, “We’ll know more when the psychologist speaks to him. But they’ve examined him and it isn’t physically that he can’t talk. Whatever’s holding him back is psychological.”

Chace nodded and asked, “Word from your parents?”

“All good. The house passed inspection. Apparently the spring schedule of foster care classes started last Saturday so they’ve enrolled Mom and Dad. But they’re going to place Malachi there tomorrow. Dad’s at work during the day but Mom works at home and can be around twenty-four, seven which they said is good. So it’s all in place.”

Silas was a geologist who worked for an environmental consulting company based in Chantelle. Sondra was a part-time bookkeeper who did the books for a variety of businesses in town including the Italian Restaurant, Holly’s Flower shop and La-La Land Coffee. She worked at home, available to Malachi. Perfect.

“You’ll wanna be there tomorrow,” Chace guessed and he knew it was accurately because Faye immediately nodded.

“I already called my volunteers. I’ll open up and get them sorted then the two of them are going to handle things. Mrs. Bagley has closed for me before. She has keys. That’s good too.”

“Right,” Chace muttered then he told her, “I’ll pick up some stuff for him, the book and bring it here after work but, darlin’,” he pulled her slightly closer and dipped his face to hers, “your Mom comes, you gotta give him time alone with her. Start teachin’ him to trust her. You don’t have to be gone hours but he’s gotta get used to her without you around. Okay?”

She nodded but she did it scrunching her nose. She had to do it, she knew it but she didn’t have to like it.

“He’s good now, Faye,” Chace said quietly. “Family. Food. Movin’ his fingers and toes. All the books he can want on that thing Silas bought him and to hold in his hands. He’ll be all right.”

“Yeah,” she whispered, leaning into him, her expression clearing.

He dipped his face closer to kiss her nose and when he moved back, he murmured, “I gotta go.”

“Okay.”

“He says he wants somethin’ else, call me and I’ll pick it up when I go out.”

“Okay.”

“See you here later tonight.”

She grinned and whispered, “Okay.”

“Your bed or mine?”

Her face got soft, her body melted into his and she asked back, “Which one do you want?”

His mattress was better. Her sheets were the softest sheets he’d ever felt in his life. Therefore, a tossup.

But her place was closer to La-La Land which meant he had more time with her in her bed and her shower before they headed for coffee.

“Yours,” he answered.

“’Kay,” she breathed and that was so cute, he bent his head and kissed her quick but open-mouthed, sliding his tongue inside to taste her before he broke the kiss and again lifted his lips but this time to kiss her forehead.

Over her head, he saw Malachi watching them from his hospital bed. And, fuck him, Chace would never have guessed, not in a million years, that Malachi would watch Chace holding Faye, talking to her, whispering with her and kissing her and that would buy him what it bought him.

But when his eyes caught the boy’s, it was slight, it was hesitant but it was there.

The kid smiled at him.

Thank fuck.

Chace smiled back.

Then he gave Faye a squeeze and looked down at her. He saw that she was looking over her shoulder into Malachi’s room and she looked back at him, hesitant too but happy, her lips parted, a bit of her cute wonder shining through and then she smiled huge.

Chace smiled back, gave her another squeeze and a, “Later, Faye.”

“Later, honey.”

He glanced at Malachi before he let her go on another smile and walked away.

Chace felt Faye’s hand run lightly down the skin of his side, he blinked sleep away and saw, strangely, the light was on and she was turned to him.

She’d been reading. She read most nights and he loved that. Loved the fact that for years, he saw her, nose in a book and now he had her in bed with him in one of her little nighties, close enough to touch, her nose in a book. The time he spent knowing she was going to be his, the years he spent knowing she never would, he’d not thought of that. Being in bed beside Faye while she read. But having it felt like a gift. It was maybe whacked to think about it like that but he didn’t care.

He liked it.

But she usually turned off the light and settled in. When he felt it, he pulled her into him.

Now the lights were on and she was facing him, her hand on him.

His hands moved so his arms could curve around her and he pulled her to him.

His voice sounded sleepy when he asked what he always asked, “Done?”

“Uh…” she hesitated, “yeah.”

Her hesitancy and the change in normal circumstances made Chace focus on her.

“Everything okay?”

Her body shifted against his, her legs moving restlessly and all sleep left him because she did this and often. But usually she did it when his mouth was on her, his hands on her.

She was turned on.

What the fuck?

“Faye,” he called and she bit her lip.

Then she pressed her body against his, tucking her face into his neck and she whispered, “There was… uh, in my book, you know,” her legs moved against his and she finished so low he barely heard her, “a really good sex scene.”

Chace smiled.

Oh yeah, she was turned on.

And now he was too.

“Hook your leg over my hip, baby,” he ordered and she instantly complied.

He instantly slid a hand over her hip to her belly, down, between her legs then he shoved his thigh up, trapping his hand against her.

Dripping.

It must have been a good sex scene, she was totally primed.

He shifted a finger and her hips jerked as a small, low, sexy noise drifted up her throat.

Totally primed.

His dick started getting hard.

Then something occurred to him.

“You read sex scenes a lot?” he asked quietly.

“Um…” she didn’t answer which was her answer.

She did.

He pressed his finger in tighter and her hips started moving with it.

His dick got hard and started throbbing.

“What’d you do before me?” he whispered into her hair. She pressed her tits into his chest, her face deeper into his neck and ground her hips down on his hand and thigh.

What she didn’t do was answer.

“You got in this state, Faye,” he pushed gently, “what’d you do before me?”

Her hips undulated with his finger and he heard her breath come faster.

She still didn’t answer.

His finger stopped moving and he cupped her between her legs.

She whimpered, pressed closer and pushed her hips against his hand.

Phenomenal.

“Faye,” he growled.

“Toy,” she whispered then quickly, “Chace, your finger.”

But he was caught up in visions of Faye touching herself with a toy.

Good ones.

Really good ones.

“Where is it?” he asked, his voice low, gruff.

Her hips kept pushing and now her hands were moving with agitation over his skin.

“What?” she asked.

“Your toy. Where is it?”

Her head tipped back and oh fucking yeah.

She was turned on. Huge.

“Why?” she whispered.

“’Cause I’m gonna use it on you,” he whispered back.

“Nightstand,” she answered immediately, so hot, so cute, she wanted that and she wanted it bad.

Fuck. Amazing.

He dipped his head and took her mouth in a long, wet, deep, wild kiss then twisted just his torso to hold their position, hoping to Christ it was in the nightstand at his side.

It was.

He didn’t hesitate to turn it on and position it.

Like he expected, she reacted violently to this but in a good way, pressing her tits deep in his chest, holding on tight, her nails scraping the skin of his back, her face soft, lips parted, hips jerking against the vibrator.

And he got to watch.

It was fucking brilliant.

His voice now hoarse, when she was close, he asked, “How’d they do it?”

“Wh… what?” she gasped, her hips now jerking.

Christ.

Hot.

“In your book, baby,” he prompted and she tried to focus on him but failed. He pressed the toy harder to her clit, rolling it and growled, “Faye.”

“All fours,” she panted.

Jesus.

Fuck yes.

“You want that?” he pushed. They’d never done that. She could definitely get wild but he was still initiating her to sex slowly.

“Yes, please,” she breathed, her hips bucked, her head shifted back, lips parting and she came for him.

He didn’t delay, turned off the toy, threw it aside, rolled her to her belly then pulled her hips up and positioned, thanking Christ she’d done what she’d done only once before and that was start reading without putting her panties back on.

Then he drove in.

He was so far gone, she was so slick and still pulsing with her orgasm, it didn’t take him long. Still, she’d just found it but, all Faye, all his, she could get wild. So as he pounded into her, she lifted one hand to curl her fingers around the iron of her headboard and found it again. Her head jerking back, her hair flying, her ass tipping to the ceiling, she came hard and loud, crying out with it, it sent him over the edge and he joined her.

Coming down, he took her slow, gentle, his hands moving over her sweet ass, her hips, the smooth skin of her back, her sides, her ribs under her nightie. Then he pulled out, dropped to her side and hauled her over him so she was on top. He shifted, yanking her covers over both of them then he rounded her with his arms.

She breathed against his neck, her body so loose and sated, she gave him all her weight.

He took it because it felt fucking great.

Finally, she whispered, “I don’t get it.”

“Don’t get what, darlin’?” he asked quietly.

“I’ve been doing that for a while and you still do it better than me.”

For a second, Chace’s body tensed just thinking yet again of Faye touching herself.

Then his arms got tight around her and he burst out laughing.

When he was done, he noticed her head pressed tight into his neck just as he noticed her body was no longer loose but taut in his arms.

His laughter died but his arms stayed tight when he called, “Faye?”

She didn’t answer.

His hand slid up her spine to glide into her hair and he called again, “Faye, honey? You okay?”

“You know I have a toy,” she whispered.

Fuck, she went so wild for him sometimes he forgot this was all new to her.

“Lots of women have toys,” he told her quietly.

She didn’t answer.

“Nothin’ shameful about it,” he went on.

She was silent.

He used his arm around her to pull her up but even when she was forced to take her face out of his neck, she avoided his eyes.

“Faye, baby, look at me,” he whispered and it took her a couple of seconds but she did it. When he got her eyes, he reminded her, “You do not have to be embarrassed with me.”

“I –” she started and, his hand in her hair, he pulled her face closer to his.

“That was hot,” he kept whispering and she bit her lip. “Really hot.”

Her eyes went side to side before lighting on his again and she whispered, “But, I –”

He rolled her to her back, his chest pressing her to the bed and kept his face close to hers when he went on, “Seriously, Faye, honey, that… was… hot. I came within minutes of gettin’ inside you and I made love to you before I fell asleep. I love makin’ love to you, baby, fuckin’ love it. But we just fucked and I gotta tell you, I love that too. I like takin’ you sweet. I like takin’ you slow. I like fuckin’ you hard. And I like thinkin’ of you touchin’ yourself. I like knowin’ all that wild was layin’ in wait for me and you kept it under control by takin’ care of yourself. That’s hot too. Unbelievably hot. Everything about you is hot, honey. You got nothin’ to be embarrassed, ashamed or worried about because you’re the best I ever had. All of you. All we share. The best kiss. The best orgasm. The best lovemaking. And seriously the best fuck.”

She was staring up at him, eyes wide when he finished and she whispered with disbelief, “Really?”

“Oh yeah,” he whispered back with feeling.

“But… how?”

“I don’t know how, you just are.”

“That’s… it’s… I –”

He pressed into her and said firmly, “Faye, it’s true.”

“But… when?”

He felt his brows draw together before he asked, “When what?”

“When was uh… you know, your best orgasm?”

“The first time with you.”

She blinked. Cute but also kind of annoying. Annoying because he gave it to her then, showed it to her straight out so she had to fucking know.

“Seriously?” he asked.

“Seriously seriously?” she asked back breathily which meant doubtfully.

“Faye,” he started, “first, no one had been in there and you’d just come. I’d never been inside a woman that tight and wet which in and of itself meant it was gonna be good for me and it really fuckin’ was. But also, no one had been in you. That meant you were mine. I didn’t take it. You gave it to me. You couldn’t miss that meant somethin’ to me so yeah, seriously, comin’ inside you the first time you took me was the best orgasm I’ve ever had.” He hesitated then finished firmly, “By far.”

“Seriously?” she whispered, still dubious and now he was getting pissed off.

“Yeah, Faye, seriously,” he replied shortly and she stared.

Then he watched as wet filled her eyes.

Fuck.

“Faye, what the fuck?” he asked.

“I… I…” she stammered, “I want to be good at it. For… for you so you… you’ll keep liking me.”

He stared down at her.

Then his torso collapsed on hers because he couldn’t hold it up due to the fact that he was roaring with laughter.

He heard her wheeze and, still laughing, he rolled them so he was on his back again and she was up top. He kept laughing as he lifted his hands and pulled her hair away from her face as she studied him, a look on her face he couldn’t quite read but didn’t give a fuck he couldn’t.

“Shit,” he muttered, still chuckling, “that was fuckin’ funny.”

“I’m being serious,” she whispered.

“I know, honey, that’s why that was so funny.”

Her stare turned to a glare and he started chuckling again.

So she snapped, “Chace!”

When she snapped, he snapped. His hands in her hair at the sides of her head cupped her so he could pull her face to within a half an inch of his.

“First up,” he began, his tone deadly serious because he was deadly fucking serious, “I’m not lyin’ or handin’ you a line. I’ll say it one more time. You’re the best I ever had. I don’t know why and I don’t care why. It’s just true and I figure it’s because it’s you. Second, and a lot more fuckin’ important, you don’t bury shit like this, concerns you have, fears that run deep and not talk to me about ‘em. You don’t go about life with me like all is good and you’re settlin’ in and harbor shit deep that eats at you. You lay it on me so I can help you let it go.”

“Do I get to return that favor?” she asked instantly.

“What?” Chace asked back.

“You’re harboring stuff deep that eats at you. Do I get you laying it on me so I can help you let it go?”

Fuck, how did she maneuver this?

Fuck, he’d walked right into it.

“Faye –” he started and she yanked her head back, pushing up.

“I get it. The answer to that is no,” she muttered but he rolled with her so he was again on top and when he had her contained, he saw it was Faye now who was angry but he also saw she was hurt.

Fuck.

“Give me time,” he whispered.

“I am,” she whispered back.

“It’ll all be yours, Faye, I promise when the time is right, when I can face it, when we’re strong and you can face it, I’ll give it to you.”

Her head gave a slight jerk and she was still whispering when she asked tentatively, “You’re not testing me?”

He blinked then asked back, “What?”

“You, it’s… whatever it is, is uh, deep and if you don’t, um… intend for there to be a, um… future for us then you wouldn’t want to –”

Christ, he was a fucking idiot.

He dipped his head, touched his mouth to hers and stopped her talking.

Then he lifted his head so he was a breath away and he shared softly, “Faye, I’m fallin’ for you.”

Her hands were at the sides of his ribs and he felt her fingers dig in as her eyes got big. “What?”

“You heard me.”

“Chace –”

“Straight up, this is the man in your bed. I want in there, Faye, and when I get in there, I’m gonna dig in deep so when I share my shit that’s so dark you’ll be blinded by it and you’ll wanna run to the light, you can’t because I’m so deep, you can’t let go.”

She was breathing heavier as she stared at him before she said quietly, “Nothing about you can be that dark, Chace.”

“It can ‘cause it is.”

She shook her head. “I don’t believe that.”

“Good, keep not believin’ it so I can dig in there and when I give it to you, you can’t let go.”

“It’s not that dark,” she pushed quietly.

“This is the only warning you get, Faye, ‘cause you don’t kick my ass out right now and you sleep beside me tonight, tomorrow I just keep digging deeper but it’s no lie. It is. It’s as dark as it can get. Dark and ugly.”

“That isn’t true.”

“It is.”

“It isn’t,” she stressed, Chace opened his mouth to speak but her hand shot up between them and she pressed the tips of her fingers against his lips and went on. “I’ll tell you why I know. Because what you just told me you were doing, you wouldn’t do. Not to me. Not to anyone. You wouldn’t make me care for you only to hurt me. You know whatever it is, I can handle it. Because if you didn’t know that, didn’t believe it, you would not be here right now. That isn’t the type of man you are, Chace, and I don’t care what you think, I know who you are. I don’t know who you think you are but I know who you are. I also know nothing you can tell me will make me think differently.”

Jesus, he fucking hoped so.

She wasn’t done but she moved her fingers from his mouth to cup his jaw before she kept talking.

“I’m glad you like me. I’m glad to know you’re not sharing with me not because you’re testing me but because of why you explained you aren’t though that’s crazy but, whatever. Take your time. I’ll be here and after, I’ll still be here. And I’m glad you thought that was hot. Because I read a lot of romance novels and my toy got a lot of um… uh… you know, use before you so, um… you’re going to get a lot of um… use now too.”

Chace Keaton stared down at Faye Goodknight, her head against the pillows of her bed, her body under his and he wondered how in the fuck six years of misery led him to all the promise that was her.

He’d wanted her for years not having any fucking clue how much of her there was to get, how deep it ran or how sweet it was.

“Now,” she went on, taking him out of his thoughts, “I need to clean up and get some sleep. Malachi is getting sorted tomorrow and I need to be on my game. You can take from that I’m not kicking your ass out. I’ll tell you now, I do have a temper so that doesn’t mean you won’t one day be sleeping on the couch. I know this because Dad did this on occasion and I am a lot like my Mom. But your behind will never be out. And you can take from that that I’m falling for you too. But you know that since you know I already did it thirteen years ago. I’m just glad to know now I picked really, fraking well.”

His heart pounding in his chest which got tight, his hands moved swiftly, framing her face, holding it steady and his voice was thick when he whispered, “Do not say that shit unless you mean it.”

Her hands moved to frame his face too and she whispered back, “I wouldn’t. You know it. I held out for a hero and I don’t give a frak if you don’t think you’re one. I know you are and even if you weren’t one to the whole town, you’re one to me and you can take that to the fraking bank.”

Fuck.

Cute.

Sweet.

His.

That constriction in his chest relaxed and when he asked, “Take it to the bank?” his voice was suddenly light and her eyes narrowed.

“Don’t tease me when I’m being serious and we’re talking deep.”

“Sorry, baby, you just said I could take something to the bank. No one says shit like that except cops in 70’s cop shows. You talk like that I have to give you shit. Got no other choice.”

She started glaring and then she started bossing.

“Get off me. I’m leaking and I don’t like to sleep in a wet spot.”

“When do you ever have to sleep in a wet spot?” he shot back.

“Well… never,” she answered. “But I don’t want to start.”

Cute.

Sweet.

His.

Christ.

He dipped his mouth and touched hers.

When he lifted away, he whispered, “All right, clean up.”

She shifted under him, muttering, “Fine.”

But as she moved, his arm circled her waist, detaining her, and her eyes came back to his.

“I know what you think,” he started to warn gently. “I know why you think it but you made a decision just now so when you get it all from me, darlin’, and you decide to run, you gotta know I’m not letting go.”

“Fine by me,” she replied immediately, lifted up, brushed her bubblegum lips against his then rolled out from under him.

Her short, chocolate brown satin nightie glided down to settle over her ass as she got out of bed and moved toward the bathroom. Chace watched it then watched it move under the fabric until she disappeared.

Then he rolled to his back, her toy rolled into him so he tagged it and replaced it in her nightstand. After, he again settled on his back but this time he lifted his hands and covered his face, pressing the pads of his fingers into his forehead and digging deep.

He did this hoping with everything he was that Faye didn’t lie.

He did this hoping what she read in him was true. Not that he was who she thought he was because he knew he wasn’t.

But that she could take the dark he had inside him without breaking free to run to the light, leaving him behind in black.

He dropped his hands when he sensed her coming back and watched her walk across the room and turn out the light before she climbed in bed.

The instant the covers were over her, he reached to her and pulled her into his arms, face to face.

She hooked a leg over his hip and pressed deep.

“Faye?” he called.

“Yeah,” she answered quietly.

“No way in hell no matter how pissed you get I’m sleepin’ on the couch.”

“We’ll see,” she replied, still quiet.

“We won’t. We work it out before we sleep or you suck it up. You do not sleep without me.” He paused then finished, “Ever.”

“Whatever,” she muttered, pressing closer.

This meant she was done with the conversation.

It also meant she was giving in.

Then again, she always did when it was important.

He pulled her even closer knowing one thing.

He wasn’t falling anymore for Faye Goodknight.

He wasn’t halfway there.

He was gone.