Withholding Secrets (20 page)

“Language, Keri.” I looked up at her, tempted to just kiss her, taste her, to attack those perfectly lined lips of hers. She smelled so good after being washed up with my soap that I just wanted to waste no time in tasting every inch of her body. “Alcohol.”

“It burns.”

“It’s dirty, and I imagine for as long as you waited to clean it, probably infected.” Sliding my hand with the cloth up her thigh, I felt the smoothness of her silky skin antagonizing my starvation for her. This wasn’t the time or the place for anything to happen, but it was tempting … too tempting, and I was inches from right where I wanted to be nestled for the night.

“I forgot about it.” Her hand covered mine, her fingers pressing into my flesh, but she resisted the urge to move it. Maybe she was just hanging on, too, as I imagined the sting the alcohol was doing to her right now.

“How did you forget about a gash in your leg?” The desire swirled in my stomach as her eyes softened and her grip on my hand tightened. Yes; those were her kids no matter if she had them or not. They were lucky, very lucky to have come into her life. And I was trying to escape from her.

All last week, I stayed far away from her because of this exact situation. I wanted to go up those shorts and feed my own hunger any way that I could, to make her see how sexually frustrated I became since the day she stepped foot in my office, screaming at me.

“I thought they ran away, but I heard the floor creak upstairs. I went up, and then I heard the front door knob jiggling. I knew that it wasn’t Jordan. I don’t know how, but I knew so I went upstairs and waited. Sky came out wearing her pajamas. She had taken her pants off because she was hot and she didn’t want the window open. I covered her mouth and pulled her to me. I ended up scaring the crap out of her, but I had to keep her quiet.” Her breathing began to pick up as her muscles relaxed under my hold, but the temperature of her body was climbing steadily.

“She knows that you did it to protect her.” I opened another packet and pulled the cloth out. Folding it in half, I laid it over the larger gash and put my hand on the top of it. Keri jumped and her hand clamped down on the back of my neck as she clenched hard, her body crawling to me for some sort of help, but she knew she needed this. I rubbed the inside of her thigh with my thumb, knowing how much I was hurting her and I needed to sooth that pain, but I had to clean it the best that I could.

“That really hurts.” She leaned forward, coming close to me as her fingers slipped through my hair. “Kane.” Her voice came out in a heavy breath as her body was leaning more into the massage my thumb was giving her than the pain I was inflicting on her with the cloth.

Leaning forward, I brushed my lips against the smooth velvet of her knee cap, bringing that starvation to a whole new high. I needed more of her. She was a drug, sitting there for me to take, as much as I wanted, and at no charge. But I had to hold back as much as I could. As soon as I was done taking care of her, my own shower assault would take place. I just had to wait. I had to hold onto this for as long as I could before I exploded.

“We went out the window onto the porch over hang, and whoever it was came in through the back door. I had her…” Her breath hitched again as I kissed a little higher on her leg. I was distracting her from the pain, but I was driving myself insane. “I had her crawl over me, and I eased her down. God. How stupid was I? There could have been someone else there.”

“You did this on the roof?” Taking a moment, I paused, savoring the feeling of her fingers in my hair and my lips brushing along her silky skin.

“I fell off the roof.”

My eyes shot up to hers as she raked her fingers through my hair, driving me straight to devouring into my every need. “How did
this
happen then?”

“When we crawled under the fence on the road to the other side of my house. I got her through, but when I went, it broke and snapped down on my leg. The only way that I was able to free myself was by pulling my leg through.”

“For Christ sakes, Keri. Why didn’t you call me? I would have been there in a heartbeat.”

“I couldn’t go back for my phone, Kane. I couldn’t risk it and leave her hidden in the back.” Her other hand came up, fingers brushing against the roughness of my jawline. I hadn’t shaved at all since yesterday, and I noticed more with her soft and warm hands on me, savoring the sensation of the simple caress.

“Let me get this straight.” Forcing a deep breath, I felt her leaning closer to me, wanting more of me just as I wanted to divulge myself into her. “If you were the one who was clothed, then how did … she was covered when she came into the club.”

“I took my clothes and my shoes off and made her put them on. I couldn’t have everything exposed on her. She’s just a little girl.” A tear trickled down her cheek as she held onto my eyes, not letting them go. “We changed in the bushes in the back yard, and I was hoping that Jordan would have come back so I could’ve grabbed him, too. But he didn’t and I had to find some help. Someone I could trust.”

“You came all this way like that just to protect her?” My heart escaped from my chest and flew around the room. This was the one woman I never expected to find, and the one woman who I would ever want in my life again. I had to have her and no one else would ever be able to fit into her place now.

“She’s my daughter now, Kane. I’m not going to let another man crawl over her again.” Her fingers worked their caress on me, drawing me up to meet her with the growing panting. But hearing that again part put an extinguisher on the fact I wanted to just ignore the cut in Keri’s leg and selfishly sacrifice the few seconds to feed my craving.

My gut twisted as I turned my head back to the vacant hall. Now I could see the heavy guard of her. Not only was Jordan overly protective, but Keri was, too. That poor girl. Who in the world would ever hurt a little girl like that? That sick bastard should have his face pounded in until he wasn’t even recognizable. Now, having this information, if anyone tried anything with that little girl, I would be the one to snap that person in half and take their sole myself.

“Her mother was knocking her about starting her menstrual stuff to her boyfriend, and the boyfriend crawled in bed with her. Jordan found it and called the authorities. That was how they ended up on my doorstep.”

“Keri…” My eyes shot open wide and the inferno died instantly. That was why she was so scared to have me stay with Sky, or have Sky around me. She was just protecting the girl every way that she could, or knew how to. “I would never do anything like that.”

“I know, and I am so sorry. It’s so hard to know who wouldn’t and who would. You wouldn’t. That’s why I came to you.”

Letting the cloth go, I stood and slid my hand up her good thigh to the bottom of my shorts. Her fingers dug into my hair, pulling me closer to her, within inches of her beautiful pink lips. I wanted to dive back in and assure her this wasn’t going to end. Not yet, anyway. And those two kids … I would do what I had to, to protect them. With the money I had, that was easy to do. But having her trust me that much, I wasn’t sure I would be able to let go if she wanted me to. “What now?”

She took a moment to swallow hard as the fear began to melt the sleek grays of her eyes. “I don’t know.” They slowly glassed over with the torture of want and need slamming together. “Please tell me that you washed your sheets before tonight, and after the last … the last … um…”

“How could I be with anyone when you ruined everything for me?” My heart was pounding, and the effects of the alcohol swarmed my mind. I was tossing between just taking her right there at the bar or backing off and walking away because of the circumstances that led her here tonight.

“How did I do that?” Her fingers tightened on the black strands at the back of my head that were just enough for them to curl around. Heat sizzled around her, and her eyes focused on my lips, the want spreading all over her face.

“By storming into my office like you had. Do you know that knowing you were naked in my shower, I can’t … I won’t be able to shower in there again without thinking about that? You soaping up your body with my soap.” Pulling her closer to the edge, the lust flickered back on and the desire molded my hands to her thighs, keeping them apart for me to slide between them. I needed the air from her lungs to survive tonight; to be able to withstand the fact that I had two kids sleeping in my weekend apartment and their guardian barely clothed and injured, wanting me to take her right on the damn bar top. “Washing … rubbing yourself all over with the same soap I used last night.”

Closer, I could feel her heavy pants on my lips. She was struggling, too, just as much, as her eyes shifted down finally releasing the lock that I had on them. Just before she had turned her head in shyness, I caught her lips with mine. Dropping my hands from her thighs, I reached up, digging my fingers into her hair, pouncing on her mouth, attacking it like a starving animal with one chance at survival.

When I finally broke the seal on her mouth, a little moan escaped into the silence. Her lips were puffy from my attack and wanting more. I wanted more. I wanted everything, and right now, but it wasn’t happening tonight. Not after the night she had with those kids.  And I needed to bandage up her leg the best that I could.

It had taken all I had not to pull her down on the bar and ravish every single inch of her, but I had to get the gash cleaned and bandaged for the night. When I pulled the thicker parts of the damage together, she winced and her hands squeezed my arm tightly. All I wanted to do was wrap my arms around her and hold her close to me. She was the one who changed everything around in my life. She was the one that was making me do everything that I never wanted to in the first place. Her and those damn kids. After having them in my life tonight, to hell if I could let them all go now.

Taking down one of the couches, the red one by the hallway, I brought her a blanket and a pillow from my room in the apartment. It would do for now, but I had to keep them someplace else. The club was no place for the small family to stay, and if word had gotten around that they were there, the authorities would be called in a heartbeat. And I refused to let them go back home. Not after the break in, nor the threat of the missing girls that were leading to dead ends. And now my thoughts were heavily on Sky being a target. Every twelve and thirteen year old girl was a prime target, and I had to protect the ones I could until the ring was brought down.

Getting Keri settled down, I pulled the blanket up to her shoulders and forced the enraged pants monster to calm down for the time being. I needed to get my head on straight and think about what I was doing. This wasn’t a life that I wanted; not with my background and the life that I was born into. The anger, uncontrollable rage from both parents. How could I be sure that I wouldn’t bring that onto them? Sure, my life changed for the better, but still. I was born to raging people who took it out on anyone and anything that had gotten in their way.

“I’m going to grab another couch. If the hall door opens, the buzzer will sound so you will know when they are up.” My hand itched just to cup the back of her head and press my lips to hers again, but I shoved it in my jeans pocket instead.

Her tired eyes looked up at me, fighting to stay open as she nodded. A tear slid down the side of her face as she tried to be strong and unaffected by everything. It had taken a lot from her to break down and accept my help, but it was what she had to do. It was what she needed to do in order to keep them together.

“What about going out from the apartment side?”

“There’s a door, but it’s alarmed. They are safe, and so are you. I’m not going to let anything happen to you or them, Keri.” My heart beat hard as I withdrew my hand from my pocket and brushed away the tear, causing her to lean into it for some added comfort.

Her eyes closed and she sighed heavily. “Would you just stay with me until I fall asleep?”

“Sure.” Taking a deep breath, knowing the risk that I was taking, I sat on the edge of the couch and took off my boots. Sleeping in the club wasn’t something that I ever did before, but I couldn’t move them without alarming authorities. With as much as the alarms had been activated and deactivated through the night, the police would be back to see what was going on. Tomorrow was another day, and I would be able to move them without anyone looking in their direction.

Lying next to her, I felt her body curling up next to mine. She fit to me just perfect, and so easy. I ran my fingers through her hair, watching as she drifted off to sleep. As I watched her, everything was falling inside of me. I was
a love them and leave them
kind of guy, but after tonight, I was no longer that man.

Maybe my mom was right. When I found something that I really wanted, I would know. I now knew this was exactly what I wanted. Keri was exactly what I needed and craved all my life. To actually have a woman not care about her hair, her clothes, jewelry, but more about some kids who were left on her doorstep that she was willing to give up her own life for. That was love. And that was perfect.

I always feared that I would become the monster that I was born into. Change came from within, and anyone born into that kind of anger could change, couldn’t they?

Hearing the noises coming through the hall, I sat up careful not to wake Keri. I had fallen asleep with her and held her all night on that damn couch. No matter what was happening, she wasn’t waking up. Not yet. She needed to rest with that gash in her leg and the crap that she had gone through last night.

Deactivating the inside alarm, I went into my apartment and heard the soft cries from the bedroom. Skylar must have woken up and saw Keri wasn’t there. That little girl was just breaking my heart, and I hadn’t even realized it. This was my third time seeing her cry, and I had no idea how to comfort her without scaring the hell out of her.

Tapping on the door, I heard her little gasp and opened it slowly. “Sky, it’s me. It’s okay.”

Her tear soaked face appeared from behind her hands as those soft brown eyes leaked some more. Crawling out of the bed as fast as she could, she ran to me, wrapping her arms around my waist. “I had a bad dream, and Keri … Keri was gone. And she’s not here.”

“She’s here. And you both are safe.” I put my arm around her shoulders and sucked in a deep breath. Hearing what this girl had gone through already made me leery of even touching her, but I would never do anything like that to her, or to anyone. Just to have her come to me for comfort told me that she trusted me.

“Coach Kane, she’s so wonderful. She was there last night … and she was hurt…”

“I know that she is.” I smiled at the thought of the young woman that risked everything to keep these two kids safe. Seeing the way that she went after Jordan when I brought him back was the biggest eye opener of my life. These kids were damn lucky to have ended up on her doorstep. On hers and not someone else’s. “She’s sleeping, and I want her to get as much rest as she can. Jordan should be up in a little bit also. Why don’t you go ahead and use the bathroom? There’s extra toothbrushes in there, and I will see what I can figure out.”

“You’re so good to us. You always have been.”

“I’ve been in your place before, and it’s scary, very scary, but you have something that I didn’t have when I was your age.”

“What’s that?” She looked up at me with her glassy eyes.

“Keri.” I patted her back and pointed at the bathroom. “Go, and I will get something here to eat.” Watching her go to the bathroom and close the door behind her, I swallowed hard. They had no clothes, no bathroom items, and I had to get them out of the club soon. Sure, it wasn’t open today, but the cleaning crew would be in and I didn’t need them to raise any questions as to why I had people sleeping in there.

Heading back to the living room, Jordan was sitting up on the couch rubbing his eyes. Last night, I waited in the bushes for him to come home and it had taken almost over an hour. When I spotted him, I had seen the figure in the house watching and waiting. I nabbed him just before he had gotten to the basement window that he left unlocked.

“You doing okay?” Plopping down in the recliner and letting the soft cushions embrace me, I yawned folding my hands behind my head. There was still that woman sleeping out in the club on that couch—the best of the couches that I would let her sleep on. Never in my life would I sleep on those damn things, but I had nowhere else to put her. Maybe I could have insisted that she go in and sleep by Sky in the bed, but I didn’t. I wanted her close to me. I wanted her in a place where I could watch her sleep; look at her all night if I wanted to. I wanted to see that damn woman at peace even if it was only for a short time.

“She hates me.” His breath knocked out of him as he laid back against the cushions, his fingers digging into his shaggy locks of dark hair. “I hurt her bad, didn’t I?”

“You scared the hell out of her, Jordan. What do you think?”

“I just wanted to protect her. She’s the only one who has ever given us
anything
. I just wanted to make things right for her.” His dark eyes turned to me filled with the sorry that was so deep that it was damn near into his bones and his blood. “She never asked for this life.”

“Neither did you.” What else had happened to these kids in their lives? They sure weren’t talking about much, but the bond, that strong hold of each other told me that it was more than what Keri even knew about. “You really have to watch yourself, Jordan. There are people who want to see her fail to take you both away from her. Don’t give them reasons to pursue.”

“She’s good to us, Kane. How can they not see that?” He shot forward with his eyes sharpening instantly.

“They are looking at a woman that’s twenty-one who—”

“She’s twenty-five.” Biting his lower lip, Jordan shook his head and looked down the hall at Sky coming out of the bathroom.

My heart kicked up a little. Now she was closer to an age that I was more comfortable with, but she was still young, very young to have two teen kids to take care of. And that was what people were judging her by. No one cared to watch how she struggled day in and day out just to give them someone they’d needed their entire lives.

“Are you okay, Sky?” The boy stood, letting the long shirt fall down over the hips of the large sweatpants.

Her eyes iced over as she looked away from him and came over by me instead. “I didn’t find a toothbrush.”

“Alright.” Taking her back to the bathroom, I dug through the cabinet and grabbed out a few brand new ones that were still in the packages. I had no idea why I had a whole handful, seeing as no one stayed the night, but it was always something that my mom was big on. You just never knew when you would need some, and you would always use them. And we were having a ‘
never know
’ moment in time. “The toothpaste is in the cabinet behind the mirror. And don’t be mad at your brother.”

“No. He left us, Coach Kane.” Shooing me out of the bathroom by waving her hand, she closed the door and proceeded to finish her morning routine.

I glanced back at Jordan, who was waiting, but the disgust filled in his face and pinched his brows together with that same anger he wore the first time I saw him in the bleachers watching practice. He was really regretting his decision of sneaking out. What would have happened if he hadn’t snuck out? Would the intruder have gone in anyway? If Keri didn’t hear Jordan sneaking out, what would have happened to them? To the girls?

The intruder was waiting it out and it
was
going to happen. They were waiting knowing that with the boy in the house, there wasn’t a chance to go in. But what if it was the kids’ dad? What if the missing money, the break in, was all on the dad? It would make sense as to who had access to the account, and though Keri didn’t remember opening an account with him, she could have put him as a signer. Or someone who forged her name like I did.

As the kids freshened up, I made a couple of calls and went out to the club side of the building and checked on Keri. She was still sound sleep and still peaceful. With the kids not talking to each other, the tension was thick, very thick. I turned on the television, but nothing was bringing them down from their anxiousness. Sky was tucked into the corner of the couch that was closest to the recliner I was in and Jordan was on the other side, leaving a football field between them.

My cell rang bringing the fear into their faces by drawing out all the color. I answered with a quick ‘one moment’ and hung up. Pointing at the dark hall, I gritted my teeth. “Get between the doors and stay your asses there. Don’t you dare come out. If Keri comes in there, keep her there.”

They obeyed and pulled the door closed behind them.

I punched in the code and opened the heavy door at the back of the kitchen. If there was anyone watching, I sure in the hell didn’t want them to see the kids there. The man dressed in a black suit jacket and white tie smiled as he held up the bags with all of the requested items, pleased with his work—the work that I will have to pay a heavy charge for, but it would be worth it. It was for clothing and food for them all. Once I was able to get them out of there, I would get them some more. There was no way that I was letting them go near that house yet. Not until my connections figured out who the intruder was, and if it was in fact, their dad.

Tossing the bags into the apartment, I scanned the back parking lot not seeing anything out of the ordinary. Keri had been smart not to draw attention to herself last night and she stayed in the dark shadows. If there was someone else watching, they hadn’t seen those two get away. Locking up, I entered the code and opened the hall door just as Sky punched at Jordan.

Grabbing her around the waist and hoisting her over my shoulder, I brought her back into the living room and put her down on my recliner. Seeing the tears rolling down her face, it shot straight to my heart as it did seeing Keri crying. Skylar was a good girl, but so full of hurt that it was just killing me, and if I could take some of that pain away for her, I would. From now on, she was my biggest concern; her and her safety. “He’s back, Sky.”

“He walked out on us! He left us there alone! I hate him! He promised that he would never leave me and he did!”

“Some people make mistakes. You just have to find the people who are truly sorry for the mistakes that they made and forgive them. He made one mistake because he was looking out for you. You know that he would never do anything to hurt you. Forgive him, Sky.” I patted her knee and smiled. “He’s not going to leave you again.”

“He’s going to get us taken away from her and I really like her. This year will be the first time we can have a Christmas, and I want one like on television.” She fell into my shoulder crying as hard as she could, her whole body shaking.

“Nobody’s going to take you away. We are going to make sure of that.” Letting myself hug her, I looked up at Jordan who was trying not to kick his own ass. “Now, let’s eat before the food gets cold. Then, change and we will see what we are going to do.”

“But you’re going to leave us…” Sky pulled back to look at me.

“Not now.” I rolled my eyes playfully, while I brushed the tears off her cheeks. “I can’t
now
.”

“I think that Keri’s awake.” Jordan cleared his throat just as Keri came rushing through the doors panic stricken and the color drained from her face. The sweat beaded on her forehead and her upper lip. She grabbed Jordan’s arm snapping him back as she cleared the doorway. A loud gasp came from her as her eyes found Sky in my arms, sobbing a little.

“Ugh!” A loud curse broke through her lips, and she groaned as little as she sucked in a deep breath. “I thought it was real. I thought it was all real.” Without a thought, she had come up behind me, wrapping her arms around me, and I could feel her heart slamming hard against my back. “I just had a bad dream.”

“Why don’t we eat and just relax for a little bit?” Feeling Keri move and the pressure of her firm breasts against me, the heat filled in my stomach. I wanted that feeling there. I wanted her there in that thin tee shirt and my shorts. She couldn’t have been more beautiful, with her hair a mess and the dark circles gone from around her eyes.

Getting everyone around the bar table, I spread the Chinese food out and watched everyone eat. Keri passed me a plate and nudged me into the feeding frenzy. They enjoyed the treat and ate up everything. Afterward, I had all three of them change into the clothes that the family bodyguard picked up for them. Like I said, that would cost me a little to have him go and buy women’s underclothing, but they needed some and I wasn’t going to let them go back to the house.

Keri emerged out of the bathroom last with her hair pulled up in a messy ponytail. The blue shirt had been a little snug, but damn if she wasn’t making me drool even more over her. The jeans fit her waist and had some shiny designs on the back pockets that attracted me to her ass even more.

Sky liked her pink shirt that fit her nicely and her black jeans. Jordan, on the other hand, groaned when he had come out wearing the long sleeved black shirt that had some band displayed across the chest. Of course, that wouldn’t have been the shirt that I would have picked out for the kid, but we didn’t have that much time.

I looked them all over and grinned. They were all so good together. They were actually perfect together. But with the tension from last night’s adventures, I knew they needed some time to relax and have fun—something that I really didn’t think that they had. Sure, Jordan had his hockey and Sky had been playing some basketball after school, but what was there for Keri? Nothing. Her complete attention was on the kids and that was it.

“Let’s go.” Grabbing my keys and my cell from the kitchen counter, I rolled my eyes. Out of everyone that was ready, I was the one that was still in last night’s clothes. I hadn’t even thought about it. Going to my room, all the clothing of mine that they borrowed was folded neatly and sitting in the laundry basket. Keri’s doings, I imagine.

Changing into a pair of dark blue jeans and a green shirt, I went back to them sitting around the living room, waiting patiently. I knew of something that we could do and all have fun. And it wouldn’t even cost a dime. I was going to take them to the rink.

When we arrived, I closed everything down behind us and led the girls to the room with the skates. Having them pick some out and get ready, I laughed at Sky’s excitement, but Keri … Keri was the one who wasn’t thrilled about the idea. Maybe she had never been ice skating before, but then again, her leg could have been the reason. Though, when she walked, I could see that it really wasn’t giving her any trouble.