“Well, when can I bail him out? I mean, will I be able to while…?”
He shook his head. “It won’t go down that way if we plea this out. But even if it did, he’s already made it clear he doesn’t want to be. He’d rather get credit for time served. Usually I advise my clients against that as a general rule, but in his particular case, I support the logic. He’s going to do some time. There’s no question of that to me. You don’t walk in and confess to killing someone ten years in the past when there were no other accomplices involved and expect to wheel and deal your way out of some time. We simply don’t have the leverage to argue our way out of a prison sentence of some sort, and he sees no sense in delaying the inevitable. But like I said, I don’t see it going down that way.”
The door suddenly opened again, and Kane stepped in. He watched us for a moment, his face expressionless. I hated how nervous he seemed, regardless of just how appropriate his nerves were. He walked to us, and he inhaled deeply as he sank against the counter by my side.
Ross looked at his watch. “Fifteen minutes?”
Kane nodded, but then he looked at me. “Take a walk with me?”
I followed him out the back door, and we moseyed toward the woods. There were overgrown paths all around this property that Kane and I used to get lost on, and we picked our way down the largest of them toward the creek. I could hear it gurgling and splashing in the distance, and it only took us a few minutes to reach the rocky shoreline. The water was clear and shallow, and there was a large rock about four feet high sitting off to the side of the path.
Kane and I had sat on that rock more times than I could recall when we were children, throwing rocks into the stream and laughing like idiots. I rested against the rock, and he faced me, leaning close to me and kissing the side of my neck.
“Is there anything you want to talk about?” he asked me quietly. “Anything you need to know.”
“Tell me what our future is going to look like.” I studied his face.
He instantly smiled and hummed. When he lifted his hands he cupped my cheeks gently, curling his fingers behind my jawline. “I’m going to marry you some day.”
My lips trembled, and heat settled into the backs of my eyes as I nodded.
“I’m going to give you babies.”
I nodded some more, laughing quietly even as I cried.
“I’m going to teach them to draw penises on the walls and feed banana peels to the DVD player.”
I laughed louder as a tear ran down my cheek.
He brushed it away. “It’s going to be a beautiful life.”
“A beautiful life,” I agreed.
“And in the meantime … you’re going to be happy.” He nodded. “Please be happy.”
I nodded too.
His hands inched up under my skirt, crawling up my thighs tauntingly. I wasn’t wearing underwear at this point, and when his fingers discovered that, he hummed warmly. “You’re also going to be very naughty with this body when you’re alone, okay?”
“Okay,” I breathed out.
He touched me, gently grazing over my skin, and when he slipped his fingers between the lips of my sex, his breath caught in his throat and he sighed this half groan, half breath.
He moved slow, taking his time toying and stroking, and I closed my eyes, letting my head fall back. He kissed my neck, letting his lips linger and his breath warm my skin, and when he reached to my back, it was to lower the zipper halfway down my back—just far enough for him to pull the top down and get his lips around my nipple.
It was chilly out again, and my skin popped with goosebumps. He sucked on my nipple warming it and innervating it at the same time, and he hummed and moaned, sending a tickling vibration out through my body. I stroked my fingers through his hair, and he took his time, licking and sucking. When he pushed two fingers up into me, I gasped. His penetrations were slow and gentle, and he kissed his way back up to my mouth. He kissed me over and over and over, humming and moaning quietly as he sucked on my lips. When he finally sighed and pulled back, his lips were pink and mine felt raw.
“We need to get back.” He ran his thumb across my lower lip.
My eyes drifted down to his chest.
“I know you’re not ready.” He tipped my chin up. “But it’s time.”
I shook my head as tears built and pooled, and my chest was tight as I tried to contain the sob that wanted to come out. His eyes glossed over as he nodded, and he brushed a tear from his cheek.
“Oh, God, Helene.” He dropped his forehead to mine. “I love you so much.”
“I love you, too,” I whispered.
“I can’t imagine going even a day without touching you.”