Waiting For You

Chapter Fourteen

~ Reba~

Life had been a clusterfuck since Mars and I had returned from Chicago a couple months ago. The Kennedy house was filled with drama and stress. Niles had been around more, and Miles was more tense than ever. I new it had something to do with his uncle, but I didn’t know what.

By any matter, he’d been going to the shelter less, telling me he had things to do at the house. I knew it was me. He wanted to be near. Again, I didn’t know why. It wasn’t as if we could be alone during the day.

It was only when we were alone together that everything seemed right. He relaxed and I felt less like impending doom loomed nearby, just out of sight.

Right now was one of our few reprieves. Mars and I splashed in the waves, playing chase at our secret beach spot. We came here a lot, as long as the weather was willing or his friends weren’t using it. It took me back to the idyllic time we’d had in Chicago. He’d mentioned taking me to another con, and I hoped it was soon. Being completely away would be a relief.

As if aware of how heavy my thoughts had gotten, he caught me around the waist, spinning me in the water, and I wrapped my legs around him. Our wet bodies slide together with arousing friction.

“Caught you,” he muttered, leaning in for his prize—a kiss he didn’t need to win.

“You have longer legs.” And I hadn’t really been running.

His hand smoothed over my thigh. “You have pretty long legs…very pretty.”

He found the back of my knee and tickled me. I wiggled, unable to get away from him and only managing to arouse him further while we rubbed together. Not that it took much. He had never-ending stamina, and I wanted him all the time. The weeks of as much sex as we could sneak in hadn’t dulled our lust at all.

He would be moving out next week, and I wasn’t sure what I’d do. We haven’t talked about it. Since we’d gotten back from Chicago, we’d spent as much time together as possible. We tried not to be obvious in front of the staff, and we definitely kept it a secret from his family.

Kinley knew. She was well aware Mars took me out on dates and that I slept in his bed every night. He wouldn’t have it any other way. He came to get me from my room at night. He’d been more than freaked out when I’d told him about seeing Niles skulking around the servants’ wing.

“What’s wrong?” he asked when I grew serious once more.

“Just thinking.”

He grimaced, making a face. “You’re not supposed to be thinking while I’m trying to get busy with you.”

“Is that what you were doing? I thought you were trying to drown me.”

He carried me out to the blanket we had laid out on the sand. Dropping down, he pulled me to sit across his lap. Rather than get busy as he’d said, he just held me.

“Are you still upset about Kinley?”

“Of course, I am!”

“I didn’t mean…”

“I’m upset about a lot of things. Your dad had a busted lip and a cut by his eyebrow this morning. His black eye and the bruise on his face from last week was just starting to go away. And your mom’s been work than even since Kinley quit. She threw a crystal vase full of flowers at me this morning, then I had to clean up the mess. It was that heavy one from the foyer. Glass and water everywhere—”

He grasped my shoulders, holding me out from him. His gaze scanned over me. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah. She missed. And then there’s Kinley. She wants me to quit like she did. But I can’t. What would I do? Where would I go?”

“You’re coming with me. I thought that was a given.”

“What?”

“Sunshine… Did you think there was any way in hell I’d leave you there? It’s hard enough to go to the shelter every day and not stay to shadow you every moment of the day. I can’t leave you working there in that dysfunctional mess. The only thing that keeps me sane is knowing you’re with me at night and it’s unlikely anything will happen during the day.” He drew me in so my head rested on his chest. “Obviously, I was fucking wrong about that.”

“It’s my job,” I whispered while I listened to the rapid beat of his heart. He was upset. Barely holding it in. His arms flexed around me, tight, unbreakable, but not uncomfortable.

We both knew why Kinley quit. His uncle had broken into her room and attacked her. He’d broken into my room first—at least, we suspected that was who had done it. I hadn’t been there.

But Kinley…