Beautiful Chances (The Beautiful Series) (10 page)

“Christ, Lily,”
he said, catching his breath.

I could feel his heart pounding against my chest. Kyle shifted his body to lie on his side. He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled my back to snuggle against his chest until our breathing became shallow. Feeling our naked skin against each other had me sighing at the warm feeling. I felt like I was precious and loved.

The tip of his finger started to deliberately trace each part of my tattoo. I feared what was coming.

“What does this script on your back mean?”

I did not want to have this conversation. I knew where these questions would lead, but he was not one of those people who I could defer.

I sighed. “The first part means, ‘We only part to meet again,’ and the second part means, ‘Always in my heart.’” It had three birds flying above the two scriptures, and the entire tattoo was centered between my shoulder blades.

His fingers lightly brushed over the tattooed area on my back. “I’m assuming the three birds represent your mom, dad, and sister?” he asked in a very gentle voice.

I shut my eyes, and a slight tremble rocked through me. “Yes,” I breathed.

Kyle rotated me in his arms while still keeping me close. “What happened?” His hand softly caressed my cheek. “Talk to me, Lily…I need you to let me in…”

My breathing hitched as thoughts rushed into my mind.
Do I want him to know? Would he still want me if he knew my family was gone because of me?
I wasn’t sure if it was him or the way he made me feel, but I found the strength to speak.
Here goes…

“It was a car accident that happened almost three years ago, and I was driving.” My voice choked on the end.

Pain slashed me hard in the chest as images flooded my mind. There were too many memories I did not want to remember. I tried to block them from my memory every day. Just by thinking about it, I felt as though someone had knocked the breath out of me.

“Breathe, Lily…just breathe. I’m right here. Stay with me. You aren’t alone,” he said in a soothing voice as he held me.

I prayed for strength.
Just get it out.
“It was a Friday night, and my dad received a promotion that had taken him many years of long hours and extra work. I’d also just bought my first used car, a Jeep Grand Cherokee, on my own, and my dad was very proud, so he offered to let me drive everyone out for a dinner. Dinner was great. We all talked and laughed, enjoying each other’s company, like we always did. We were a close family. My sister and I exchanged our college experiences while we had dessert. My mom was filled with so much love, listening to all our stories.” I shook my head slowly from side to side. “I’ll never forget how her eyes glowed with so much love that day.”

I missed my mom so much. Her smile could fill a room, and her laughter could warm my heart.

Kyle was lying there quietly, listening. His eyes were strong, urging me to continue, yet they were full of understanding. I could also see his hurt, knowing that the story was about to go bad. I could see it all in his eyes. This story had no happy ending, and my heart felt as though it could shatter.

My body tensed as the rest of my thoughts played out. “On the drive home, I took a normal route that we used all the time. We had about ten miles on the highway, and as we came up to a small curve, a car from oncoming traffic kept going straight, and it came into our lane. I tried to slam on the brakes, but it was too late. His headlights blinded me as his truck hit us head-on.”

Tears streamed down my face as I thought of those last moments. The sound of metal was forever seared into my memory. “I heard Annie’s scream an instant before everything went black. When I woke up in the ambulance, my mind was foggy, but I remember trying to grab Annie’s hand in the stretcher next to me. Her body wasn’t moving,” I faltered, remembering that moment. “She never squeezed my hand back. After that, I only recall screaming loudly before the darkness took back over.”

“Jesus, Lily.”

Kyle looked in pain as I glanced back up at his face. His arms tightened around me, pulling me close, as he tried to comfort me. But this wasn’t something he could comfort or fix. It would always be with me.

I continued on, desperately needing for it to be over. “When I awoke again, I was in the hospital, and my Aunt Lucie was sitting across from me. Tears were running down her face as she looked at me, and I knew right then that it was bad. My injuries were nothing compared to the pain when she told me…” Tears blurred my eyes, and I wiped furiously at them. “My mom, dad, and sister were gone…I was alone.”

Breathe in. Breathe out. Keep breathing.
“The nurse had to come in and sedate me to keep me from disrupting the other patients. As the funerals were quickly approaching, Aunt Lucie and my cousins all took turns checking on me and comforting me. Everyone tried to hold me and ease my pain, telling me that it would be okay, but I didn’t want them. I wanted
my
dad,
my
mom, and
my
sister. And it became painful for me to watch Aunt Lucie, Uncle Dan, and my cousins be a family…and to see the pain in their eyes, too. It reminded me too much of what I had done and what I had lost. For some unjust reason, I survived…and they didn’t.”

I closed my eyes, tears freely streaming down my face, as I tried to block it all out. “It was just too much.” I remembered it all like it was yesterday—the deafening sound of metal crashing and my sister’s cries. It was my darkness to bear. It was my fault.

“I’m so sorry, Lily. I wish I could take away the pain,” Kyle said, stroking my back. He gently kissed my forehead and then my temple. “But it doesn’t sound like any of it was your fault. You can’t blame yourself.”

“Yes, it was my fault. I was driving. I should have swerved out of the way or stopped sooner. They should be here. I shouldn’t. They are gone because of me.” I closed my eyes in anguish, feeling pain…guilt…regrets…and darkness.

Kyle’s strong hands grasped my arms and pulled me up onto his chest, his eyes unwavering. “No, Lily. It is
not
your fault.” His tone was firm and final. “I will not let you carry the extra burden of blame. It sounds like you loved your family, and your family loved you. They wouldn’t want you to be living your life like this. They would want you to be happy. So, we are going to start working on that…right now, in fact…starting with pizza,” he finished, trying to lighten the mood.

“Pizza sounds good. Oh, that’s right! You brought some with you. Where is it? You should bring it in here, so we can have pizza in bed.”

“I
may
have, er…dropped it when you attacked me at the door,” he replied, bashfully grinning.

My heart skipped a beat at his adorable look.

“Hopefully, it’s still edible,” he added.

“Well, I hope so. We can’t waste pizza. And I did not attack you at the door. My senses…just naturally took over.” A blush crept up my cheeks.

“Sure, they did.” He released a sexy smirk.

Kyle shifted me over slightly, so he could get off the bed. He sauntered out of the room, completely naked.

That ass…oh my…

He quickly returned with the box of pizza. That was the first time I really got to take in his chiseled body.
Holy hell, the man was hot!
My eyes started their adventure at his sculpted deltoids, and his chest was defined with all the right curves of muscle, narrowing into a perfect waist. I licked my seemingly dry lips at his amazing physique. He was obviously dedicated to working out, and it was clear he took care of his body.

His tribal band wrapped all the way around his right arm caught my attention. It was extremely sexy. The arm band on his left was thinner and darker with more eye-catching designs that swirled, disappearing to the underside of bicep.

My eyes lowered to see that Kyle’s erection was pressed firmly against his stomach. I remembered the way he had stretched me.
I felt my cheeks warm as I wondered why all these new sensual thoughts were filling my mind.

“See something you like, beautiful?” He raised his eyebrows and gave me a heart-stopping grin, purely an erotic invitation to more pleasure.

My face continued to redden at being caught from checking him out.

His husky laugh pulled me out of my daze. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. Only one round for you today because you will probably be sore tomorrow. And I’m going to starve if I don’t eat.”

“I was just admiring the view,” I said playfully.

I pushed my dark plum comforter out of the way. If we ate on the sheets and they got dirty, I could toss them into the washing machine. My room was an okay size, but Kyle’s presence made it seem extremely small. When he sat down, I felt an electrical charge as our legs brushed against one another. I bit my lip, trying to ignore my body’s response. It had apparently not had enough of him. I momentarily debated on devouring him instead of the pizza until my stomach growled.

Kyle and I dug into our cheese pizza as a movie quietly played on TV. After we finished eating, I snuggled into his chest, loving the way his body felt against mine. I had never snuggled with a man before. Part of me felt as though I had been missing out. As soon as the thought entered my mind, I knew it wasn’t true because I hadn’t wanted to be this close with anyone else until Kyle.

After the movie was over, we tucked the blankets around our bodies. Kyle pulled me in even closer and buried his nose in my hair. “So, tomorrow, we’ll leave bright and early for date number two. We have about a two-hour drive.”

I turned my head to face him, and he had an excited look of a young boy on his devilishly stunning face. It made me wonder what he was up to.

“Okay,” I said casually.

“And you’ll need to bring a change of clothes with you, just in case.” His tone gave nothing away.

Okay, now, I’m really curious.

“Extra clothes to go where? What should I pack?” I tried to sound as neutral as possible.

“Oh no. I’m not telling.” He chuckled. “It’s a surprise. Just one extra outfit should do.”

He was holding back his amusement while my frustration grew from not knowing the details.

“Um, okay.”

My body was starting to relax into a deep slumber when Kyle spoke softly in my ear.

“Oh, and Lily?”

“Yes?”

“I’m sleeping over tonight…and tomorrow night. Is that okay?”

I warmed at the thought of Kyle sleeping in my bed and being able to snuggle up close to him while his big body cradled mine.
Yes, please.
“Yes, I’d like you to stay.”

With that, he tucked me back into the curve of his body where I fit perfectly. He nuzzled his head into my neck, and I felt his breath on me.

Our breathing evened out, and we both drifted off to sleep.

Warm kisses ran up and down my arm.
No…no…need sleep…

“Ugh. Sleep. Need sleep,” I mumbled as my brain begged for more rest. I was one of those eight-or-nine-hours kind of girl…
well, maybe even ten.

Warm kisses moved up to my shoulder.
Need…sleep…

His bottom lip trailed across to my collarbone.
Mmm…

I peeked out of one eye to see a dark shadow looming over me. I knew right away that it was Kyle’s sexy, intoxicating male scent caging me in. That smell did crazy things to me. I sighed.
What a heavenly way to wake up in the morning. A girl could definitely get used to this.

“Good morning, beautiful Lily. It’s time to get ready for our date,” Kyle said in a rough, erotic morning voice as I opened my eyes.

I could not resist running my fingers through his tousled hair and down to his morning stubble, making him groan, as my body stirred. He leaned forward and kissed me. Then, he proceeded to tug at my lower lip with his teeth, and I moaned. My heartbeat quickened.
Damn, the man can set my body on fire with a simple kiss.
I moved my arms around his neck and pulled while deepening the kiss, forcing him to fall forward and straddle me as he leaned on his forearms. His lips were embracing mine.
Much better…

“Oh no,” Kyle said.

We were both practically panting as we parted.

“Damn, Lily. Keep that up, and we’ll be staying in this room all day,” he growled, eyes blazing into mine.

Now, we’re talking
. I shyly blinked up at him. “We can do that, too.” I blushed. These feelings were all new and powerful. I wanted to feel them again.

“Oh, trust me, I’d love to stay here all day and make love to your beautiful body. But one, I’m sure you’re sore, and two, we’ll be late if we don’t leave here shortly. I drew you a warm bath already. Now, I’m going to start breakfast for us while you bathe and pack, and then we’re off.”

Me bathing his naked body sounds way better.
I’d run my hands over his chest, tight stomach, and back. I just want to start licking him everywhere—

“Fuck, Lily. You have got to stop looking at me like that.”

His eyes darkened with an erotic intensity as I gazed up at him.

“Looking at you like what?” I asked, confused by his comment. It was hard to ignore my reaction to him.

“Like you want to lock me in your room and have your way with me.” His body was tense while he was trying to keep control.