“If your family keeps thanking me for being with you, I’m going to start feeling like I took you on as a charity case,” I whispered when his mom was out of the room, and bit back a scream when Liam pinched my side.
“Five minutes are up, Moon. Your choice.”
I turned my head to look at him, and leaned close enough so our noses were touching. “The banana pancakes were not nearly as good as what you do to me,” I assured him.
Liam’s face fell. “I was hoping to have a reason to find a room.”
“Ha. Sorry, but that won’t ever happen here. You can wait until later.”
AFTER SPENDING THE rest of the morning and early afternoon with his family, Liam and I headed back to my condo so I could check on Kira and Rhys. And even though I told Liam that I would be fine going in alone, he wasn’t having it. He’d already been worried last night about Rhys’s reaction to the news of my decision, but because Rhys had been okay with it, Liam didn’t trust him now . . . He said it was a guy thing.
“He’s not dangerous,” I said before we reached the door. “You need to calm down.”
I unlocked the door and walked in with Liam so close behind me that he kept making me stumble forward.
“Really?” I sighed, then looked around at the empty apartment. “Did he leave? I could’ve sworn that was his truck outside.”
I walked quickly through the living room and, when I caught sight of Rhys’s bag stuffed behind the couch, continued down the hall and into my room. He wasn’t in there or the bathroom.
“Maybe they walked somewhere,” Liam guessed as we returned to the living room, but I shook my head.
“No, I could hear music coming from Kira’s room. Maybe she knows where he went. Hey, Kira,” I called out as I opened the door, and immediately began shutting it when I saw a man’s naked ass as he drove into my sister, closely followed by their screams when they noticed me. “Oh my God, I’m so—wait! What the fuck are you two doing?” I screamed, and swung the door back open when I realized it wasn’t just some random guy Kira had probably found at the gym. It was Rhys.
Rhys and Kira both started yelling their explanations as they tried to cover themselves, but I wasn’t hearing any of the words they were saying.
“Holy shit,” Liam hissed from behind me, and wrapped his arms tightly around my waist. I just wasn’t sure if the action was meant to protect Kira and Rhys from me, or if it was meant to be reassuring to me after what I’d just seen.
“What. The fuck?” I screeched. “What are you doing—just what the fuck?”
“Come on, Kennedy,” Liam whispered, and pulled me away.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from them until Liam had me out of the room and had reached around me to shut the door. He dragged me over to the couch and knelt between my knees with his hands covering my cheeks so he could force me to look at him.
“Are you okay?”
“What the fuck,” I whispered again. I didn’t know how many times I’d said it at that point . . . I only knew that I couldn’t stop saying it.
“Shit, Kennedy, say something else to me, please,” he begged. “I need to know what’s going through your mind.”
I pointed behind him toward Kira’s door. “What’s going through my mind is that I just walked in on my ex-husband fucking my twin sister! What the fuck?”
Liam’s eyes and face were a mix of panic, anger, and sorrow. None of which I could take the time to think about at that moment. “I need—” he started, but was cut off by my screaming when Rhys scrambled out of the room buttoning up his jeans.
“What the fuck were you doing with her? How long has this been going on?”
“Kennedy, please, let me explain!” he rushed out.
“Let you explain? Let you explain? She’s my fucking sister, you asshole!”
“You don’t understand, I swear—”
“Oh my God, Kennedy!” Kira cried as she ran out of the room with Rhys’s shirt on. It was inside out and backward, and I had no clue why I was so focused on those details, but I couldn’t stop staring at the shirt. “You don’t understand.”
“Apparently not!” I yelled. “Someone needs to make me understand what I just fucking saw!”
Tears filled Kira’s eyes before falling to her cheeks, and all she could do was shake her head.
“We didn’t think you were coming back today,” Rhys said, and I laughed mockingly.
“Oh. So because you didn’t think I would be here, you thought it would be okay to have sex with her?” I looked at my sister and pointed to Rhys. “He is my ex, Kira! What are you thinking?”
“I’m so sorry,” she sobbed.
“Not because we thought you wouldn’t be here,” Rhys answered my original question although it had been rhetorical. “I just—I don’t know. Kennedy, I’m sorry, but you have to let me explain.”
“I’m waiting, Rhys!” It was only then—when I felt the slightest squeeze on my arms—that I remembered Liam was sitting directly in front of me. He wasn’t looking at Rhys and Kira, he was only focused on me with that same mixture of emotions still playing out over his face. But I couldn’t keep my eyes on him for long; it was physically straining to not stare at the two people standing on the other side of the room.
“Last night I told you that something had happened over the last couple weeks.”
My jaw dropped at Rhys’s words. “My sister was what happened? You’ve been fucking for weeks?”
“No!” Kira cried, and clutched at her chest like that action would help her steady her breathing.
“No, Kennedy, God no. I told you that I would tell you what that something was, but I needed to talk to someone else first. Kira was who I needed to talk to. I never touched or kissed your sister until after you left last night.”
“Kennedy, I swear,” Kira said between sobs. “I didn’t even know that he shared my feelings until last night.”
“He’s with you because you look just like me, Kira! Don’t you see that?”
“No!” Rhys yelled. “Yes, you two are identical, but nothing about Kira reminds me of you. When I see her, I know exactly who I’m looking at—probably just like Liam knows exactly who he’s looking at when he sees you. There’s a difference, Kennedy.” Rhys looked to Liam for help, and even though Liam was still facing me, he nodded.
“There is,” Liam reluctantly said. His arctic-blue eyes captured mine and held them. “It’s your eyes; even when you were mad at me in the beginning, it was there. There’s so much passion in the way you look at me. When Kira looks at me, it’s just like any other person I know. If I look at her too quickly, I’ll think she’s you, but only for a second until I realize that there is absolutely no draw to her.”
“Exactly,” Rhys breathed, his voice relieved.
For a few moments, the only sound in the room was Kira’s crying as I watched Liam. And for the first time since he’d brought me to the couch, I understood his look. He was worried about why I was reacting so strongly when I’d chosen him over Rhys. But he didn’t understand the depth of betrayal I felt over what I had seen.
“It’s still you,” I whispered so softly only Liam could hear. When I looked back up to my sister and Rhys, I shook my head. “How do I know that you won’t just up and leave her too?”
“You know why I had to leave you, Kennedy. And you know I won’t ever go back to that kind of work.”
“I don’t understand,” Kira said, and brought her arms out to the side before letting them fall. “You have Liam. Why is it okay for you to have him, but it’s not okay for Rhys to have someone?”
“Yes, I have Liam. I love Liam. I’m not upset because Rhys is with someone, Kira. I honestly would have been ecstatic for Rhys if it had been anyone but you.”
“Why does your reaction have to change because it’s her?” Rhys asked, and took a step closer to Kira, like he was ready to defend her.
“Honestly? Because I’m scared for my sister! I’m scared about the real reason you’re w
ith her. And I’m pissed off at both of you because you’ve been keeping your feelings from me while I’ve been going insane over the last month and feeling so fucking guilty because I thought I was going to hurt you.”
“What was I supposed to say?” Kira yelled. “He came back for—”
I continued with my explanation as if she hadn’t spoken. “And while there is absolutely no connection between us anymore, Rhys, I can’t help but think that if we’d stayed married, you two would have had an affair eventually.”
Neither of them responded, and from the looks on their faces, their silence was because they couldn’t deny it.
“That is why I am mad. That is why I feel betrayed. And that is why I’m struggling to be okay with something you both obviously want.” Looking at Liam, I grabbed his hands and pleaded, “Take me back to your place.”
His only response was to nod and stand up—pulling me with him. Kira and Rhys didn’t say anything to us as I packed the necessities and an extra outfit and left. And for the rest of the day, Liam didn’t try to make me forget about what we’d walked in on. He simply held me in his arms on his bed, and let me talk through all of my thoughts before helping me by offering his own thoughts and opinions on the situation.
“Thank you,” I said on a sigh as we curled up under his comforter that night.
“You’re thanking me? Why?”
“For being there with me, and for helping me talk through it today. You have no idea how amazing you are for that.”
“Anytime.” With a soft smile, Liam pressed a kiss to my forehead and pulled me into his arms. “Good night, Moon.”
A quiet giggle left my lips, and Liam looked down to eye me curiously.
“There’s a sound I didn’t think I’d hear the rest of the day. What’s funny?”
“It’s not really funny. Do you realize that every time we’ve fallen asleep together—even that night in Vegas—you’ve said ‘Good night, Moon’?”
“I guess . . .” He drew the words out, making them sound more like a question. “I don’t know why it made you laugh.”
“Because it’s a little children’s book. I smile every time you say it, and after today . . . I don’t know, it was just the perfect end. It was what I needed to hear.”
“Best damn children’s book I’ve ever read.” Liam pulled me back against his chest and sighed. “Good night, Moon.”
My lips curved up in a smile, and I squeezed him. “Good night, Liam Taylor.”
20
December 19
Liam
MY EYES FLEW open and widened when I saw Kennedy lowering herself onto me two weeks later. I groaned at the feel of her around me, and my hands went to her hips so I could control her movements.
“Good morning,” I mumbled groggily. “And what did I do to deserve being woken up like this?”
Her lips spread into a smile and she rocked her hips once, then paused. “I woke up and you were already ready . . . thought I’d take advantage. But if you want me to stop,” she said innocently, and started lifting herself up before I slammed her back down.
“Don’t,” I warned her.
“That’s what I thought,” she mumbled, and started moving again, her husky voice even raspier from sleep.
“Fuck, Kennedy.” I groaned and tightened my grip. The way she was changing from fast and hard to slow, as she lifted all the way off me only to lower herself back down teasingly, was driving me insane.
I palmed her heavy breasts and circled her pierced nipples before pinching on them, causing her to clench around me as a loud whimper filled her bedroom. When I did it again a minute later, one of her hands left its place on my chest and moved to tease her hood piercing.
She moaned and quickened her finger movements, and as fucking hot as it was to watch her, I wanted to be the one who was making her moan.
Lifting Kennedy off me, I pushed her to the side and backward so she was lying on her back, and quickly followed so I was hovering over her. I pressed my mouth to hers and teased the seam of her lips with my tongue until she opened her mouth and began giving me the sweetest torture with only a kiss.
I lowered my hips, and she automatically wrapped her legs around me. She moaned into our kiss when I slid against her piercing, and when it got to the point where I couldn’t continue forcing myself to stay only there, I moved slowly down her body. I pressed openmouthed kisses down her throat and chest, and spent time torturing each nipple before moving down her stomach to her hips, and then finally lower. I settled myself between her legs, and keeping my eyes on her expectant expression, I leaned only far enough forward that my mouth barely brushed against where she wanted me with each heavy breath she took.
She whimpered in aggravation and threaded her fingers into my hair when I didn’t move, and begged, “Liam, please.”
I waited another few seconds before leaning forward to taste her, and I had no doubt that if Kira and Rhys weren’t already awake . . . they were after the sound Kennedy had just made.
Kennedy’s fingers tightened in my hair, and her body shook from the combination of her first and second orgasms. She tried to shut her legs but was unable to since I still hadn’t moved—and I didn’t plan to. It hadn’t taken more than three minutes for her to hit the first two, and I knew from experience she could give me another one. I’d never been with a girl who could have more than one, and definitely not within just a few minutes.
I would say it as long as she kept the piercing in . . . I fucking loved that thing.
“Stop,” she breathed. “Stop, I can’t—” She cut off and groaned. “I can’t do any more.”
“That’s what you say every time. Besides, this is payback for last night.” I growled against her, and went back to torturing her in a way I knew she would be begging for again that night.
“Oh my God!” she cried out as her body shattered for the third time.
I waited until her shaking had calmed before climbing back up her body and pressing against her entrance.
“I hate you,” she mumbled weakly as I slowly filled her.
“Do you?” I challenged.
Even though she shook her head, she said, “Yes. So much—oh, that feels so good,” she breathed.
I stopped moving, and her dark blue eyes flew open. “Are you going to apologize for last night?”
“Fuck no! Not after what you just did!”
I moved out and back in, and stilled again. “Are you really mad? I can always see if you can give me another one.”
“No, no!” But even as she spoke, she clenched painfully tight around me and her eyes widened. She was such a bad liar. “I’m sorry for teasing you last night and not letting you finish for over an hour,” she said on a rush.
I grinned boldly. “Apology accepted.”
“That’s what you get for letting me take control last night,” she goaded when I began moving again.
“Are we really gonna keep doing this right now?”
She laughed huskily and tightened her legs around my back. “No, keep moving,” she pleaded.
After that little argument, it took another minute to find the rhythm we’d had and to lose myself in Kennedy again, but once I did, her little moans and pleas had me struggling to hold on. I quickened my pace, and a couple minutes later buried my face in her neck as I found my release. I lowered my body onto Kennedy’s, and a shiver went through me when she lightly trailed her fingernails across my back and over my shoulders while she waited for our breathing to calm.
Not thirty seconds later there were loud knocks coming from the front door of the condo.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I groaned and shakily lifted myself off Kennedy. “If there’s another ex-husband, I want to know before I answer the door.”
“None that I can remember,” she teased, and pushed me away. “I can get it.”
“No, I got it. Not after who it ended up being the last time there was a random knock on the door, and not with the possibility of it bein
g another person Juarez sent.”
“Liam,” she groaned. “Matthew was so not dangerous.”
“Get dressed,” I ordered as I finished buttoning my pants. Grabbing my shirt from the floor, I walked out of Kennedy’s room and down the hall. I stepped into the living room at the same time Rhys stepped out of Kira’s room. Like me, he was finishing getting dressed.
In the two weeks since Kennedy and I had walked in on Rhys and Kira, things had gotten easier. Kennedy still mumbled about how weird it was to see them together, but she was no longer mad at them, or afraid for Kira. It was obvious how much Rhys and Kira meant to each other, and I think that made the transition easier for Kennedy. But it was still awkward. For the most part, if we did anything, we did it at my apartment. I didn’t like the idea of Kennedy’s ex-husband being able to hear us, and I didn’t think she liked hearing him and Kira. But last night we’d had a late dinner here after going to a concert, and after a lot of drinking, none of us really cared. In silent agreement, Rhys had taken Kira—who was already taking her shirt off—into her room, and I’d taken Kennedy into hers.
This morning, however, was beyond uncomfortable.
I followed Rhys to the door and stood next to him while he opened it.
If I thought I was uncomfortable before, that couldn’t begin to explain how I felt when I saw an older version of Kennedy and Kira standing right in front of us, with a man at her side who looked like he had already thought of different ways to kill me. If only he knew what I’d just been doing to his daughter.
“Who the fuck are you?” the twins’ dad asked as he eyed me.
“Kash!” their mom scolded. “That’s Liam.” Her wide eyes found me, and she shook her head. “I’m so sorry, he—”
“Who the fuck is Liam?” Kash looked at Rhys and gestured to me. “Who the fuck is he?”
“That’s Kennedy’s boyfriend, Kash, now shut up. I’m sorry, I’m Rachel—”
“No, Rhys is her boyfriend.”
“Oh, Kash,” Rachel mumbled.
“Uh, not,” Rhys answered. “I’m actually with Kira.”
“No, you’re not,” Kash said confidently.