Lindy had finished watering the last of the rosebushes and sat down on the bench, facing the glowing setting sun. The unseasonable heat of the day had faded and now it was getting cold and breezy. Lindy pulled her denim jacket a little closer to her and crossed her arms against her sides.
She heard footsteps on the stairs outside of the greenhouse, and she turned toward them. There he was, standing in front of her, smiling gently. And something felt different.
Ever since Lindy had found out about the curse Kendra had placed on Kyle, she had to keep reminding herself that Hunter and Kyle were the same person. When she heard his voice, when she felt his touch – she had to tell herself that the handsome man talking to her or touching her was the same as the scarred man who saved her life.
This was the first time it didn't happen. She didn't look at him expecting to see scars or tattoos; she didn't look at him and get flustered by his gorgeousness. All she saw was him – Kyle, the man she loved.
"Hey," she said, walking over to him.
"Hey," he replied, waving two pieces of paper at his side. "Our test results came in."
She took a breath. "Okay. And?"
"And…we passed."
She laughed and embraced him. "Yay! Not that I ever had a doubt."
He laughed too. "I never doubted you. Now me…that was a different story."
"Oh, stop it."
"So…how should we celebrate?" Kyle asked, holding both her hands. "I could take you out to dinner, or we plan a weekend getaway, or…you know, something like that."
But Lindy made a face and said, "Hmm. Maybe we should just go to bed."
He frowned and looked out at the sliver of sun left in the sky. "Uh…it's a little early to go to sleep, don't you think?"
She shook her head and smiled. She then wrapped her arms around him, pulling him in for a long, breathless kiss. After they broke away, she gazed up at him with a devilish smile on her face. "That's not what I meant."
His eyes widened in surprise and delight. Kyle pulled her against him, resting his lips against her neck. She could feel his chuckle vibrate deliciously against her skin. "I think I could be convinced."
It was thirty paces from the bench to the staircase that led to Lindy's room, then ten steps down. Kyle was acutely aware of this fact as he and Lindy walked together hand in hand. Each step brought them closer to being together. He wondered if her heart was pounding like his.
Once they got to the bottom of the stairs, Lindy turned to him shyly. "So…your bed, or mine?"
He leaned down and kissed her. "How about ours? Come on."
The room Kyle slept in was cool and dark, the bed a soft, silvery plane of sweet promise. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he walked backwards toward the bed, pulling Lindy along with him as they kissed tenderly. He sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled her between his knees, eagerly pulling off her jacket and pressing his lips to the shoulders, neck, and collarbone that is now exposed. Lindy sighed and tilted her head back. God, it felt wonderful. To be touched like this—she'd never allowed anyone to get this close to her before. She tugged on Kyle's shirt, pulling it up and over his head and tossing it aside. She leaned her head against his shoulder, pressing a kiss to his neck while he stroked her back.
"I love you," she murmured in his ear.
"I love you too," he whispered back.
She felt his hands go under and up the back of her shirt. "Ooh," he said with a chuckle, realizing, with delight, that she wasn't wearing a bra and her sweet flesh was readily accessible to him. She giggled too. She took his hand and guided it to her front, helping him to cup one of her breasts while the other dipped just beneath the waistband of her jeans.
She took a step back from him, took a deep breath, and pulled off her shirt. She unzipped her jeans, pulling them and her red bikini panties from her hips slowly and then letting them puddle at her feet before stepping out of them. She fought the urge to cover herself up since she now had nothing on and she'd never been like this with anyone before. He smiled, gently pulling her back to him. "You're beautiful," he said, reassuring her.
Before she could respond, he rocked backwards, pulling her along and then turning so that she was lying beneath him. Lindy reminded Kyle of a goddess like in one of those Greek poems Will had made them read: her body supple and ripe, eyes dark and heavy-lidded with desire, long black hair spread against the white sheets. The scar she had on her inner thigh and hip was just barely visible in the dim light, but Kyle could see her eyes looking down in its direction and the sadness on her face. He took her chin in his hand and made her look back up to him. "Hey. You are beautiful," he repeated, insistent. She smiled at him, nodding. He pressed a series of kisses against her lips, moving down to her chin and collarbone and then to her breasts. He took a dark pink nipple in his mouth, teasing the raspberry bud with his lips.
Lindy moaned and arched herself up, eyes shut in ecstasy. She loved this feeling, of their bare flesh pressed together, melding together. His body was the epitome of strength—toned, sinewy muscles lying underneath his warm skin. Being in his arms made her feel safe, protected.
Her legs parted and he happily accepted the invitation, positioning himself between them. She could feel his hardness pressing against her and her fluttering heart raced even more. He'd switched to her other breast, lapping at it lovingly with his tongue. She stroked and smoothed his gold hair, running her fingers up and down his back while her foot caressed the back of his leg and thigh.
He got up suddenly, and Lindy was startled. He unzipped his jeans and pulled them off along with his underwear, then came back to lie down next to her. He was about to go back to kissing her when realized something. "Lindy, I…I want to keep going. I mean, well, duh," he said with a smile, pointing to his ardent erection. "But...I want to be safe, because, you know…we're not ready for…"
She pressed her fingers to his lips to stop him. "The pill, sweetie," she said simply, smiling.
"The pill?"
"Yep. I started taking it a while ago—when I first moved back in again. I thought-I mean, I hoped-it would come in handy."
He gave a purring growl as he rolled on top of her again and she giggled. He pressed his hand between her thighs, finding her warm and wet already as he stroked her. She mewled and ground against his hand. "Kyle?" she asked breathlessly.
His eyes met hers. "Yeah?"
She bit her lip. "I've never done this before. Go slow, okay?"
He knew it. Lindy was so confident in everything else: her intelligence, her sense of humor, her strong ethical code and duty to others—all the things that he loved and admired about her. But when it came to intimacy…it always seemed that she took her cues from him. He smiled and kissed her forehead. "Of course we will. Are you ready?"
She smiled back. "Yeah. I am."
He wrapped one of her legs around his waist, while the other hand reached under her hips to bring her closer to him. The turgid length of him pressed against her pink lips, then pushed through, so he was sheathed inside of her.
Lindy gasped at the penetration, tears coming to her eyes while she shuddered from the pain. Kyle held still, pressing his forehead to hers. He hated that this had to hurt her. "Tell me when you're ready to keep going," he whispered.
She caught her breath and brought her arms to wrap around his neck. "I'm ready."
He moved gently, slowly, trying to give her time to adjust. But god, it felt so good! She was so tight, and her body was so soft and warm. And Lindy, for her part, was soon beginning to feel less of the pain and more of the great pleasure—that sense of fullness that women felt when their love was inside of them. She wrapped her legs around his waist and began to move with him, coming into step with his rhythm. His steel blue eyes bore into hers as he began to thrust harder and deeper into her, over and over again, minute after minute.
"Kyle!" she cried, as he began to hit a spot that felt particularly wonderful. "Oh god, Kyle!"
He could feel her climax. It was hot like fire, as her velvet walls clamped down tightly around him. Her legs trembled and loosened their grip around his waist. She threw her head back and wailed, and he kissed and gently bit her exposed neck and throat. He knew he was next. He could feel it building up inside of him, so he moved even harder and faster, working his way to the breaking point, until there was nowhere left to go.
"Oh! Ah!" he cried out, as his orgasm hit him. He pulled Lindy tight to his chest while his warm seed spilled into her. They collapsed back to the bed, hot and breathless and exhausted, him still buried inside of her. Lindy took Kyle's face in her hands and kissed him. "Thank you," she told him.
He laughed. "Right back at ya."
"So I was thinking…"
"Yeah?"
"We just passed the GED, and my dad just gave me early access to my trust fund. How about we celebrate our good luck…and take that trip to Machu Picchu you've been jonesing for? Better yet, how about we make it a trip around the world – see it all? What do you say?"
Lindy smiled and turned over onto her stomach, resting her head on her crossed arms. "I say…I'm glad I put out before you asked me, or I might feel a little bit of pressure to later on."
Kyle laughed. They lay together in their bed – it was an unspoken understanding that it was now their bed, not just Kyle's – feeling pleasantly numb and spent. He rested his hand on the small of her bare back, marveling at how the shape of his palm seemed to fit every curve of her body he'd explored that night. "Did it hurt a lot?" he asked, feeling a bit guilty.
"A little," she admitted. "But it was a good kind of hurt."
He looked away, his empty moments with Sloan flitting regretfully through his mind. "I wish…I'd waited for you."
She leaned over and kissed him reassuringly. "Don't worry about it. I think at least one of us should know what they're doing."
With a chuckle, he said, "So tomorrow, we'll figure out our itinerary for the trip. And I'm gonna laugh my ass off all the way to the bank to withdraw the money we need."
"Sounds like a plan." Lindy turned over onto her side to face him, wrapping an arm around his waist with a contented sigh. "So, this is what happily ever after feels like."
"Yep. Get used to it, Baby. Because I don't plan to ever let you go."
"You'd better not," she replied with a giggle. "I love you."
He combed his fingers through her hair. "I love you too." He rested his hand on her hip, quickly realizing that he was touching her scar. Quickly he moved his hand away. "Oh, sorry," he apologized.
It took Lindy a moment to figure out what Kyle was talking about, because she hadn't noticed at all. The pain of her old life, the burden of a closed heart – it had faded away like waking up from a bad dream. All that she loved and lost and gained and wanted and needed – it was completely reconciled, at long last.
"No, that's okay," she said, moving his hand back to her hip, then snuggling against his chest. "It doesn't hurt anymore."
