Chapter Thirty-eight
Kyle landed on the mat for what he imagined was the millionth time. God. This was a mistake. He thought to himself. He was better off before he got mixed up in this mess. It was his own fault. He went looking for Becky.
Becky. Kyle thought with a sigh as he pulled himself up to face Grant again. What the hell did he think he was doing? He may have just been lucky enough to have her fall asleep in his arms but he knew it wasn't going anywhere. First of all – she probably already had a boyfriend. Even though he hadn't really seen her with anyone but he was pretty sure she must. She was too beautiful not to. It was probably some guy away for the summer or something. Second, he valued his life. Her brother was already beating the crap out of him. Just imagine if he actually tried something with Becky. He'd be dead within seconds.
"Had enough?" Grant asked as he got ready to spar with him again.
"Can I take a break for a second?" Kyle asked hopefully.
"Sure. Take a break." Grant said sarcastically. "Because you know – a vampire will always let you take a little breather – get a bottle of water and then resume fighting."
"You're not a vampire." Kyle pointed out, his voice annoyed as he took a swig of water.
"Lucky for you." Grant spat back. "If I was you'd be dead right now."
"Look." Kyle said as he whirled around and glared at Grant. "It's clear you don't even like me – why are you trying to help me?"
"My sister asked me to." Grant said simply, like it explained everything.
"That's it? She asked you to – and so you are?" Kyle was a bit taken aback.
"Becky says you're a nice guy. The jury's still out for me. I'm not so nice. She's extremely softhearted – almost to a fault. But it's clear she cares about you."
Grant was still talking, but Kyle wasn't listening anymore. He was stuck on "It's clear she cares about you." Could it be true? Kyle thought with a sigh.
Grant glared at him and promised. "Make no mistake. I'm only doing this for her."
"OK." Kyle said as he prepared to fight again. He was determined not to end up flat on his ass this time.
Grant kept talking as he threw kicks and punches. Kyle dodged them more easily this time. It was like he could see his instincts waking up. Kyle would make a good slayer. Grant realized. It would just take a bit of time.
"When did you stop training?" He asked.
Kyle winced as Grant caught him in the side. "Two years ago. When my mother left."
"Your father's the slayer?" Grant continued to question.
"Yeah. My mother. She wanted no part of it. She couldn't take it –so she left." Kyle ducked as he added sadly. "She took my sister with her."
"How old's your sister?" He asked, once again impressed at Kyle's progress.
"Nine." He said as he put his hands down and gave Grant a far away look. "God. She'd be nine now. She's ten years younger than me."
"So you're nineteen." Grant commented.
"Yeah." Kyle confirmed with a nod.
"Becky just turned seventeen you know." Grant added.
"OK." Kyle replied – a bit confused.
"She's eight years younger than me. Ella – well. Ella was born when I was seventeen." Grant gave Kyle a smile. "Younger sisters are tough. I can't resist either of them. The only one I stand a chance with is Katrina."
"She was named after your paternal grandmother. Katrina Kovich." Kyle said proudly. He was like a Kovich encyclopedia Grant noticed. He was constantly spouting facts from their family history.
"That's right. Well. You certainly did your homework." Grant said with a laugh.
Kyle blushed a bit. "I did a lot of research. You have an amazing family."
"In more ways than one." Grant said under his breath. Maybe someday, depending on how things went Kyle would learn that more than just the fact that they were slayers made the Kovichs an amazing family.
He decided to give the kid a bit of a break. Grant took a bottle of water off the shelf and wiped his face on a towel. He moved over to the couch and settled in.
Kyle gazed at him. Grant looked pretty relaxed. Maybe it was the time to apologize. It was easier to do when he wasn't throwing punches at him. Well. Maybe not easier, but certainly safer.
"Umm. Grant?" Kyle began tentatively.
"Yeah?" He replied, stretching his legs out in front of him and getting comfortable.
"I want to apologize again. For you know – what happened earlier? I understand how you reacted. If it had been Alaina, my sister – I know I'd have gone crazy too."
Grant sighed, remembering his reaction. "I'm not going to apologize."
Kyle nodded. "I don't expect you to."
Grant looked at the younger man thoughtfully before he spoke again. "I love all of my sisters. Kate's my best friend – well. Next to Chloe that is. And Ella…" He chuckled loudly. "Ella's an absolute riot. But Becky…" Grant sighed again. He turned to stare Kyle in the eyes. "You need to understand something. Becky's always been extra special to me."
He kept on, wanting Kyle to understand. "She's got a heart as big as the world my sister. It's ironic that she was the first of us to actually use our gift because Becky would be the last person to ever want to hurt anyone – even a vampire. She's beautiful. Inside and out. Besides my wife and my mother there's no one else in this world who could get me to do something I didn't want to do with just a look. Well. That's not exactly true." Grant laughed again. "My father can pretty much get me to do anything he wants, but he's not nearly as pretty to look at."
Grant cleared his throat and continued. "I'm protective of Becky because she listens to her heart more than her head. I'm afraid she'll get hurt and if I can prevent it I promise you I will. But let me make something clear. I'm not exactly sure of your intentions. There's something you should remember." His voice got low and dangerous as he held Kyle's gaze. "I'm an absolute walk in the park compared to my dad. If he even thinks you've hurt her he'll break you in so many pieces there's little chance you can be put back together again."
Kyle gulped. His mind spun furiously – just imagining the possibilities.
Grant added with a hint of a grin. "…and trust me. I'll help him do it."
The point was made and heard, loud and clear. Kyle looked into Grant's eyes and made a promise. "I came here to help her. I promise you. I don't want to hurt her."
"Then make sure you don't." Grant warned him again. Satisfied he made his point he finally cracked a smile.
Kyle was still picturing the many different scenarios of meeting Rafe face to face. "Your father…" He asked his voice shaking a bit. "…he's really that bad huh?"
Grant laughed loudly as he replied. "Let me put it this way. You know your worst nightmare?"
Kyle nodded, terrified.
Grant grinned as he said. "Yeah well. Triple it."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Alison was still walking on air. She couldn't believe their little vacation was almost over. Two more nights and then they'd be going home.
She giggled as Rafe opened the door to their room. This was the first night they'd ventured to the restaurant for dinner. Though she loved spending time alone with Rafe it was nice to get dressed up and go out for at least a little bit.
He smiled as he watched her, still swaying a bit as if they were still dancing. He reached out and caught her hand in his bringing her back into his arms.
She settled there easily and gazed up into his eyes. "Wasn't that fun?" She said with a sigh. "Rafe. Can you believe it? Almost everyone thought we were here on our honeymoon."
"I know." He replied with a laugh. "Did you see that woman's face when you told her we had four kids…"
"…and that we were about to be grandparents." Alison continued, laughing herself. "I thought she was going to keel over."
Rafe's brow wrinkled and Alison knew that her words were causing him to worry. "Rafe…" She scolded him.
"Hmm." He replied, clearly distracted as he pulled her close.
"I know there's no phone here but if there was a problem, the kids know how to reach us." She reached up and ran a hand across his cheek. "Rafe. Kate is fine. Everything's fine."
He nodded as he leaned down to kiss her. "I know." He promised.
"I know you know. So act like it." She said with a grin, her hand moving behind his neck and applying pressure, keeping his lips on hers.
Rafe kissed her over and over, slowly moving her towards the end of the bed. She pulled away and tugged at his hand, bringing him to the other side of the room with her. Alison kicked off her sandals and took the clip out of her hair, tossing in on a small table near the French doors. She pulled them open and gave his hand another yank. He laughed as he followed dutifully behind.
"Alison." He couldn't help but ask. "Where are we going?"
She turned around and flashed him a grin. "Swimming." She said with a gleam in her eye.
"It's almost midnight." He remarked as they made their way along the sand.
"I know. It's amazing how warm it still is." She let his hand go and dashed towards the water's edge. He realized exactly what she was up to when first her sparkly little shawl and then her dress hit him square in the face.
It was amazing. He would never have imagined. After all this time, she constantly surprised him. "I guess we're not using our bathing suits huh?"
Though she was not too far in front of him she was barely visible. He could faintly see the contours of her body as she peeled off the rest of what she was wearing and made her way into the surf. He watched her dive under and come back up, her hair slicked back off her face, her eyes shining like stars in the moonlight.
"Nope." She giggled at him. "C'mon. Hurry up and get in here, Rafe. The water's beautiful."
How could he pass up an opportunity like this? He thought as he shed his clothes and joined her. His arms curled around her waist, struggling to keep his hold on her smooth, slick skin. As the waves crashed around them she clung to him, never wanting the night to end.
"You know what Rafe?" She said softly, trying to catch her breath. Between the pull of the ocean and being so close to him she was finding it hard to breathe.
"What?" He replied as his hands moved to smooth her damp hair off her face. He leaned down to kiss her, tasting the salt clinging to her lips.
Before she could answer a wave crashed and took them both under. When it eased away she was laughing. Though it was quite a wave, Rafe, unbelievably never broke their kiss. "I love you." She whispered against his lips.
"Well. That's convenient, because I love you too." Rafe teased just before they went under again.
