Twisted Minds (19 page)

Twenty-One

Not Foie Gras

The desire to fuck Kira again was still strong.

It was stupid, too. I knew that the discovery of what had happened between us had the potential to ruin my friendship with Finn, but the selfish side of me tried to rationalize it.

Kira was an adult, capable of making her own choices. Her choice had been to have sex with me. It wasn’t exactly my fault. And if it happened again, well, then it did.

Besides, Finn was screwing around with Cass now, making plans about their future together, so it wasn’t like he was one to dictate who I could or couldn’t be with. Even if it was his little sister.

And, Kira—stunning, gorgeous Kira—she was someone I was willing to risk it all for. She was addictive to me. The way she looked, the way she smiled, the way she spoke—I was utterly captivated by her. Instead of thinking about how to end it, I was actually trying to figure out how to prolong my relationship with her.

Relationship.

Another word that didn’t often pop up in my vocabulary. Yet, here I was using it in the same context as Kira. The absurdity of the notion was only overshadowed by my feelings for her. Feelings I knew I had never experienced before.

As Finn headed to bed, I padded into the kitchen to get myself a beer. Theresa was still in there, putting away leftover food and cleaning up. She really was the mother who worked behind-the-scenes and ensured that everything ran smoothly.

“Hey,” I said, pulling a Hoegaarden out of the fridge. “Aren’t you tired?”

“I am.” Her blue eyes were weary as she snapped the lid of a container shut and stacked it on top of another one that was filled with pastries. “But I’m making sure these are packed for tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” I wondered, searching for the bottle opener in the second drawer.

“Yes, we only have our stall at the fair for a day,” Theresa explained as she reached for a bottle of cleaner and tore off some paper towels. She sprayed the counter and began wiping it down. “We take the leftover food to the local church and distribute it to the homeless. It’s something we like to do as a family.”

Charity. Neither of my parents believed in giving something away for free. My father had always told me he believed that if you worked hard enough, you could achieve anything. According to him, the people who were poor were also lazy and had never worked hard a day in their lives.

He used his multi-million dollar business to illustrate his point of how hard work could get you to the top. What he conveniently left out of his story was that he’d had a generous six-figure investment from his own father to help start his business.

My mother liked to tell me that poor people were poor because they chose to be. She often ranted about how the lower class deserved to stay that way because they had no motivation to become valuable members of society. Apparently, ambition was what made you successful.

Luckily for my mother, she’d been ambitious about sleeping with men so she could put herself in a better position financially. After a bunch of failed marriages with high divorce settlements that began with my father, she was now living the life in a luxurious home with husband number four.

But the Walshs didn’t have millions of dollars to give away; they had cookies. Yet, they still felt the need to help people who didn’t have a comfortable life like they did.

That’s the kind of people the Walshs’ were, and I had fucked their daughter.

“You’re very welcome to join us.” Theresa’s honey-like voice broke into my thoughts. She was studying me with a pleasant smile. “We’d love to have you come along.”

“Uh, um,” I spluttered, thrown off by her questions. “Sure, I guess.”

“Perfect.” She threw out the paper towels and put the spray in the cupboard under the sink. “We’re leaving at nine, so make sure you get to bed soon.” She gave my beer a pointed look before breezing out of the kitchen.

As the house grew silent, I sat alone in the living room for another thirty minutes, drinking the beer, lost in a spiral of realizations and possibilities about Kira, and my parents, and charity. Finally, as sleep began to ensnare me, I headed upstairs with my scattered thoughts.

When I approached my door, it was shut, but I could see the light was on. That was weird. I distinctly recalled turning my light off when I’d gone downstairs. Turning the handle, I pushed it open and froze at the sight in front of me.

Kira was laying down on my bed, stark naked. The bedsheets were twisted around a leg, pulled up to her midriff, but her breasts lay exposed for me to see.

“Hi, Nate.” Her tone was hesitant as my eyes ravaged her body.

“Hi.” My response was short as I locked the door behind me. Kira had completely taken my breath away.

She sat up, pulling the sheet over her breasts in a show of modesty. “I found your present.”

My present. When I’d gone to the store earlier on in the day, I’d bought a packet of chocolate-covered cranberries for her and left them on her bed. I wasn’t sure why—I guess I’d just wanted to do something nice for her, something that would make her happy.

“It’s not foie gras, but I thought it would suffice.” I walked further into the room, unable to take my eyes off her.

Fuck. She was incredible. Every sense I possessed was heightened in Kira’s presence, wanting to experience her all over again.

“It did suffice.” Her eyes stalked me, seductive yet subtle. “I didn’t expect a giant panda and chocolate-covered cranberries all in one day. Especially not from you.”

“I didn’t expect to get punched in the face and have sex with you all in one day.” My confidence returned as I stepped closer to the bed.

Kira blushed at that, motioning at my face with her fingers. “How is your face, anyway?” Her humility was pretty ironic considering she was the one laying on my bed naked.

“It would’ve hurt more if he didn’t hit like a pussy.”

“Good.” She yawned, stretching her arms over her head and letting the sheet slide down her body, exposing her breasts. “I almost fell asleep waiting for you.”

My gaze fell on her creamy breasts, the bane of my existence. All thoughts vacated my mind. Ever since I’d first laid eyes on her, those breasts had enraptured me.

Stepping closer to the bed, I reached over and pinched a pink nipple.

Kira took a sharp intake of breath, frozen in place. Her breathing turned shallow as she waited to see what I would do.

“Turn around,” I ordered, enjoying her response to my touch.

“Are you going to turn the lights off?” Her gaze flitted to the light switch by the door.

Fuck no. I wanted to see her in all her glory.

“No. Turn around,” I repeated, stripping my own clothes off.

From my tone, she could tell I meant business, and immediately complied. She began to turn her incredible body away from me, taking the sheet with her as she went.

Pressing two fingers against my temple, I let out a frustrated groan. “Drop the fucking sheet, Kira.”

She frowned.

I glared back.

She conceded.

The sheet fell from her hands, exposing her bare back. It was hard to decide if I liked seeing her spread out on her back or from behind like this.

“Now get on all fours.”

“What?” She turned her head just the slightest so she was glancing at me over her shoulder. There was a frown on her face. She was challenging me.

“Do it, Kira.” There was a hard edge in my voice. “I’m not fucking around.”

Once again she complied, getting down on all fours and bending over. Her big booty was pointed right in my face, just begging to be touched.

My eyes searched the floor for my belt—I had dropped it there earlier today. My eyes finally fell on the black leather peeking out from under a pile of clothes.

“Don’t move,” I warned her, before moving off the bed and snatching it off the floor.

An involuntary smirk crept onto my face as I stretched the leather out and wrapped it around my right hand like a whip.

“What are you doing?” Kira was turning her head, trying to peer back at me over her shoulder. Her golden hair plummeted down her back like an unruly mane.

“I told you not to move,” I said severely.

She immediately turned her head so she was facing the front again. Satisfaction edged into me at her obedience.

The things I was about to do to this little temptress were going to destroy her. That flame of defiance that burned inside her was about to be put out. Even if it was only for a little while.

Climbing back onto the bed, I studied her creamy, round ass again. It was the perfect shape, fleshy enough for me to grab and squeeze. But that wasn’t what I was aching to do.

Grabbing one end of the belt tightly, I let it unravel before sending it flying out. With a resounding smack it struck her on her left ass cheek, immediately turning the creamy flesh to a crimson red.

“Nate!” she cried, turning around to face me as she clutched the spot where I’d hit her with the belt. “That freaking hurts! I didn’t sign up for this!”

“You signed up for this the moment you chose to lay on your bed in those lacy, white panties and read your goddamn history book.” I fixed her with a steady gaze. “Now turn the fuck around before you make me mad.”

Her face flushed red, her ears were tinged with pink, but she slowly turned back around. Some dirty, little part of her was enjoying this, otherwise she wouldn’t be letting me do this to her. Inside this good girl was a girl who liked to get a little nasty.

Lust stirred within me at the thought, and once again I sent the belt flying. This time I let it strike her right ass cheek. The skin colored quickly, mirroring the flush on her left cheek.

This time Kira didn’t cry out; she let out a sharp gasp, but didn’t turn around. Her steely resolve was a huge turn on. Casting the belt aside, I leaned forward and grabbed a fistful of her blonde hair, pulling her head back.

“Do you want me to fuck you?” I asked in her ear.

Her breathing was shallow. She bounced her head up and down twice.

“Do you want this?” I asked again. “Tell me.”

“Yes, I want this, Nate.”

“I’m gonna fuck you so hard, Kira, you will never want to be with anyone else.” Without further hesitation, I released her hair and dropped my hands down to her ass. I squeezed it with both hands, before spreading it apart. “I’m going to make sure every inch of your skin memorizes mine.”

As I pushed into her, her wetness slithered against my cock. Kira gasped, clutching the bedsheet with both hands. The view from behind was incredible. Her ass bounced up and down as I thrust into her deeply.

“Ohhh,” she was moaning.

Kira was going to wake up the entire goddamn house. Reaching over, I covered her mouth with a hand to muffle her screaming. She tried to bite it, and I thrust into her even harder, making her scream against my hand again.

“You’re so fucking tight, baby,” I growled into her ear.

Kira’s naked body burned with heat as I flipped her over so I could see her beautiful face. Her curly hair was a mess, but I kind of liked it wild and untamed like this. There was pure pleasure on her face as she reached out to stroke my cheek.

This was the most incredible feeling I’d ever experienced. This incredible woman, with her insanely hot body was the most amazing thing to ever walk into my life. She was stunning, she was perfect, and no one was going to take that away from me.

The very thought spurred me on. I fucked her harder, pushing her to the brink of an orgasm. Then I pulled out and put my cock in her mouth. Her tongue wrapped around it, and she immediately lowered her head as I knelt on the bed.

Kira’s mouth moved at a pace I liked. I was already getting warm, a rush surging through me. It wouldn’t take much for me to cum. I was already close. She began to move faster, and I clenched her hair in my fist to brace myself.

“Oh, fuck,” I groaned, losing all sense of control as I came in her mouth.

Kira clutched my thigh until she had swallowed every last drop. When she pulled away, her eyes were shining and her cheeks were rosy.

“Now we’re even,” she murmured, lying back on the bed.

“Yeah.” I collapsed beside her, completely drained yet satisfied at the same time.

It was well into the early hours of the morning. With our bodies intertwined, sleep came easily to us. Kira was already breathing steadily beside me.

As my mind began to drift away, a feeling of content washed over me.

This feeling, with Kira, it was everything.

Twenty-Two

Gone

The sun squeezed through the blinds and fell across Kira’s naked body, creating geometric patterns of light across it. She lay there half tangled up in sheets and sunlight, her breathing steady.

She was so beautiful, and completely captivating.

Fucking her for a second time had been even more incredible than the first. Her strong spirit and her beauty had me caught in trap. She was innocent without being fragile; strong without being resilient; moralistic without being overbearing.

She was all things that a woman should be. All things that I wasn’t used to. Maybe it was because I hadn’t ever looked for those things in a woman; maybe because I hadn’t ever thought those things were real in a woman.

Without really thinking too hard on it, I leaned over and kissed her golden head. Then I pulled back, studying her for several long seconds. It was at some point during that peaceful moment that I realized what I’d done. The action had come so naturally to me, yet I’d never done it before in my life.

I never kissed anyone on the head. Ever. But I was starting to form an attachment to Kira I’d never experienced with anyone before, and I couldn’t explain why. There was so much about her that I loved—the list was endless.

Trying to get my spinning emotions under control, I got out of the bed a little too quickly as I reached for the glass of water on the bedside table. Taking a large gulp, I tried to convince myself this was just a phase. Surely there was a woman I’d kissed on the head before.

My mind processed this thought and came back with a quick response.

There wasn’t. I had failed to convince myself of anything. What I needed to do was write this all down in my journal. Maybe it would help me sift through my thoughts.

Moving away from the bed, I walked over to my bag to retrieve my journal. There was more I wanted to add to it, especially after last night. The way Kira felt beneath me. The way her eyes fluttered shut whenever I pushed into her.

It was incredible how many pages I’d ended up devoting to Kira. Most girls only ever got one—Kira was going to get a whole book.

There were pages and pages about her. The superficial things like her looks only took up a couple of pages, but it was the other parts of her that filled the remaining pages. Her hobbies. Her favorite things. The things she didn’t like. What made her smile. The books she liked to read. Historical facts.

The more I learned about her, the more I loved everything she had to offer. She was the most incredible woman I’d ever had the fortune of knowing. She had changed the way I saw females.

My mother had been the reason I’d treated women the way I had my entire life. But Kira, Theresa—they had all shown me there were women in the world who deserved respect. I’d come into this situation wanting Kira, without appreciating what I was taking from her.

She wasn’t just one of the numerous women on the list—she was more than that.

I unzipped my bag, reaching in to grab my journal without really looking inside it. When my fingers didn’t brush against it immediately, I dug my hand deeper, searching the sides of the bag. I still couldn’t feel it.

A panic started to set in as I turned my full attention onto my bag. Squatting down, I began pulling every item of clothing, all my shoes, and various other things and tossing them across the floor.

Where the fuck was it? I’d written in it only yesterday after the first time Kira and I had had sex. How could it be gone? I was sure I’d brought it back up here before leaving to go to the store.

But there was no journal in sight—my bag was a bottomless pit.

My heart and soul was gone. It was really fucking gone.

Okay, I had to calm down.

Taking two deep breaths, my disjointed mind tried to retrace my steps, but there was no place I’d taken the journal with me. I’d never even taken it out of the Walshs’ house. So where the fuck could it have possibly gone?

With a thunderstorm raging in my head, I began flinging my clothes out of my bag, trying to find it. I pulled out my clothes, my shoes, a book on money management, every single thing that was in there. All my possession were strewn across the floor, except my journal.

It wasn’t here. Just as I crawled across the floor, intending to sift through my clothes again, there was a flurry of movement on the bed.

“Nate?” Kira blinked at me uncertainly as she sat up. “Is everything okay?” Her eyes were full of sleep, her voice weary.

Shit. What the fuck was I going to tell her? That I’d lost the journal I’d been keeping since I was a teenage boy—the one that detailed all my sexual exploits. The one that had in-depth information of my pursuit of her.

“N-nothing.” My voice was shaky as I moved back over to the bed. “I thought I lost something, but it’s okay now.”

No it wasn’t okay, but there was no way I could tell her anything. I had to find Finn and let him know. He would understand. He would help me find it.

“Let’s go downstairs,” I said, picking up my phone in order to distract myself and seeing that it was a few minutes after eight.

Kira peered at me in confusion, and it looked like she wanted to probe me further, but her eyes fell on the phone’s screen. “Crap! I need to get up. We have to be at the church at nine.”

“Church?” I asked, as the wheels in my brain churned through slush.

“Yes, we’re giving the leftover food from the fair to the homeless,” she explained as she scrambled out of bed and attempted to search for her clothes in the disaster zone I’d created. “I can’t find anything in this mess!”

Finally, after some digging, she retrieved her panties and oversized t-shirt. Once she was dressed, she stole over to the door and pushed it open just a little, peering out to make sure the coast was clear.

She turned back to smile at me. “Last night was great.” With a final glance at me, she was gone.

Just like my journal.

Getting dressed quickly, I began the search again. Clothes were thrown aside, drawers were pulled open; I even shook my bag upside down, but there was still no journal. Now panic was squeezing my chest again as I realized it really wasn’t here.

In a cloud of defeat, I left the room and descended the stairs. There was nothing I could do except try to look for it later on with Finn’s help. Two sets of eyes would get the job done better.

The Walshs were a flurry of colors in the kitchen, seeming almost as panicked as I was. Almost—some charity thing wasn’t as important as my missing journal.

Theresa barked orders at Joe, telling him to get the van packed. Cass was rushing around in full flight, wrapping things up in cling wrap and putting them into a large container.

As Cass caught my eye, she shot me a smug look and that’s when everything fell together. A slimy feeling slid through my belly as a memory came back to me.

Years ago, before Cass and Finn had ever broken up the first time, she had been cleaning my room one day. It was just something she’d used to do, since she was virtually living in my apartment with Finn for way less than the actual rental value of the property.

Anyway, while she’d been cleaning my room, she’d chanced upon my journal and opened up the first page. I’d actually just been walking out of my bathroom at that moment, and saw her flipping through it with wide eyes.

When she’d questioned me on it, I’d explained to her what I used it for and sworn her to secrecy. She had agreed to remain tight-lipped about it, but that was before we became antagonistic towards each other.

It was Cass—she had taken my journal. She was the only one who would stoop so low.

“Dude, grab whatever you can to eat and fucking move it. We gotta go.” Finn flew past me, almost knocking me over in his haste to get to the car.

The more reckless part of me wanted to grab him right then and there and tell him what Cass had done, but the sensible side of me knew this was hardly the time or place for that.

“Where is that girl? Does someone need to wake her up?” Theresa demanded in a bossy tone suited to a mother who liked to run things with efficiency.

“Sorry, Mom.” Kira entered the kitchen just then, running a hand through her long, blonde hair. Her cheeks turned pink when she caught sight of me, and she immediately turned to her mother in question. “Is there anything you need me to do?”

“No, just grab something to eat,” she barked at her, before turning stern, blue eyes onto me. “You too, Nate. We need to be walking out the door now. Take one of those muffins with you.”

Theresa motioned to a container filled with muffins and I swiftly grabbed two and handed one to Kira. Our fingers touched, and a tingle shot through my body. She averted her eyes as we headed out of the kitchen.

I took a bite out of the muffin—it was apple and pecan with a faint hint of cinnamon—and even though it was almost two days old, it was still moist and delicious.

Outside, Finn was loading his trunk with two large containers, while Joe was already in his van waiting for the rest of us. It almost looked like he had dozed off.

Kira and Theresa walked out behind me and put the final containers into the van and got in, which I guess left me to ride with Finn and Cass. Great. Another day hovering around with the love birds.

Cass hurried over to Finn, carrying two large dishes covered with foil. From the smell that wafted past me, it appeared they were filled with scrambled eggs. Finn shut the trunk and walked around to the back door, pulling it open so Cass could place the dishes on the backseat.

As she did this, I saw Finn checking out her ass. Gross.

Feeling a little sick, I approached them reluctantly, taking another bite out of my muffin and feeling very much like the third wheel.

“I’ll see you later, okay?” Cass was saying to Finn as she stood up on her tip-toes to kiss him on the mouth.

“Okay, thanks for helping out,” he said, wrapping her up in a half hug.

And then I saw the worst thing ever—son of a bitch closed his eyes as he hugged evil incarnate. Fucking hell. He really was in love with her. This was like seeing a car accident in slow motion that I still wasn’t able to prevent.

Grinding my teeth, I managed to ask Cass, “Oh, you’re not joining us?” I feigned disappointment. “I was so looking forward to spending another day with you.”

“No, I need to run home and get cleaned up.” Cass shot me a dirty look, running a hand through her slightly unkempt hair. “I’ll be back later.”

“Oh, I can’t wait to hang out again,” I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

I gave her a pointed look, which meant something along the lines of ‘I know you took my journal, you evil bitch’. Cass merely smirked back and then waved at the Walshs as she headed down the driveway to her distastefully pink car.

“Could you be more of a dick to her?” Finn shot at me as we got into his silver Subaru.

“Yeah, it’s pretty easy,” I said, knowing I sounded like a complete asshole and not caring that I did. “You should try it some time.”

Finn backed out of the driveway and began driving down the street at a ridiculously slow pace. His jaw was tense as he stared at the road ahead in deep concentration as though there were difficult obstacles to maneuver.

Obviously, he was pissed at me because he thought I was rude to Cass, which wasn’t a huge concern for me right now. The journal was much more important, and Finn was about to get even madder than he already was when I was done telling him my theory.

“My journal’s missing,” I began.

It was better to start him off slow before I hit him with my accusation of Cass. Finn was the kind of guy who needed time to digest things, instead of being rapidly bombarded with information.

“What?” His jaw dropped as he turned to me. All signs of annoyance left his face. “When did this happen?”

“Probably last night. I found it missing this morning.”

“No fucking way.” Disbelief clouded his features. Our journals were never meant for anyone else to see but us, considering how controversial they were—especially mine. “Did you look everywhere? Where do you usually keep it?”

Finn thrived on logic and rationality. I had known he would go down this line of reasonable questioning, as though he was a detective trying to solve a crime.

“I said it’s missing, not that I lost it,” I corrected him.

He gave me a blank stare, not quite sure where I was going with then. I gave him a pointed look.

C’mon, Finn, figure it out.

Understanding dawned on his face. “You think someone stole it? Are you sure? I mean, that’s a big jump to make. My mom did your laundry the other day. Maybe she misplaced it. You should ask her.”

I literally wanted to face palm myself. There he went, logical Finn, entirely missing the big picture. Obviously, there was only one other person who knew about the journal and was out to get me. There wasn’t going to be some huge plot twist involving Joe being the culprit.

“Finn.” I shot him an incredulous look. “The chances of your mother
misplacing
my journal are slim to none. I’m also pretty sure she’s not that absent minded. She seems to have her shit together.”