Angel of Redemption (57 page)

Dean
’s phone starts ringing. He ignores it
and continues working me into a frenzy. The ringing stops, but two seconds
later, starts again. I’m beginning to think that the caller knows what we’re
doing and is trying to interrupt.

“Answer it,” I pant.

“No.”

“If you don’t, they might keep calling.”

He reaches down, picking up his phone and
silencing it before tossing it onto the nightstand.

“I don’t know that number.” He’s back on me, and
this time, he goes in the direction I want
—down. His fingers slip
under the lacy fabric and slide it down my legs. I’m naked. I want him naked,
too, but he’s on his knees. I feel dizzy with anticipation—and maybe a
little bit from the alcohol, too. It intensifies as I feel his breath between
my legs.

He’s not talking, he’s just doing, and I’ve never
been so appreciative of silence in my life. His mouth is on me, kissing and
sucking. I’m writhing and reeling and gripping his hair.

“Stop moving so much,” he growls.

“Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God.” Looking down, I see
muscular shoulders tensed, arms wrapped around my open thighs. His tongue is
inside. It feels so good. “Dean,” I squeal. “I’m gonna
…”

He withdraws.

“Ahhhhh! What are you doing?” I cry.
“Dean,
please.”

He grins up at me. Cheeky bastard. I watch as he
returns his focus to my swollen, throbbing clit and moves his tongue rapidly
against it. His arms tighten around my legs, anchoring me to the bed, and I’m
lost. I cry out loudly as I come.

And then everything goes black.

Dean

I stare down at Kayla’s
limp body. I’m either that good, or she’s that drunk. Shit, I’m hoping I’m just
that good, but somehow I doubt it. Going down on girls isn’t something I do. It’s
not something Steph was into, and I wasn’t interested in doing it with any
randoms. I’ve seen enough porn to know what to do, though, and I’ve even
learned a few things from reading some of Emily’s chick magazines. It’s hard to
resist when the cover reads
have the best orgasm of your life.

Aiden saw me reading it and gave me shit, but I
caught that fucker looking at the same article a week later.

I lift Kayla up easily and situate her in the
bed, pulling the covers over her naked body. Standing in the eerily silent
room, I debate what to do. I can still taste her on my tongue, which is
severely delaying the deflation of my painful erection.

I strip down to my boxers, rinse out my mouth
with some mouthwash I find in the bathroom, and climb into bed next to Kayla.
Lying on my back, I stare up at the ceiling. I want to touch her so badly, but
she obviously needs to sleep off the booze.

I think about our night. She thinks I didn’t
notice her disappointment when I introduced her to Lance as my friend, but I
did. I had no idea how to respond to the whole fianc
é thing. Even though
I knew she was fucking with Jodi, it still made me a little nervous. Kayla said
she’d “protect” me, but I didn’t consider that she’d lay claim like that. I
thought she’d do something similar to what she did with Madison. A kiss, maybe
a grope.

I close my eyes, hoping I’ll fall asleep quickly,
but I’m not that lucky. Kayla is restless, tossing and turning. After about an
hour, I can’t take it anymore. I trap her in my arms and pin her down. She
struggles for a few minutes and moans, but then settles. Unfortunately, this
means that her naked body is pressed up against me. It’s pure fucking torture.
I don’t sleep at all. Instead, I watch her, memorizing every line, every
freckle on her face. I watch her eyelashes flutter and her lips tremble. I
listen to her whimper. I find myself chuckling at the fact that she left me
hanging after getting hers, and yet I’m still here. I’m still wrapped around
her like she’s my fucking security blanket.

But then my smile fades. I’m getting too attached.
I’ve been attached before. And while I know Kayla and Stephanie are two very
different people, I don’t want to go to that place again.

My thoughts don’t improve as the night wears on,
but when Kayla begins to stir again a few hours later, I try to push them back.
I don’t want her to see me in such an anxious state.

Her eyes slowly crack open, and she blinks a few
times before staring at me.

“Good morning.”

“Yeah,” she says, her voice strained. “Oh, God,
what happened?”

I chuckle lightly. “You passed out.”

“I did?
” I nod. “Oh, shit. In the middle
of… Oh my God.” She covers her face with her hands. “I’m so sorry.”

“It wasn’t in the middle, sweetheart. Don’t
worry.”

“Dean,” she groans.

I kiss her nose. “It’s fine.” Rolling over, I get
out of bed.

“What are you doing?”

“I have to go.”

Kayla glances at the clock, squinting. “It’s 4:00
a.m.”

“I know.” I grimace. “I have to take one of the
boys to a therapy session at eight this morning. I need to get some things done
before then.”

Kayla looks up at me, her eyes questioning. I
feel like shit for bailing, but I have to get out of here. I need to clear my
head. I pull on my jeans and slip my shirt on over my head.

“I’ll call you later, okay?” Pressing a kiss
against her mouth, I leave before she even has a chance to respond. When I get
to my car, I bang my head against the steering wheel. I just left the perfect
woman in a warm bed, and she probably thinks I
’m a total douchebag. What
the fuck is wrong with me?

* * *

“What are you doing here
so early?” Simon grumbles when he sees me sitting in the kitchen, drinking
coffee and reading the newspaper. It’s 6:00 a.m., and I’m on my third cup.

“Nothing better to do.” I frown, thinking about
what I could be doing right now. What I should be doing right now. I should be
in bed with Kayla.

“Thanks for making a whole pot!” Simon says
snidely, holding up the nearly empty coffeepot.

“I did make a whole pot.”

He looks at me. I offer a fake smile and return
to my newspaper. Sitting down next to me, he grabs a portion of the paper I’ve
set aside and starts reading.

“So, I heard Logan talking to his girl on the
phone the other day. You ever met her?”

I shake my head, only partially paying attention.
“Nope.”

“Is that not part of our jobs? To get to know who
our charges are spending their time with?”

“We’re a group home, Simon. If we were an RTC or
a juvenile detention facility, then I’d know every single person the boys spend
their time with, but we’re not. Our jobs are to teach them the skills they’re
going to need to be productive and happy members of their community and to
provide a safe and caring environment for them to grow, not to police their
every move.”

“I’m just not so sure she’s the kind of girl
Logan should be getting involved with. From what I overheard, she’s trying to
convince him to take her over state lines. She
’s got some rich daddy who’s
not very nice, and she wants Logan to be her knight in shining armor. In less
than a month, that would be considered felony kidnapping, wouldn’t it?”

“What?” I jerk my head toward him. What the fuck
did he just say? “When was this?”

“Tuesday. That kid thinks he’s being sneaky.”
Simon laughs. “But I’ve overheard more conversations than I can count between
him and Brayden. His girl’s only sixteen, and he’s definitely banging her.
”

I frown. He
’s talking about these kids
like they’re his buddies, and I don’t like it.

“Have you talked to him about it?”

“I figured that was yours and A’s territory. I’m
just the night guard.” Simon smirks. “Thought you should know.”

“Yeah, probably should have known three days ago.”

He shrugs. “Sorry.”

Fuck. How is it possible for me to have such a
shitty day before the sun even comes up?

“Do you realize that if he was planning to skip
out, he could have already done it in the amount of time it’s taken you to tell
me this? Goddammit, Simon! You can’t keep this kind of shit from us. You hear
something, you tell us. Me, Aiden, Emily, Tracey, I don’t care who you tell,
but if something goes wrong and I find out you knew about it, you
’re
done here. Got it?”

“Yes, sir.
” He salutes me, but from the
tone of his voice, I can tell he thinks this is all a joke.

Over the next half hour, the boys all stumble in.
I watch Logan closely. He’s dragging like the rest of them, but there
’s
something else. He seems nervous and doesn’t engage anyone in conversation. He
eats breakfast, gets dressed, and grabs the keys to the car before heading out.
There’s definitely something going on.

“You ready to go?” I ask Brayden after the rest
of the kids are on the bus.

“Yep.”

While Brayden is with Dr. Cooper, I sit in the
waiting room flipping through magazines, trying to find something to distract
me. I look at the clock and wonder if Kayla’s at work yet. Is she pissed that I
left? Does she even care? I don
’t know how she views what’s been going
on between us. I’m not even sure how
I
view it at this point. All I know is that it feels good. I like being around
her. I like being with her…in every way. I flip-flop from thinking about Kayla
to what’s going on with Logan and back to Kayla again. I’m so fucking thankful
when the door opens and Brayden emerges.

“I’ll see you next week.” Dr. Cooper smiles.

I lift my hand in thanks and follow Brayden out
of the office. All the boys except for Matty and Logan see him. I’ll be making
an appointment for Matty soon. I wanted to give him some time to settle in
before forcing him to go. I know he hasn’t responded well to therapists in the
past, but Dr. Cooper is good and they all relate well to him. He’s not some
stuffy old dude who lectures. He’s a thirty-eight-year-old, married, clinical
child psychologist with a specialty in juvenile delinquency. If he’d been
around ten years ago, maybe I wouldn’t have ended up where I am. We were made
to go to therapy in juvie, but the guy I had was a total ass. I’m pretty sure
he was drawing cartoon characters or writing his new book while we sat there
with our arms crossed, not talking. As much as I think Logan should go, too, at
his age, it has to be something he’s ready and willing to do.

“How was that?” I ask when we get into the
elevator.

“Fine. Same as always.”

Dr. Cooper informed me a long time ago that
Brayden did a lot of talking in his sessions and that I shouldn’t be surprised
if he clammed up afterward. I buy him a coffee at the Starbucks on the corner before
we climb into the car and head for school. His therapy sessions have been on
the second Friday of every month for the past three years, so his teachers are
well aware and typically very accommodating.

“Do you and Logan talk much?” I ask when we’re on
our way.

Brayden looks at me like I’m an idiot. “Yeah, all
the time.”

“Don’t be a smart-ass. I mean about your pasts?”

Brayden scoffs. “Logan doesn’t talk about that
shit, D. Sorry. I know his mom was a hooker and an addict, but whose isn’t?”

“Have you told him about yours?”

“Dr. C says it’s a good thing to talk about it.
He says the more I talk about it with the people in my life, the stronger I’ll
be. He says it’s like desensitization or something like that. The first time
you talk about it, it hurts like a bitch and you want to punch something or set
something on fire, but then the next time, it hurts a little less. Like a scab
covering the wound. He says it’ll never go away, but soon I’ll be able to
handle it like a motherfucking pro.”

“Are those the professional words he used?” I
ask. “Tone down the language.”

“He also says I don’t have to understand the
words, just the concepts.” He grins and looks very proud of himself. “Yeah, I’ve
told Logan my sh
—stuff. I talk to Caity about it, and I’ve even
told Cl-uhm…” he ends his sentence with a series of weird mouth sounds and then
clamps it shut.

“What the hell was that? Who?”

“A friend of Caity’s. Nice girl.”

I glance over at him. He looks like he
’s
hiding something. “Are you cheating on your girl?”

“Huh?” He looks horrified. “No!”

“I remember you telling me about how nice a girl
Caity is.”

“She still is. She’s very nice.” Brayden waggles
his eyebrows at me, and I know I shouldn’t laugh, but I do anyway.

“Just keep it wrapped and don’t tell me about it,
please.”

“Uh-huh. Speaking of keeping it wrapped, how’s
your
sex life?”

“Oh, Jesus Christ, Brayden. Really?”

He laughs. “Dude, don’t even try to tell me you haven’t
hit that. Kayla is hot on a bad day. All dressed up and shit
… Mmm, mmm,
mmm.” He does this little move where he looks like he’s riding a horse, his
hand swaying back and forth. I’m not amused. He knows it, too. “Sorry. But
damn. That picture? Did that dress just slip off?” I know he’s trying to rile
me up, and it’s working.

“Brayden,” I warn. And then I realize something. “Shit,
did Logan and Matty see that picture?”

“No, I grabbed it to check the basketball scores
and tossed the rest of it before anyone else got up. They don’t know you’re
banging their social worker?”

“You are walking on thin ice right now,” I growl,
clenching my teeth together.

“Geez. Why are you so grumpy? I’m just messing
with you. It’s not like I’m gonna say anything to them. I’m good at keeping
secrets.”

I glance at him, something in his voice catching
my attention. Unfortunately, I have to watch the road and can’t read his
expression like I usually can.

“What other secrets are you hiding?” I ask
curiously.

“Stop being so suspicious,” he laughs, obviously
thinking I’m not serious.

“You didn’t answer me.”

“And I’m not going to,” he retorts.

I sigh. “Are you feeling ready to leave care?” I
ask, changing the subject.

“Leave the system? I guess, but I still have
setbacks.”

“We all have our setbacks, kid.”

“Do you?”

I nod. “Frequently.” Like right now.

“Do you think if you talked about your shit more,
you still would?”

I shrug. “I don’t know, Bray. Maybe? But we’re
not talking about me. What’s your plan after graduation?”

“I was thinking I’d go to school for IT stuff.”