CHAPTER 8

 

When they got back from L.A., Cate decided that she owed it to Kian, Lola and Mateo to stop moping and give Seattle a proper chance. It didn’t have to be home. It could be like Liv said - an amazing adventure for them all.

The adventure truly felt as though it had begun several days later, as they drove back home from the airport, having said their tearful goodbyes to Jean. For the first time in over five months, it was just the four of them. It was equal parts exciting and terrifying; like riding a bike for the first time after the training wheels had been taken off.

After hearing endless tales about her sister, Remy’s volatile relationship with her mother-in-law, Sophia, Cate knew that she was incredibly lucky to have such a good relationship with Jean. She’d been an absolute godsend as they’d struggled to adjust not only to being in a different country but also to being a family again after so many months apart. But Cate was now ready to see if she could handle this on her own.

The next morning, she woke up early. She checked the clock, it was five am; Lola and Mateo wouldn’t be awake for another hour at least. As she turned over, she could see Kian’s early-morning erection tenting the covers beside her and she had a wicked idea.

She stripped off her cotton vest and scooted down the bed until she was kneeling by his thighs. Cate pushed the covers down to the end of the bed and cupped Kian’s erection through his shorts.

She slid the tips of her fingers slowly underneath the waistband, brushing against the tip of his cock. “Cate?” he mumbled sleepily.

“Hush,” Cate tugged his shorts down his muscular thighs, exposing his thick, jutting cock.

Kian put his hands behind his head, watching her from under heavy lids.

She straddled his thigh, feeling his coarse hair tickle her bare legs and bent down, letting her silky, black hair trail seductively over his groin. The musky scent of his hot, male flesh just inches from her face and the press of his hard thigh in just the right spot between her legs made her pause for a second. She shivered, her skin breaking out in goose bumps.

“Angel?” Kian reached down and gently cupped the soft flesh of her breast, brushing his calloused thumb over her nipple.

“Hey,” Cate scowled. “Hands behind your head.” She tried really hard to ignore how just that fleeting touch of her breast had ricocheted so powerfully down to her greedy, aching sex. It was taking every ounce of her willpower not to grind shamelessly against his bare thigh.

She wrapped her hand around the base of his steely length and traced her tongue slowly over the thick, pulsing vein underneath his shaft.

“Angel,” Kian grunted loudly.

Cate looked up at him through those long black eyelashes. “You’re going to wake up the children!” They hadn’t locked the door and so the room wasn’t soundproofed.

The tip of his cock was already glossy with pre-come but Cate worked the slit with her tongue, encouraging more to spill out. As his hips shifted restlessly underneath her, she slowly guided him into the wet heat of her mouth.

Kian stared up at the ceiling; he knew if he looked at what Cate was doing to him, he would blow his load in two seconds flat. He could feel her licking and sucking, feasting hungrily on his manhood.

Cate let his cock fall from her lips and Kian quickly looked down. “I want you to watch,” she whispered, lightly scratching his inner thighs with her fingernails.

His hands fisted the pillow underneath his head as he watched her take him deeper, his blunt head kissing the back of her throat.

Cate felt his fingers tangle up in her hair and he thrust upwards. “Fuck.”

“Angel,” he croaked. “I’m going to…”

Cate didn’t pull back. She appreciated the gentlemanly warning but she could already feel how close he was to orgasm; his manhood was so hard and swollen, he barely fitted between her parted lips. She shifted impatiently on the mattress. She couldn’t wait for him to flood her mouth with his hot, salty essence again. She danced her fingers down the V-cut; every muscle in his stomach and thighs was rock-hard and gleamed with sweat. She reached down and cupped his heavy balls.

He stiffened underneath her and jerked violently, filling her mouth with his molten release. Cate proudly swallowed every drop and then licked her swollen lips. It was even better than she’d remembered.

Kian looked dazed. Cate giggled; delighted that even after eight years she could still do that to him. She tugged on her vest top and climbed out of bed.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” Kian grunted.

Cate smiled sweetly, “I’m going to brush my teeth and then I’m going to go downstairs and make pancakes.”

Kian pulled on a pair of black running shorts and followed his wife downstairs. He stood at the bottom of the stairs for a second, watching her. She looked different this morning, happier. As she collected the ingredients she needed to make pancakes from the kitchen cupboards, she shimmied along with the music coming from the iPod dock. It was “Shake it Off” by Taylor Swift.

Cate sung along, her slender hips swaying in time to the music. The pink shorts hugged the curve of her bottom. She looked so fucking sexy, Kian had to resist the urge to say screw the pancakes and just drag her back upstairs to bed.

“Come here,” he wrapped his arms around her waist, “you didn’t let me take care of you.”

“You don’t have to,” Cate blushed, “just because I… you know.”

These little glimpses of shyness were just one of the infinite numbers of things he loved about Cate.

Kian kissed her, pleased that even though she’d brushed her teeth, he could still taste himself on her gently bruised lips.

“Do you think we’ll always be…?” Cate had thought that the need to rip each other’s clothes off would wane once they’d been married for a while.

“Insatiable?” Kian chuckled. He looked down at the indecent curves of her body and felt his masculine reaction pushing against the front of his shorts. “Yeah, I think so.”

“I think you’d better sit over there,” Cate gestured with the spatula to the other side of the marble counter. “We need the counter between us to keep us decent.”

“Whatever you say,” Kian said in a low voice, making Cate shiver. He sat down on one of the stools, “just know that if Lola and Mats weren’t upstairs right now, nothing would be keeping me decent.”

 

After breakfast, Kian left for training and Cate decided to take Lola and Mateo to Ballard Locks. Mateo was fascinated watching the long line of boats passing through the two locks. They walked across the swinging metal walkway and over to the fish ladder. It was unseasonably hot so Cate knelt down and applied sunscreen to both her children before unbuckling Mateo from his pushchair. She lifted him up a little so he could see the water gushing down the weirs.

“There’s one,” Lola yelped, as one of the fish tried to launch itself onto the next stage of the ladder. “Did you see it, Mum?”

“I did,” Cate smiled. They walked down the slope to the underwater viewing area to see one of the last weirs before the spawning fish headed out into fresh water. There were several fish milling about in the greenish water. Mateo stood with his hands pressed to the glass, avidly watching the fish swimming back and forth in front of him. He loved anything to do with the water.

When they came back, Lola went upstairs to e-mail Emily and Noah and Cate took Mateo out to the back garden.

A football came bouncing across the grass and a young woman with a long, flaxen braid swinging down her back came across to fetch it. “I’m so sorry,” she said quickly.

“It’s OK,” Cate smiled. She hadn’t met any of their neighbours yet. “Hi, I’m Cate.”

“Layla,” the young woman held out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.” She gestured to the red-haired boy stood by the nets, “that’s Luke.” He looked about the same age as Lola. Cate thought that Layla looked young to have a child that age but then she’d had Lola when she was only nineteen so…

“Mats, don’t eat that,” Cate realised her son was about to put a handful of grass in his mouth. She scooped him up on to her lap. “Sorry.”

“It’s OK,” Layla shrugged, “it’s nice that there are other children in the neighbourhood. Sometimes, it can feel a bit like a ghost town.”

“Layla,” Luke protested. “You said you were going to help me…?”

“We’ll let you get back to your football,” Cate paused, “sorry, soccer?” She was still getting used to the lingo.

Lola came out onto the porch, “Mum?”

“Layla, this is my daughter, Lola,” Cate introduced them but Lola already had her eye on the football. Luke was practicing his shooting.

“He’s getting underneath the ball,” Lola remarked, “that’s why it keeps going high.”

Layla raised her eyebrows, “you like soccer… um, football?”

Lola grinned, “I love it.”

“Why don’t you go and show Luke how it’s done?” Layla suggested. “I’m supposed to be coaching him but honestly I’m hopeless.”

While Lola ran across the grass to play with Luke, Cate picked Mateo up. “Can I get you something to drink?”

“That would be lovely,” Layla fanned the hem of her olive-green vest. “It’s so hot out there today.” She followed Cate into the kitchen. Cate sat Mateo down on the counter while she retrieved a large pitcher from the fridge. She poured the homemade lemonade into two tumblers filled with ice and handed one to Layla.

“Mm, that tastes so good,” Layla praised.

They took their drinks back to the shaded porch, where they sat watching Lola and Luke take turns trying to score goals.

Layla spotted the romance novel Cate had left by the side of the porch swing. “Ooh, I haven’t read that one yet, is it any good?”

“So good,” Cate admitted. “Have you read the others in the series?”

The conversation flowed freely as they chatted about books. Cate was delighted to find that she and Layla had similar tastes and shared a lot of the same favourite authors. “I love those books,” Layla said excitedly when Cate mentioned a series of books which had started online as fan fiction. “I actually met the author at a signing at Elliott Bay a couple of months ago.”

“What was she like?” Cate asked eagerly. They both followed the author on Facebook.

“She was so sweet,” Layla grinned. “Did you hear that she’s bringing out another book just before Christmas, from his point of view this time?”

“Wow,” Cate said, making a mental note to add it to her Amazon Wish List asap.

“How long have you and your son lived here?” Cate asked Layla.

“Oh no, I’m not Luke’s mother,” Layla giggled. “I’m his nanny.”

“Oh,” Cate blushed, feeling foolish. She looked at the houses next to theirs. The owners might well have been ghosts for how often she saw them. She thought she’d found a potential friend with Layla.

“It’s OK,” Layla said softly. “Allison, that’s Luke’s mom, she’s head of cardio-thoracic surgery at Seattle Central so you probably haven’t seen her much, if at all.”

A tall, blonde-haired man with a neatly clipped beard waved from the other porch. Layla waved back, “that’s Eric, Luke’s dad. He’s an OB-GYN. Come over, I’ll introduce you.”

Cate was tempted but then Mateo started fussing, he was tired and cranky. “Another time maybe? I’d better put this little one down for his nap.”

“Okay,” Layla shrugged, “I’ll send you an invite for that Facebook group.”

Lola was giddy with excitement as they made dinner that night; Luke went to the same school she would be attending in the autumn. “Luke’s going to a football camp this summer. It’s being held at the Lynx Sports Complex, which is only a couple of miles from here. It’s for boys and girls and it’s being run by Alex and Mia Sorrenti.”

Kian knew Alex; he’d played for Everton in the Premier League for a couple of seasons before returning home to the MLS. The strikers at Manchester Rovers hadn’t liked playing against him because he wasn’t just big and strong; he was intelligent and could play the ball out of defence instead of just kicking it long and hard.

In the few interactions that they’d had off the pitch, Alex had seemed like a normal bloke who just happened to be a professional footballer. While playing for Everton, he’d lived a quiet, unassuming life just outside Southport and had been studying online for a degree in Sports Science. There definitely weren’t any whisperings of scandal surrounding him. He was very open about his Christian faith and was devoted to his wife and family. His wife, Mia, was also an ex-player, who’d represented the USA at the Olympics.

“Luke said that he thinks there might still be places open? Could I go, Dad? Please.”

Kian looked across at Cate. It was as much her decision as it was his – if Lola got a place at the camp, it would be Cate who would have to drive her there and back most days.

Lola looked pleadingly at Cate, “it won’t be too much trouble, I promise. Luke’s already going so I could get a lift with him and Layla.”

Cate shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t mind.”

“I’m not promising anything, sweetheart,” Kian ruffled her hair, “but I’ll see what I can do.”

“Do you want to watch a movie?” Kian asked Cate. He’d just finished putting the dishes away when she came downstairs later that evening after putting the children to bed.

“Sounds good,” Cate nodded. “I’m just going to charge up my phone. Why don’t you pick something?”

As she plugged her phone into the mains, it beeped that she’d got a text. Cate leaned back on the kitchen counter and clicked the little envelope. It was from her brother, Ben. He wanted Cate to call him straight away. Her heart sank through the ground. Was somebody hurt? Her hands were shaking as she dialled his number.

“Hi, it’s me,” Cate said quickly before Ben could say anything. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want you to worry,” Ben hesitated, “but Jimmy got hit by a car yesterday afternoon.”

“Oh no,” Cate gasped, “is he OK?” She crossed her fingers. She already felt wretched for leaving him back home in Manchester.

“He’s at the vets; he’s got to have surgery on his leg.” Cate felt big fat tears plop down her cheeks.

“What’s wrong?” Kian asked. Cate shook her head. Kian took the phone from Cate and got the details from Ben. “Hey,” he said softly after he’d ended the call. He touched Cate’s shoulder. “He’s going to be OK, angel.”

“We shouldn’t have left him,” Cate paced back and forth. She felt so guilty.

“How are we going to tell Lo?” Lola loved Jimmy fiercely; she Skyped with him at least three times a week. Kian had bought the puppy for her fourth birthday.

Kian took a deep breath, “we’ll tell her tomorrow after he’s had surgery. We’ll know more then.”

Cate braced herself on the kitchen counter, “we’re like those awful dog owners that you see on the adverts at Christmastime who just abandon their dogs.”

Kian gathered Cate up in his arms, “we didn’t abandon Jimmy; he’s with Ben and Erin and they dote on him, you know they do.”

“Not enough,” Cate protested, “if they had, he wouldn’t have run out into the road.”

Even though it was a warm night, she couldn’t stop shaking. “If we’d been there, it wouldn’t have happened.”

Kian shook his head, “you can’t think like that, it was an accident. He’s going to be OK.”