Mason looked back at him, clearly touched. Seeming too emotional to say anything, he merely nodded at Kai before walking away. Feeling an odd sort of uncomfortable happiness, Kai gave Mason one last wave before shutting the door.
As Kai walked down the hallway to Jessie’s room, he thought about his impromptu sit-down with Mason…his father. It had gone much differently than he’d ever pictured something like that would. Not that he’d ever truly given much thought to having a conversation like that before a few days ago.
During Kai’s twenty-three years on this earth, it had never entered his head that the man who’d raised him, wasn’t related to him. But why would he ever think that? As a child, he was told a fact and he’d clung to it as truth, as any child would. His parents were his parents. His family was his family. It was the foundation every life was based upon. And having that yanked away…Kai almost felt like one of those people on daytime TV, the ones who find out late in life that they were adopted, that the family they’d assumed was their blood, wasn’t.
As Kai opened the door to Jessie’s bedroom, a brief moment of sadness washed over him. He almost wished that was the case for him. As he stepped through the door, he thought about Mason describing Kai’s mother, the look on his face when he’d defended her. He’d obviously deeply loved her. Probably still did. And then there was the man who’d raised Kai. The heartbreaking divorce that had split their family in half had obviously shattered him as well as Mason. Even Kai’s mother—torn between two loves, only to lose them both—had suffered. No. All in all, if Kai’s family secret had just been that he was adopted, it would have been a lot less painful, for a lot more people.
Kai’s creation had cleaved a path of destruction through so many lives. Kai paused as he shut Jessie’s door behind him. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Guilt, grief, sympathy…indifference? It was enough to send a person spiraling into a vicious cycle of self-pity. But staring at Jessie asleep on the bed, clutching Kai’s pillow to her chest like she was holding onto him, Kai smiled…and let it go. Whatever torment his existence had created wasn’t his fault. He hadn’t asked to be born, hadn’t requested the drama surrounding his birth, and couldn’t have possibly altered the way he was conceived. Nobody could. And besides, any changes to his parents’ troubled past would have resulted in a different child being born into the world, not Kai. Anything being modified anywhere, would have led to a future where Kai wasn’t in this bedroom, listening to his soulmate lightly breathe through barely parted lips. And at this moment in time, Kai loved where he was. He didn’t want anything to change.
Kai smiled softly as he climbed into the bed behind her. Wrapping his arms tightly around her, he buried his head into her shoulder. Inhaling the calming scent of her, the loose strands of her curls tickling his cheeks, he laced his fingers through hers. She stirred under his touch, snuggling her back into his chest, like she wished they were even closer.
“Hey,” she said sleepily. “Did your dad leave?”
Exhaling a soft breath, Kai kissed her ear. “Mason left, yes.”
Jessie stretched the sleep out of her body and twisted to look at him. “And how are you doing?”
Kai propped himself up on his elbow and looked down on her. Warm, compassionate eyes were staring back up at him, just a hint of desire in the dark depths. Shaking his head at her never-ending concern and love, he shifted her until she was on her back. “I’m fine.”
She ran her fingers along his shoulder, unconsciously tracing the curve of his tattoo under his shirt. “Are you sure?”
Kai leaned down for a long, slow kiss, only answering her when he was satisfied. “Yes, I’m sure. I’m fine.” Kai sighed as he brushed a stray strand of hair off her cheek. “We should go see Gran though. She’s probably worried about me.”
Jessie nodded as her arms laced around his neck, pulling him back to her lips. “Yeah, okay…in a minute,” she muttered between their mouths.
Kai laughed, but deepened their kiss, angling his head to feel more of her mouth on his. Between the softness of her lips and the teasing flicks of her tongue, Kai began to wonder if he would ever get used to making love to her. He didn’t think so. The fire she ignited in him, even with just a simple swish of her hips when she walked past him, was beyond anything he’d ever felt before. Every time with her felt like the first time. He wasn’t sure if that was because the love he felt for her was so intense, or if it was because he’d been so sure he’d never truly get to have her. As he lost himself to her soft moans and pleas for more, his hands running over the wondrous curves of her body, he decided that was one mystery that he could be content with never knowing the answer to.