“No more than you lied to me, you mean?” I swallowed down the sting of bitterness

“Lake…”

“No, Aunt Carissa. I can’t hear this right now.”

“You have to hear it sometime,” she argued.

“I know, just… not right now.” She nodded her understanding, but instantly, anger reappeared in her eyes, and I knew our fight was only just beginning.

“Why is a detective coming by here for you?”

Good question since he would know I had school. But I knew what game he was playing. I turned Keiran in, and they made an arrest, but they didn’t have a case against him unless I testified. After the shock of turning Keiran in, and Keenan’s condition wore off, I began to have second thoughts. I even tried once to go back and retract my statement to which they didn’t react kindly.

Keiran was denied bail given his record and his history with Trevor Reynolds, one of the two victims who were burned alive. The other being Anya Risdell, Keiran’s ex… something.

After I sat down to think on the possibility of Keiran’s innocence, I realized my reluctance to go through with it was more because I didn’t want him to be guilty. Keiran was the last person to see Anya and Trevor alive. After the fair, Trevor attempted to kidnap and hand deliver me to Mitch, Keiran’s father, who wanted to use me as a pawn to kill his own son for money.

The things that can occur on Monday nights…

“Lake?” my aunt prompted with a raised brow after I took too long to respond.

Shit, shit, double shit. “I, uh… forgot to tell you… the house was broken into a month ago. I’m so sorry, Aunt Carissa,” I rushed out at the perturbed look on her face.

“What? Were you hurt?” She rushed to me and immediately began checking me over.

“No, I was able to lock myself inside my room until the cops came.”

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” she screeched. I wasn’t prepared for her strong reaction, and I realized it was the calm before the storm.

“I didn’t want you to worry. I thought you were on your book tour,” I quipped.

“Lake, you have to know I had the best intentions. I didn’t want to get your hopes up in case I came back empty handed.”

“It’s too late. My hopes died a long time ago.”

“Oh, honey, don’t say that. Your hopes aren’t dead. You just need to find them again.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner about the burglary,” I said, changing the subject.

“As long as you’re okay, but don’t ever think about pulling that stunt again. I don’t care what you think is best for me. I am the adult, and you don’t make those decisions. I decide what’s best for us, got me?”

It was safe to say I was feeling a little bit more than uneasy when she was done. My aunt’s tongue was as sharp as a whip and could bring grown men to heel, but one would never know just by looking at her.

“I got it.” We hugged before I finally managed to escape upstairs. I released an audible breath once I was safely inside my bedroom.

One day down and six months to go. I’d be free.

Only… would I really be free?

Keiran once told me, no matter how far I ran, he would never let me go. It seemed my sole chance at a new start would come only if Keiran remained behind bars.

Even so, Mitch was still out there… somewhere. Waiting and lurking for his chance to kill his sons.

Wow. Just a couple of months ago, Keiran and Keenan Masters were cousins, and now they are brothers. Once the truth was out, it suddenly all made sense. Of course, they were brothers. The two were more alike than anyone could see with the naked eye. Keiran carried a dark aura everyone could feel, but Keenan’s was more of a shadow.

I crossed the room to my bed and flung myself on the mattress wanting the comfort of sleep, but as soon as I felt the soft material engulf me, memories burst forward. Suddenly, I could smell him. His scent still lingered in the fabric.

When I decided to return to Six Forks, I did everything I could to wash him away, starting with my bed sheets. I didn’t want the memories. I didn’t want to remember how it felt to let him push me to my limits and beg for more. But he was there, even today. When I tried to be strong, he was always there, and I fought to hide it.

I couldn’t hide it anymore.

I didn’t feel my hand move until they were already pushing into my jeans. I screamed at myself to stop while burrowing my hand deeper.

With a groan full of need, I flipped over onto my back and ripped the button of my jeans loose and shoved them down my hips much like he did the first time he touched me.

Fuck yes.

My fingers finally reached where I needed them most and slipped through the slickness his memory created. Only I needed more than a memory. I needed his touch. I closed my eyes and imagined that it were his fingers teasing my clit, drawing out more evidence of his effect on me.

It wasn’t me. It was him.

“Keiran,” I whispered, letting the lust I felt for him fill my voice.

In my head, I heard his voice ask, “You want more, baby?” just like he often would over the weeks we were together.

“Yes, more,” I moaned as if he were right here. Before I could think twice, my fingers were stroking the inside of my pussy, and I was writhing and gasping in tandem to the rhythm of my fingers. It was amazing how well Keiran could fuck me without actually fucking me.

When my clit began screaming for attention once more, I searched it out with my other hand and began rubbing furiously. That was when my phone decided to ring. I was too far gone to bother to answer, but when it rang for the second time, I felt for my jeans with one hand while touching myself with the other. I wasn’t in the mood for anything that wasn’t an emergency, so whoever was on the line was getting hung up on.