“How are they?”

Turning, he sat back in his seat and nodded. “They’re doing great, Kier, I promise. The foundation has really taken off. Mrs. Schwartz goes around the country now speaking out against bullying and little punks like you.”

My lips tilted up, and I laughed weakly. “That’s good.”

Uncle Frank smiled. “Yeah, they’re both moving on as best they can, trying to turn what happened into the only positive they could find.”

“Good.” I sat back and looked away.

“Name?” Uncle Frank asked a couple of minutes later.

“Do they still see the donations?”

“Yes.”

“Then anonymous,” I breathed. “Always anonymous.”

I looked up and stood when Uncle Frank blew out a heavy breath. “On behalf of the Alan Foundation, I thank you for your anonymous donation. I know the Schwartzes are thankful for it, too. And as your uncle, I love you, and your aunt and I are proud of who you’re becoming.”

I nodded and gave him a quick hug. “Merry Christmas, tell Aunt LeAnn I’ll stop by sometime over break.”

“Bring that girl with you!”

I huffed and winked as I backed up out of his office. “As long as you promise not to run her off.”

* * *

Indy

I pulled my legs up underneath me and leaned onto the center console as Kier played with my fingers. I was getting anxious to get wherever we were going, but we’d left the downtown buildings and we were now in a neighborhood with absurdly huge houses.

“Uh . . .” I started to ask again where he was taking me, but my jaw dropped when he pulled into a driveway, stopping in front of the gate to enter a code. “No. No, no. I, uh . . . Is this your house?”

“Parents’ house.”

“Right. Um, I’m not so sure I’m ready to meet . . . them. Yet.” I felt like I was going to hyperventilate. After the horror of my parents, and hearing about his, I didn’t really want to meet them. Our relationship was in a new phase; it definitely wasn’t in the whole bringing-the-other-home-for-Christmas phase.

“Indy, relax,” Kier crooned. “I told you, I avoid my parents. They won’t be here this entire break. They have a place in Washington where they spend a good four months out of the year. My dad’s business has a branch out there and in California, and they split the year between the three houses.”

“So that trip over Thanksgiving . . .” I trailed off.

“No, they actually took a trip to Italy.”

I sat back in the seat and looked at the house in front of us. Trips to Italy just weren’t something I ever thought could be said in a way that seemed like it wasn’t a big deal. But looking at this house, and knowing they had two others, I got it. To them it wasn’t a big deal.

Kier’s fingers curled under my chin, turning my head in his direction. “Don’t judge me based on this, or them. All this”—he gestured toward the house—“used to mean something to me, but it doesn’t anymore. I just stay here during the breaks.”

Nodding, I leaned forward and captured his lips for a few seconds. “I know it doesn’t.”

“Come on, let’s get in there. It’s gonna be cold, but I’ll turn the heat up and get a fire going.”

As I followed him out of the car and up the walkway to the door, everything about the massive house faded from my mind as I remembered what our arrival here meant. We were finally away from the houses in Ann Arbor, we were alone, and good God, Kier couldn’t open that door fast enough.

“Balls, it’s cold!” I screeched when we stepped inside.

“It will be warm in no time. Give it maybe ten minutes. It’ll be perfect. Come on, I’ll show you where our room is.”

Our room. Our room. Again everything slipped from my mind as heat rushed through my veins in anticipation.

Kier stopped twice on the way to change thermostats before we entered a room that was as big as three of mine back in the Ann Arbor house, and that wasn’t including the bathroom attached to it.

Pressing a kiss to the side of my neck, he gripped at my hips before whispering in my ear, “Get settled in. I’m gonna go check everything and start a fire.”

“’Kay,” I said breathily, swaying a little when he moved away from me.

When he was gone, I looked around the room for a couple of minutes, but there wasn’t much of Kier’s childhood in there—and I figured that had more to do with him wanting to forget it than it did his parents not being a big part of his life. I walked into the bathroom, and my eyes widened when I saw the massive garden tub and shower, and I thought I’d died right then and gone to heaven.

Looking into the bedroom, I worried my bottom lip as I eyed the shower again. Not letting myself think on it any longer, I reached in and turned it on. With how cold it was in the house, a hot shower in this shower was too good to pass up—especially when we’d been in a car for close to four hours.

I waited until steam was billowing out above the glass before stepping out of my clothes and piling my long hair on top of my head. My body shook as I tested the temperature of the water with my fingers before stepping in, and the sting of the heat against my freezing skin burned for long moments until my body got used to it—and then I was in heaven. I hadn’t even seen the closet and it didn’t matter—this shower was all I needed to decide this was my favorite room. Ever.

The door to the shower opened, and I instinctively covered myself as I turned away from where Kier was standing. My eyes widened as my gaze trailed down his long, naked body. My breathing deepened when his golden eyes heated and he stepped inside the shower, shutting the glass door behind him. I swallowed roughly as he pressed himself behind me, and looked up just in time for him to drop his head and press his mouth firmly to mine.

A moan moved up my throat, getting lost in the kiss as his tongue teased mine in unhurried strokes. His hands moved around to the front of my body, sliding over where my arms were still covering myself—and at the reminder, I shakily moved them away, bringing my hands up to fist in his hair as he deepened the kiss.

One hand made a path down my stomach as the other moved up to my breasts, and I broke away from the kiss on a huff when his fingers spread me apart, stroking me and circling my clit just as slow as his tongue had been circling mine. I widened my stance, and my back arched off him when he pressed two fingers inside me.

“Kier,” I breathed before his mouth captured mine again.

His arm was pressed against my wet breasts, trailing up my chest so his hand could lightly trace the front of my neck as he demanded more from the kiss, and I gave everything I had. My hips rocked against his hand and his thick erection pressed against my bottom as hot water pelted down on us. I felt like I was losing myself in Kier, and I loved it and the way it felt like he couldn’t get enough of me.

For the first time in a long while, I was enough for someone . . . more than enough.

My head fell back against his shoulder as the knot in my belly grew, and the hand resting on my neck slowly trailed down toward my chest as he nibbled on the soft spot behind my ear.

“Come on, Indy. Let go for me.”

His thumb pressed against my clit as his fingers moved harder, faster, and I fell apart with a cry as my body shattered. When I was limp in his arms, he reached in front of us to turn off the water before turning me around and wrapping his arms tight around me.

I looked up to see him smirking at me, his golden eyes bright as he stepped out of the shower with me still in his arms. Grabbing a towel, he dried us off through lingering kisses before dropping the towel on the floor and taking my hand in his, leading me back into the warmed-up bedroom.

He started to let go of me, his body moving in the direction of a set of dresser drawers, and I knew what he was doing. Not pushing me, but making sure I wanted this just as bad as he did. Holding tight to his hand, I pulled him back to the bed and pushed him down until he was sitting on it.

“Are you—”

“Yes,” I said, cutting him off. “I want this. I want you.”

Leaning forward, I teased his lips as I climbed onto the bed, placing a knee on either side of him. He smiled through the kiss and scooted back on the bed before lying down and bringing me closer to him. I took the tie out of my hair, letting it fall down around my shoulders and back as I curled my body over Kier’s and positioned myself above him. He ran his hands through my hair, letting them trail down my waist to my hips, his fingers flexing against the skin when he got there, and then he guided me down on top of him.

Kier groaned as I took him inch by inch, and when I was fully seated on him, he kept me there—not moving—as his eyes held mine, his chest rising and falling heavily before he quickly sat up, crushing his mouth to mine.

A surprised gasp left me and turned into a laugh, and then a moan when he gripped my hips harder and moved me off him, only to push me right back down.

“Oh God,” I whimpered against his lips as I took control and started moving on top of him.

Soon kissing became too difficult as we struggled to breathe, and I pressed my forehead to his seconds before Kier rolled us over. Dropping his head into the crook of my neck, he trailed his hand up my leg to curl around my knee, bringing it up around his hip as he moved inside me. His pace quickened and his grip on my body tightened before he stilled above me as he found his release.

As his body slowly relaxed, he placed a line of kisses across my collarbone and up my throat until he reached my lips, his body stilling when he saw the tears in my eyes. “Are you okay?”