Page 39 of The Tempo of Truth
I nodded, still stunned we’d reached the point whereDadwasn’t just a word.It was a title I was eager to carry.
“Will your aunt and uncle let me take him?”Win and I might have a bit of understanding where Winnie was concerned, but letting me be responsible for the well-being of a five-year-old might be too much for him to accept in one day.
“Win and Channing understand that we’ve been waiting for the timing to be right.They’ve known you were Lowe’s father longer than you have.They won’t interfere unless they think you’re putting Lowe in danger.The only person you have to prove yourself to is that little boy.”
I kissed her hard enough that it made her gasp.It seemed like she preferred that to any sugary pastry I could’ve brought.
I was so excited when I left the building that I didn’t stop when I heard Helio calling my name.I assumed he wanted to ask what happened with Oliver, but I wanted to focus on Lowe and leave the violent part of my nature in the dark where it belonged.
The little boy was ready for me when I knocked on the door of the brownstone next to Winnie’s.I didn’t even have to assure Channing and Win that I would monitor Lowe and make sure he wore the protective gear I brought.They sent him off with his security detail and a reminder to stick close to me.He was so excited that he practically bounced all the way to the park.
I strapped a helmet on his head, pulled the safety guards over his tiny elbows and knees, and got him started pushing off on the skateboard.He was surprisingly coordinated and fearless.I could tell he was blessed with the same athleticism and balance I had.Watching him ride around the park healed a part of me that had been broken since my childhood.
When he shouted, “Are you watching?Dad, are you watching me?I’m so cool!I’m going to learn how to do tricks.Can you teach me?”Lowe’s eyes were bright and full of excitement.He kept zooming around on the skateboard, not noticing I was fighting back tears.
I hadn’t had a purpose in a very long time.Hearing my kid ask me to teach him finally settled all the restlessness and dissatisfaction that threatened to eat me alive.I remembered what Win told me about not all cages being gilded.That even the broken and bent ones were enough to keep a bird from using its wings.I thought I finally understood what he was talking about.I allowed myself to stay stuck behind those twisted bars for far too long.It was long past time I broke free, not only so I could use the wings I’d been given, but so I could teach my son how to fly as high as possible.
I wanted to show him everything I’d ever learned and watch him be so much better at all the things I loved than I’d ever dreamed of being.
Winnie
“You should’ve told me that you smashed Oliver’s annoying face into pulp.”We were outside on the terrace, and I was straddling his lap.At first, it was the easiest way to keep him still while I cleaned up his cracked knuckles and once again split-open eyebrow.He earned the new slash from making a diving catch at the top of the stairs when Lowe was seconds away from riding his new skateboard to the edge while playing inside.No one explicitly told him it was an outside-only toy.Without Ky’s quick reflexes, our little boy would have matching injuries with his dad.
It was a long day, and I think Lowe had quite a fright when he realized how close he was to a major crash.He went to bed without pushback after begging Ky to keep teaching him how to skateboard.But he didn’t use Ky’s name; he called him “Dad.”I thought I was going to melt into the carpet at the sweetness of it all.I actually let Ky tackle the full nighttime routine on his own while I got a debrief from Helio about the events of the day.
I appreciated Ky defending my honor and knew in the back of my mind he would never let another man leave painful marks.However,I was taken aback at how many strings my Uncle Win pulled to keep Ky out of trouble.I knew the other side of the merger had to be ripping out their hair in frustration as the underhanded tactics escalated.Deep down, I knew the merger would never happen at this rate, and that meant starting my first major project at a loss and racking up a huge failure for those annoying board members to hold against me.I already had Helio and his team prying into the back pockets of my loudest detractors to dig out those who made backend deals and would gain the most once the merger went through.I didn’t want to chase the snakes out of the grass just yet.Once I dragged Byrd Enterprises into the gutter and their stock price hovered right above the brink of death, those jerks on the board would crumble to dump the stock options they purchased while anticipating a windfall.I had no trouble clearing some spots at the table when those hypocrites went down for insider trading.
Just like my uncles warned, it was time to uproot the bad seeds and plant some promisingnewprospects that were in line with moving the business forward and who embraced my vision for our forward-thinking company culture.If things stayed the way they were, change would grind to a halt, and the same status quo would keep the company stale and eventually cause it to lose its footing as the competition in the marketplace grew.I needed more diverse faces looking back at me from around the boardroom table and a lot fewer boring, older white men thinking they called the shots just because they’d gone unchallenged for so long.We were a global conglomerate.Our board of directors should reflect that.
I was going to turn that boardroom inside out and shake it until the rotten pieces broke off.Oliver and his team constantly tried to cross my bottom line, giving me the perfect excuse to clean house.
Ky flexed the hand I was holding.He said the best way to heal the broken knuckles was to wash them with warm water and antibiotic soap.He asked if I had superglue to seal the cuts, but I was appalled at the suggestion.It seemed so barbaric, even if it was his preferred method of wound maintenance.I picked through one of the fully stocked first-aid kits Helio had stashed around the brownstone and found a bottle of New-Skin he could spray to cover his busted knuckles.When I showed it to Ky, he chuckled and said that it was still basically superglue, but it just had a fancier name and package and came with a better marketing team.Regardless, he let me spray it on his hands and let me straddle his lap while I disinfected his eyebrow slash.It was a good thing we were outside because the fumes of the chemicals were too strong.
“Guys like Byrd think they can push anyone around because they have money and connections.I hate that superior attitude.If he’s so high and mighty that he thinks he can mark up the Halliday heiress, he’s out of his mind.Actions happen both in and out of the boardroom.He needed some sense physically knocked into him.And he needs to know I’m not someone easy to mess with.Even without Win having my back, I had no problem getting locked up for a few days for beating him up.”I felt Ky’s rough fingers climb underneath the hem of the oversized jersey I was wearing.He inched the fabric up my thighs, a sexy gleam glinting in his dark gaze.“And if one consequence of my actions is getting my girl turned on for defending her honor, I’m more than willing to face those as well.”
I smacked his shoulder as his hands climbed higher until I could feel the humidity on my backside.“This terrace isn’t exactly private.The neighbors are close.All the buildings across the way can be seen directly because the privacy foliage is still immature.Not to mention, there are helicopters flying overhead all the time.”Fortunately, this balcony was attached to a different one from Win and Channing’s.Theirs was the lower floor of the building, right off the huge main bedroom.My room was more accessible, and while still close to my room, it had a separate entrance on the roof level of the home.It meant no running into each other while unkempt or accidentally peeking at an intimate moment like the one I was sharing with Ky.
He shoved one of his hands underneath my underwear and cupped an ass cheek, his fingers digging into the pliable flesh.“I can keep you mostly covered.Just move slowly and stay quiet.”He leaned forward and whispered into my ear, “I’ve been wanting to fuck you while you’re wearing my jersey and nothing else since that night on the couch.”
He squeezed my butt again, and I asked, “Since when did you become such an ass man?I don’t recall you having such an appreciation for us thicker girls back in the day.”
He shoved his hands fully inside my underwear and held my ass between his hands like it was his favorite toy.I wanted to warn him that the fabric was thin and it was going to rip if he kept stretching it out and tugging at it impatiently, but then I realized that was the point.He was tearing it out of his way, so my hot center was bare and resting right above his engorged cock.
“I’m not picky.I think all female forms are great.I liked yours when we were kids, and you seemed as fragile as a day-old kitten.You were so skinny that you looked like a wannabe supermodel.I liked that you put on some weight in college.It made you look less like a strong wind could blow you away.It made you seem softer, more approachable, and your curvy body was banging.And now,” he rubbed himself against me, the hard flesh barely restrained through his sweatpants, leaving little doubt as to how he felt about my much rounder form now.“You’re a mom.You brought life into the world.You carried a part of me within you for months, growing him, protecting him, teaching him.How can Inotbe obsessed with the body that brought our shared miracle into the world?Plus, the way your ass jiggles just a little bit, and the way it bounces when we fuck is so hot, I sometimes forget to breathe when I’m watching you move.It’s fucking sexy.”
I reached between us and slowly worked the elastic band of his sweats down.I knew he was raw dogging it underneath since he’d pulled them on after a short shower.Not to mention, I’d been on his lap for twenty minutes and could feel the way his body reacted each time I moved or wiggled on top of him.That clearly defined cock had no undergarments to restrain it.
“You constantly proving the gray sweatpants theory to be accurate is also fucking sexy.”A moment later, his thick cock filled my hand.I rolled my thumb across the head and carefully moved it toward my soft opening.We were pressed so closely together, my panties not fully free from my body, that the motions were tight and restrictive, making everything feel scandalous and slightly forbidden.
When our bodies lined up, it was incredibly hard.To my meltingly soft body, it took little effort to slide down and join us together.My body flexed and pulsed around his while he throbbed heavily and kicked with pleasure within mine.The sensation of being filled up, inch by inch, the feeling of being claimed and owned with each motion made my head spin.We usually fucked a bit fast and furious, like we were making up for lost time and stolen opportunities.
This time, we moved excruciatingly slowly.It was achingly intimate, like we finally had the time and space to appreciate how lucky we were to experience such a profound moment together.I wrapped my arms around his broad shoulders and rested my forehead against his.I breathed his name across his parted lips like a prayer and started to slide up and down mere centimeters by pressing the tips of my toes against the ground.Ky kept his hands on my hips, controlling each torturous stroke.It felt like we were merging into one being, our bodies melting together, each learning what made the other feel good and react strongly.Ky had no trouble finding the elusive G-spot and narrowed his focused thrust against that highly sensitive spot.If you didn’t look closely, we probably resembled an overzealous couple caught up in a heated make-out session.You’d have to be right on top of us to notice the minuscule grind our hips were doing and the slow rise and fall of my hips as Ky held my backside in his wide palms and controlled the agonizing slip and slide.The sexual tension was enough to choke us out as the pulsing grew suffocatingly within us.
I turned my head to nibble on Ky’s ear and moved one of my hands to clutch the soft hair at the back of his head.I felt his palm bounce off my ass cheek with a stinging slap and widened my eyes.I guess that was one way to make sure it jiggled to his satisfaction.
Still worried about the exposed location, I whispered, “Hurry up,” into his ear and did my best to speed up the way I was rocking up and down his rigid length.“Ending up on the evening news isn’t as scary as Lowe getting up and stumbling across something he’s way too young to understand.I’d like to get him through elementary school without traumatizing him.”
Ky snorted and leaned me back against the table so his thrusts could go deeper, and he had more range of movement.One of his hands skated underneath the jersey and locked onto my breast.He squeezed the supple flesh and rolled my nipple between his fingers.“Lowe was born a Halliday.He was bound to be traumatized from day one.No one from your family gets to escape the pressure that last name carries with it.”
