K I E R O N

Chapter |6| Couch Comforts

J A C O B ' S P. O. V

"Daddy, please, please, pleaseeeee," I sigh, attempting to block out the droning whines until it becomes too much.

"Ripley. Stop it. I told you daddy had a special friend coming over tonight and you promised to be extra nice and go to bed early."

I hope I'm not making a big f*****g mistake right now, but I want to see Kieron again, and weirdly I just know, in my bones, that Kieron is the one.

Never have I felt the intense spark that arises whenever I'm around him. That feeling of electricity that surges through your entire body, sparking pleasure from a simple glance.

Ripley gives me that pouting smile and puppy dog eyes that have already earned him five new toys. I feel bad about uprooting him, especially since he had just started nursery in England, or I guess kindergarten as they call it here.

But we couldn't stay there. He couldn't, not with Lola still lurking in the background, even if I have got a retraining order.

Crouching down, I set him in my lap. A bit of tomato sauce is smeared on his cheek that I try to scrub off. "Rip, please do daddy a favour and be good tonight."

He frowns, clinging to the lapels of my smart jacket. "I good always."

I smile at his terrible grammar, reminding me of how precious innocence is to reserve and how thankful I am his mother didn't ruin that as well.

"I know buddy, but if you go bed tonight, I'll let you stay up late tomorrow."

"And we can watch paw patrol all day?" It was my day off so watching paw patrol all day would be the cemented plan.

"Sure," I f*****g hated that show but his grin brightens my entire life. "Bed now." He hops off my lap, already sprinting down the hallway of our new apertment.

Realistically I've always wanted a house with a huge background for Rip to play in, maybe a dog, but for now this penthouse would do.

The door bell sounds just as I'm about to clean my shirt that's splattered with tomato sauce from feeding Ripley. The kid knows how to make a mess.

"s**t," I murmur, rushing to open the door. He's early, half an hour earlier, and I'm so not f*****g prepared... "Hey,"

I can hear my heart pounding violently inside my chest. Kieron's thick lips stretch into a raw smile. "Hi, sorry I know I'm earlier."

"No problem." I move aside to let him in. His elbow grazes my chest as he goes, those familiar sparks electrifying my body in one touch.

Already I'm out of breath and we haven't even sat down. "I brought some wine. Red."

He remembers from the restaurant. Inside I'm f*****g somersaulting.

"Thanks, just set it there."

He eyes my messy counter. "Here?" I nod, quickly glancing around the rest of the living room and kitchen.

Fuck, it's a mess, and I know Kieron is particular about that certain thing.

"Sorry, it's bedtime and clean up. I underestimated how much time I had and now..."

"Don't worry about," Kieron cups my face between his rough calloused palms.

I always feel like a pampered princess with him, which is strange since I'm athletically toned and able to bench more than most of the guys at my gun.

Yet it's something about his manner, his scars and insecurities that make him seem as though he's lived a thousand lifetimes.

"I just need to make sure Ripley is down for night." I'm surprised he hasn't already bundled down the hall screaming.

Guess he really wants to watch paw patrol tomorrow.

"Do your thing. Pretend I'm not here," I take his hand and place it on my throbbing erection.

Leaning in, I let my breathe tickle his Adam's apple as he gulps back irrepressible desire. "You really think I could do that? One look and I'm f*****g hard as a rock for you."

"We can't..." He swallows, as though trying to choke the words down. "We can't have s*x tonight."

I wouldn't. Especially not with Ripley in the other room.

"Why not?" I'm curious, because everything about him screams f**k me.

"Because your son is here, and I haven't even met him yet so I wouldn't feel comfortable. Also, I think we did this whole thing backwards and tonight I just want to get to know the man I'm falling for."

"Falling for?" Kieron's eyes widen, cheeks flaming pink.

"f**k, I said that."

My smile couldn't be any wider right now. "Yep, but don't feel too bad big guy. I think I'm falling for you too."

Gripping his hair, I tug him down, me standing one inch shorter than him. Our lips collide in a frenzy, as though a whisper of the passion that we would ignite if we could shred all our clothes and throw reason to the winds.

"God, you taste good."

"Marinara sauce," I wink, before turning back to walk away. It takes my strength, even though I'm coming back for him.

That scares me. Dependency.

Ripley's room is covered by dogs. Paw print bedding, paw patrol merchandise littered everywhere and the walls tattered with his beautiful drawings of imaginary dogs he wants.

He almost cried when I told him blue dogs don't exist. Instead, I assured him the first dog we ever have would be named Blue and he was content with that.

"Night buddy," I sweep his forehead with a gentle kiss, careful not to wake him up.

Leaving his door ajar, I head back into the living room. To my surprise, Kieron has cleaned up most of the kitchen mess, placing the dishes in the dishwasher and leaving the surfaces sparkling.

"s**t, am I dating Mary Poppins?"

"No, because I can't fly with a magic umbrella dumbass." Laughing, I pour myself a glass of wine, opting for only half a glass.

The lights in the living are dimmed, and I throw a blanket across our legs to keep out the inevitable chill of a New York winter.

"Isn't it freezing cold in England too?"

"No, mostly just rainy." I glance out of the huge oval shaped window that spans the kitchen wall. Snow begins to flutter in its flurries. "The snow is nice though. I've started running through the park in the mornings after dropping Ripley off, and...I never knew that the city could look so beautiful."

"Yeah, New York has it all."

"You would never consider moving then?"

"Maybe, but my family all live here so for now I'm content." I don't want to seem to keen by asking about kids and if he would ever consider moving to the suburbs.

The crazy thing is that I'm creating this life with Kieron, so vivid and detailed within my own imagination that I can almost touch it.

"Do you mind if I ask about his mom?" I have to think for a minute. "Ripley's."

"Oh yeah, sure. Sorry just had a brain lapse,"

I'm obviously mortified but he laughs, settling my nerves. "You're cute when you're flustered."

I smirk, "You're cute when your down in your knees choking on my cock."

"f**k, I didn't know we were going there."

Absentmindedly I move closer to him, letting our knees graze. "You can't handle some crude flirting? My, how the mighty have fallen."

"God, I want to f**k you so bad." His breaths come out in heavy pants, desire pooling his the dark of his irises.

"Technically, it's my turn to f**k you." I really want to sink inside of him. My c**k jerks at the thought, but then I notice he stills. "If that's...okay, I didn't mean to presume anything."

"No, no, it's fine. That sounds good, I can't wait but I'll just always be a little nervous."

"Hey, that's f*****g fine. Take all the time you need." By now I'm practically straddling him, his scruffy cheeks cupped between my palms. I want to kiss him, ease that part of him that always wants to hold back, but it would only make it harder pull away.

Instead, I settle back, prepared to share the horrors of my past.

"I'm bi, if you hadn't figured that out already." He laughs, but stays quiet. A clear sign to carry on. "A few years ago I f****d this girl I met at a bar. My business has essentially blown up within the media following an interview I had done, and I was more like a celebrity than a business mogul. I woke up the next morning and I dealt with her how I would any other one night stand. I offered her breakfast and said goodbye. Then a few months later she shows up at my door, pregnant with a suitcase. Apparently her landlord had thrown her out. She claimed it was my baby, a DNA test proved that. I tried my best to create a family out of us. We dated for the duration of the pregnancy, and after I felt obliged to stay with her but her actions were becoming more neurotic and possessive. She had a shopping addiction, and I tried to help her. I swear I did, it never felt like enough even now but there were moments where her addiction was dangerous to Ripley. One day she just left Ripley alone to go shopping for a new dress and then clubbing. I was at work so when I got hone I found my son screaming, bright red, and choking on his own cries. I broke up with her and we tried to do a custody arrangement but it became clear she wanted money more than him. When I decide to move to New York, she wanted more money than I was giving her even though Ripley was in my custody more than hers. The day we met, she was fighting me on it, screaming down the phone about how she going to sue me. That's why I cancelled the meeting."

There's anger brewing in his eyes, yet he's strangely calm. Like the calm before the storm. "f**k, so what happened? Is she still a problem?"

"No. I managed to settle it but I'm not proud though it felt like..." Buying my son. That's essentially what I had to do in order to obtain full rights over his custody and her to sign over her rights.

Two million, she wanted. It was a small dent considering my business has flourished well over the years but still, no child should have an amount stuck to them like that.

Kieron settle his warm hand on my thigh, squeezing. "Hey, you did the right thing."

"I know, it just hurts he'll never experience the love of two parents because of her selfish greed." I try and lighten the mood. "I'm thinking of getting him a dog,"

"Oh yeah what kind?"

"No idea," I grin, imagining our family expanding by one. Then I glance at Kieron.

Maybe two?

"Daddy! Dad," Ripley's scream has my heart set in overdrive, yet Kieron is already off the couch before me, sprinting into Ripley's room.

Has someone broken in? Is he hurt? Did he have a nightmare? Damn it, I shouldn't have let him watch that stupid moue last night. It was rate U not PG, but I thought it was fine.

It was fine, and now my son is hurt. He's hurt because of me.

Kieron is kneeling in front of Ripley, whose sobs only grow louder and more painful with ever cry. I notice him pressing something against Ripley's head.

Then he pulls back and all I see is red.

"It's okay, it's just a little blood." I'm frozen in statue for a moment. Ripley actually calms down, his heavy breathing subsides, and he gently rests his head on Kieron's shoulder who warns to the touch with an affectionate smile.

Ripley should be terrified. I taught him what stranger danger means yet, he's treating Kieron as though he already trusts him with his tiny heart.

I'm almost scared to breach the moment of solace, but inside I'm aching for my son. "Rip," His lip begins to tremble upon hearing my voice and he starts to cry again.

Just like I thought.

I bundle him close to my chest, wiping his tears and snot with my shirt whilst I assess the wound.

There's a jagged cut, not very thick, but it's still allowing a hefty amount of blood to escape. "It's okay Rip, it's not that bad." He eases a little but winces as I press the towel to the cut again.

"It...hurts." He stutters out, struggling to breathe.

"I know buddy, but I'll get better soon I promise." I quickly glance around his room to see what he hit it on.

"I think it was the door frame." Kieron points to the door. "He was on the floor there, crying when I found him."

The comforter on his bed is strewn along the floor, as though he was trying to climb out.

"f**k," I murmured under my breath. Ripley is still caught up in his own world, clinging to me desperately.

"What is it?"

"I always tuck him but tonight I tucked him in extra tight, as though it would keep him in bed longer. He probably needed the bathroom, struggled to get out and then tripped and hit his head. God, I'm the worst father.

"Hey it isn't your fault. It was an accident. You have kids and accidents happen. My niece fell face flat on concrete the other day. I almost had a heart attack but she just got up, showed me her bloody palms and ran off smiling. Kids are resilient, so is Ripley. Give him that much credit at least."

Brushing my lips against his temple, I murmur, "You are pretty strong, aren't you?" He nods, even though we both know he has no idea what I said.

"See, he's like his dad in that sense." I meet Kieron's steady gaze and something reckons between us, like an unspoken truth.

The towel continues to turn red. "I should probably take him to A and E if it doesn't stop bleeding."

"Actually I hope you don't mind but I already texted my brother's girlfriend. She's a doctor and I trust her with my life."

Normally there would be that pervading hesitance at letter a stranger treat him. "Then I trust her too,"

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A/N: Thoughts on Ripley??