My lips pucker as I tighten my legs around his waist, and Kane disappears once again.
"I didn't realize you meant you had to meet up with them right now."
He smiles, enjoying my clingy hold. I really don't want to be here with Kane if Gage isn't here. I don't trust myself, and that makes me feel dirtier than I've ever felt before.
"Sorry, pretty girl, but I have to. I've called Drackus, and he knows Dray is here watching after you. Good news is he wants me to hurry back."
"That's a big change," I murmur with a touch of surprise.
"Your safety outweighs his personal grievances. I'll be back soon."
My heart sinks as dread and worry cloak me.
"Please be careful. I don't want to-"
His lips find mine before I can finish that sentence, and he pulls me away from the counter to start carrying me with my legs strapped around his waist. I smile when he playfully nips at my lips and drops me to my feet just outside the house.
"Call me if you need anything," he says before softly kissing me one last time.
I nod and wave at him as he climbs in his car. He gives me a quick wink as he drives off, revving the engine to prove how very male he is.
Walking back inside the house, I shut the door before pulling up my shirt to examine the protective tattoo on my side. It had better work. If some crazy spirit jumps into my body, I'll find a way to haunt Gage's ass for giving me the wrong design.
With my head down, I slam into something hard, and arms quickly wrap around me before I can fall. I almost hold my breath when I smell the incredible scent of the man I've needed Gage to keep me away from.
"Sorry," I grumble while trying to ignore the tingling sensations burning against me from the feel of Kane's touch.
I thought the breaking of the bond was supposed to rid me of all this... confusion.
"It's not like you meant to run over me," he says while releasing me and walking on by.
I stare for a fraction of a second too long, and then I shake free of the unwanted distraction while moving over to the kitchen to join him. His hand shakes and he closes his eyes as he strains to steady it. It's taking longer and longer.
"My blood is too strong, Kane," I murmur softly while sliding in behind the bar. "You have to let me help you. There's no sense in you going through this."
He shakes his head while grabbing a pack of blood from my fridge, and then he grabs a glass from the cabinet. In all my life, I would have never thought it to be so natural to have blood in my refrigerator. After being around Thad, Zee, and Kane so much, it'd be odd not to see the red packets in there.
"I'll be fine, Alyssa. I've tasted your blood before, and I didn't go crazy."
I laugh, finding his attempt to convince me ridiculous. "You had a taste, not a feed. The two are different and you damn well know it. The small taste gave you a high, possibly aroused you as much as it did me. The feeding... It fed an addiction like you never thought possible. If you're telling the truth, and I'm the only witch, then it's going to be even worse. You don't realize how bad this can get. Let me help you before it hurts more than you can bear."
He stares at the glass of blood in front of him, studying the red, and then he takes a long sip. It doesn't even make me cringe anymore. How twisted am I?
He lowers the glass and swallows easily, finally answering me. "I can't. I won't take your blood for any reason. That dungeon... It wasn't even necessary."
I've spent a while reconciling that act. To admit it wasn't necessary is to say I fucked him solely because I still wanted him as much as ever. I can't let that be true.
"It was necessary. Drackus's power would have killed you instantly in your already weakened state. Be glad you had enough strength to hold out until I could cloak you. My blood saved your life, now let me save you from my blood."
The doorbell rings, temporarily halting our conversation. The stubbornness in Kane's eyes leads me to believe I wasn't getting anywhere, so it's not like this is really an interruption.
I open the door to a devilishly divine creature. His dark hair is tousled like bedroom messy hair, his hazel eyes are breathtaking, and his bad boy, black leather attire is... Well, to be honest, it's comical.
He's hot, but he's got on way too much leather.
Leather boots, leather pants, leather jacket, and leather belt. The only thing not leather is the tight black shirt he's wearing. His metal chains dangle from his neck to add to the bad boy look, and there's another chain hooked to his belt and looped to his back pocket. That raises a few question marks.
He has three lip rings, all of them looking sexy on him, just as Gage's one ring does on him. Other than that, I don't see any more piercings.