My breath quickened as the memory filtered through the burning. Through the pain. Through the rage. Then it was gone and darkness.
“Read it, babe,” he said as he guided her over to a chair on the opposite side of the room. He sat and pulled her into his lap. She flicked open the book and read.
My torture began.I RAN DOWN the hall, my heart racing, nerves shooting off like misfiring electrical wires. I pushed open the guest room door and he was standing with his back to me, his shirt off and the muscles flexing as he placed it on the hanger then reached to hook it on the metal bar in the closet.
I knew he knew I was there because his head slightly turned in my direction, not enough to look at me, but as if he were listening. I loved that about him, so perceptive to everything around him. It settled a deep calming blanket over me.
“You going to stare at my back or come in and shut the door so I can fuck you?”
My breath hitched and my belly flipped. He closed the closet doors and, still, without looking at me, he undid his belt buckle then I heard the zipper.
I shut the bedroom door.
“It was okay? You’re okay?” He was standing, no blood that I could see, but I still had to ask.
His pants fell to the floor, his boxer-briefs following. He stepped out of them and only then did he turn to face me.
And when he did, every worry dissipated because he had that twinkle in his eyes and that cocky grin pulling at his mouth.
“Were you worried, braveheart?” He didn’t wait for a reply as he prowled toward me. And it was a prowl, his muscles contracting with every step. “I like that you were concerned for my wellbeing.”
I was still trying to catch my breath when he cupped my chin and tilted his head down and mine up. “Never had that.” His thumb stroked back and forth over the dip in my chin. “You doing okay?”
He’d just met a dangerous man who could have killed him, probably wanted to, and Kai was concerned about me. I melted. “I’m glad you’re back.”
“Not what I asked.” His brows rose as he waited for my answer.
“Okay, well, not really.” I tried to look down, but he wouldn’t allow me to pull my gaze from his. “But better now that you’re back.” His naked body was so close to mine the heat radiated off him and sank into me. “Guess I’m not feeling too brave right now. With my dad dying and you leaving, I was so scared you wouldn’t come back. I hated that feeling. It’s like I’m suffocating. Like my lungs aren’t getting enough oxygen until I see you again. It’s debilitating and I don’t like feeling that way. I want to be strong like you.”
His knuckles stroked down the side of my face. “Baby, don’t you know, I feel that, too.” I melted some more. “You’re brave as hell. You’re a survivor. And being scared doesn’t mean you’re weak. It means you’re alive. It means you care.” His other arm slid over my shoulder to the back of my neck where it settled. “Don’t ever lose that. It’s part of the reason why I had to have you.”
He dipped his head forward and lightly kissed my lips. It was barely a touch and made my belly drop at the anticipation for more. “I want to go home, Kai. One day. Back to your house. I liked it there. I liked that everywhere I touched, I knew your hands were on it. Will we get that one day?”
“No,” he answered.
I frowned, body tensing. “Why?”
“When I came back and you were gone, I burned it.” I gasped. He hadn’t told me that.
Kai, with his hands on my hips, backed me into the wall then kissed the side of my neck. “Didn’t know at the time if it was compromised or not, but I couldn’t take the chance.”
“But you built it.”
“Yeah, baby.” His hands ran down my arms, then latched onto my wrists and brought them up above my head. “I’ll build another. For us.”
He nuzzled my neck. “Kai?”
“Babe, can we talk later? I want to fuck you right now.” He ground his hard cock into me and I moaned, closing my eyes.
“But….” I shut up when he raised his head and looked at me. It was a warning look. It was the ‘be quiet and let me fuck you’ look. It was a look I was going to obey because I wanted him to fuck me, and knowing Kai, if I didn’t, he’d walk away and let me suffer wanting him for hours. So, my question on whether I could help him build a house would wait.