Tainted Heartbreak (Tainted Knights 3)

The heartbeat under my ear woke me from the deepest, most peaceful sleep I’d ever had. I shifted my head on Cash’s chest, and his arms tightened around me. An ache deep inside my body began to pulse, and when I shifted my hips, I realized why it was so intense. Cash had fallen asleep still inside me.

His lower body pushed into mine, both easing and intensifying my ache as memories of the night before flooded into my now wide-awake mind.

I couldn’t remember a time when I’d come more than once with a guy before. But Cash had given me multiple orgasms while holding himself back for what felt like hours. Every time I could sense him getting close, he would pull out of me with a groan that sounded like it was physical torture for him, and we would switch positions or just kiss for a while. By the time he’d finally let himself go, I was exhausted and barely holding on to consciousness.

From the change in his heart rate, I could tell he was awake. “What time is it?” I asked groggily.

“Around six, I think,” he murmured, kissing the top of my head. “Try to sleep a little longer. I’m enjoying this too much to do anything else right now.”

I cuddled against him, and his body reacted instantly, his cock hardening inside me and making me squirm. “You sure about that?” I teased. “Feels like you could definitely do a few other things right now.”

One of the hands he had resting on my back stroked down my spine and over my hip. I shivered, my inner walls clenching around him and making us both groan. “Fuck, Amara. I’m insatiable with you.”

I lifted my head to meet his gaze. “You make that sound like a bad thing.”

There was something in his eyes that melted my heart then and there. “Maybe it is. I don’t really know, because I’ve never felt something this powerful for anyone in my life.”

It was a surreal moment. This guy I’d just met the day before was deep inside my body, which was already so amped up that I could easily come at any minute. I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming or if this was actually happening. I hoped it wasn’t a dream, because a part of me was almost desperate to hear the words he was speaking.

“In a few hours, you’re going to leave me for fuck knows where. I don’t even know where you and Riley live, damn it. And all I can think is that if I stay like this, if I refuse to move or let you go, then I won’t lose you.” He swallowed hard, and I knew in that moment I was done for.

It wasn’t possible to feel something this strong this fast. It wasn’t normal or realistic. My brain was telling me this couldn’t last; it was just a one-night kind of thing. I’d known that going in, and I knew it now. But I also knew this wasn’t just a crush, and I was already more attached than was emotionally healthy.

But I didn’t care.

I liked this guy. More than liked. My heart was already involved—which was stupid, even for me—but I didn’t give a single fuck.

“I’m a student at Caltech in Pasadena,” I told him, and his eyes widened. “Riley goes to UCLA, and our apartment is in West Hollywood.” I sucked in a shuddery breath and took a chance. “We…we don’t have to say goodbye.”

Something in his face changed, but he didn’t say anything, and after a moment I could feel my cheeks burning with embarrassment. Shit, he’d probably just been feeding me some bullshit line he said to every chick he fucked. But that’s what I got for putting myself out there.

With a growl, he flipped me onto my back, making me squeal. He pushed back into me, and the squeal turned into an achy moan. Buried deep within my body, he touched his lips to my ear. “My apartment is in West Hollywood too. How the fuck have you been only minutes away from me all this time and I didn’t know it?”

“Cash…”

He pressed me harder into the mattress. “We could have been together already. All it would have taken was one time. One look, Dreamer.”

“Why are you mad?” I panted out, my nails biting into his hips in a silent plea for him to fuck me harder.

He buried his face between my breasts. “Because it’s a fucking waste. Because we could have been together for fuck knows how long now.” He jerked his head up, and the intensity of emotion in his eyes made that warm feeling in my stomach ignite into an inferno. “Because a part of me has been missing my entire life that I didn’t even know about until I saw you.”

Tears pricked at my eyes, and I hurriedly blinked them back. “Cash,” I whispered on a sob. “Stop.”

“I want to be with you, Amara. I want to see what the future holds for us.” He brushed his lips over my damp eyes when a traitorous tear spilled over my lashes. “Let me be a part of your future, baby.”

“You’re insane, you know that, right?” But there was a smile teasing at my lips even as another tear ran down my cheek. “But I want those things too.” I swallowed hard, knowing this was probably a big mistake. I would have to tell him about my parents. About my stepfather. Eventually. But that was further down the road. Maybe it wouldn’t even get to that point.

I just wanted a little more time with him.

Just

a little.

That wasn’t asking too much, was it?

After all the shitty things that had happened in my life, why couldn’t I have one good thing for a moment in time?

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