Cruel Intoxication (Underground Kings 4)

The sizzle dies.

Just as easily as the fear disappeared, it reappears. I shut my eyes and try to breathe through the panic. Owen isn’t him. I’m not there. I’m not trapped in a cabin.

“Hey, we can stop. I’m sorry. I can’t… I can’t hide how much you affect me and how much I want you, but you can trust me. I’m not going to do anything, Jolie. I meant what I said, the ball is in your court.”

I roll off

him and lay my fingers against my tingling lips. The kiss was explosive for me. I’ve never felt anything like that in my entire life. “I know. I’m sorry, Owen.”

“Don’t apologize. It’s okay. I never want you to apologize. I don’t expect us to jump in bed. Do I want you? Obviously, you see what you do to me.” He points to the large bulge in his pants, and my eyes slide down to see if it looks as big as it felt.

The answer is yes.

It’s huge, which makes sense because he is huge, everywhere.

“But I’m not ever, ever, going to touch you unless you want me to, Jolie. One, because I’m not that kind of man. Two, you’ve been through something that I will never truly understand because that hasn’t happened to me, but I can try. Three, I could kiss you all day and night without anything else and be the happiest man in the world. Your lips are heaven after experiencing so much hell,” he states by placing another kiss on my mouth, then leaning his forehead against mine. “Our pace is the one you set.”

“Can you lay here with me and keep on kissing me then? Nothing else.”

“Nothing else matters when everything is right in front of me.” He situates himself on half of the bed, head against the pillow, and I mimic him by laying parallel. He wraps a finger around my short hair and tucks it behind my ear. “You’re beautiful,” he tells me, sincerity in his deep blue eyes.

I can’t look at him after he says that because I don’t believe it. I have another ten pounds to gain. I know I’m not pretty.

“I’ll say it until every day until you see it too.” He presses a kiss against the tip of my nose.

Owen isn’t going to be the man who saves me.

He’s going to be the man who heals me.

Sixteen

Owen

I give Jolie one last kiss before slipping out of bed. I don’t want her to wake up scared to find out we fell asleep together. She isn’t ready for that. I meant what I said about her controlling this. Sure, falling asleep is innocent, but she’s used to waking up alone, and I think hours’ worth of kissing until we passed out is a step in the right direction, a step that we can stay at for a while.

Bringing the blanket over her shoulders, I lay a kiss on her temple before slipping out of the bedroom and shutting the door behind me.

Fuck me. I can’t remember a time when I kissed until I couldn’t feel my lips. I really could kiss Jolie all night. I glance down at the reason why I rolled out of bed and grumble in annoyance. I’ve been hard ever since she laid her lips on mine.

Now, I’m serious about not pushing her and not touching her, giving her the space and respect she deserves.

Which means a lot of hand time for me in the future.

I’m okay with it.

I haven’t masturbated like that in years because I haven’t had the urge or care to.

Yeah, that’s about to change.

My room is right across the hall from hers, so I open my bedroom door to the extravagant cave, as I like to call it. The walls are painted a slate gray and the curtains are white to give it some airy quality instead of a dungeon. I like dark spaces. My bed is a California King, black comforter with a gothic style frame. My floor is white marble, and my ceiling as small LED lights all over it to give it the appearance of the night sky.

I don’t bother going to my bed. I walk straight to the bathroom and turn on the lowlights so I’m not blinded. The floor in my bathroom is different. It’s heated because I can’t stand my feet being cold longer than they have to be. Shower stall can fit three of me. There isn’t a door; it’s an open area made of rock from nearby cliffs. There are four rainforest showerheads above me and a few along the wall to spray against my body.

My favorite part of the shower has the ability to convert into a sauna if I want. To the left of the shower is a huge quartz tub that can easily fit me and Jolie if she ever wanted. If I ever had the pleasure of seeing her body that effortlessly.

Thinking of her naked, soapy breasts are doing nothing for my erection. Her beauty isn’t what turns me on the most. It’s her resilience. Her ability to bounce back after what’s happened to her. She’s taking it one day at a time, but she’s determined. She’s adapting to her new life.

And that is what is making my blood rush south.