Tainted Kiss (Tainted Knights 1)

I pressed my lips to the top of her head. “Wrong, doll. You have me, and all those chicks out in the living room. They were gonna kick my ass when I first got here.” And I would have gladly taken the ass-beating if it had been the only way to get in to see Santana.

A small smile teased at her lips, but the tears kept coming. “They’ve been pretty great. Thank you for coming into my life and sharing them with me.”

“No, thank you.” I kissed her temple. “Thank you for coming into my life. You’re special to me, Santana. Just thinking about leaving you on Sunday for this damn tour is tearing me apart right now.”

More tears filled her pretty brown eyes. “I’m really going to miss you.”

I cupped her cheek in my hand, wiping away her tears with my thumb. “I won’t be gone forever. I’m coming straight back to you … if you’ll let me.”

“I-I want you to.” She pressed her lips to mine, giving me a soft kiss that left my body begging for more. “I really, really want you to, Kale.”

“I will.”

She laid her head on my shoulder. “We still have two days, though. We can make a lot of memories in that time,” she murmured in a bashful, little voice that had my dick thickening against her hip. “And there’s a bed right here for us to start making them.”

“You’re a little tease, you know that?” I grasped her waist and stood with her in my arms. “I fucking love it, doll.”

As I tossed her onto the mattress, her tears dried up and she started giggling.

It was the best sound in the world.

SIXTEEN

Santana

I had a shoot Friday, but because I had to sort out my living arrangements, I rescheduled it. Thankfully, my client understood and was happy to reschedule, especially after I promised her five extra prints.

Kale had asked me to stay in his apartment while he was gone, but the thought of being all alone sucked. It was Jenna’s offer I took, after making her accept me paying rent. Jenna owned the apartment and made a decent living off her art work—not to mention the trust fund she told me she still had—so I knew she didn’t need the money. That wasn’t the point, though. I wasn’t a mooch, and I didn’t take handouts. I wouldn’t have felt right living in her apartment if I wasn’t paying my way.

I still needed to get my things.

Dreading the confrontation with Sage and figuring Wade would be there since he had been fired, I got ready to head over to my old place. Kale met me at the door, already holding a cup of coffee and a box of doughnuts. He must have slipped out while I was in the shower.

“Coffee for my little doll.” He kissed my lips. “Sorry. The doughnuts are payment for the muscle.”

I blinked up at him, trying to get my mind off the delicious sugary confections I could smell coming from the box. “Muscle?”

He shrugged then opened the door.

Out in the hall, I saw Gray, Sin, Jace, Cash, and Harris waiting on us.

“I rented a truck,” Kale told me as he held the door. “And whatever you can’t fit here or at my place will go in the storage unit I rented for you.”

I couldn’t help blinking again. “I was only in the shower for fifteen minutes. How did you do all of that so fast?”

Pushing the box of doughnuts at Gray, who grabbed them with greedy hands, Kale shut the door. “I called Emmie on my walk to the doughnut shop on the corner. Woman’s a magician, or so Kin tells me. The truck is waiting on us to pick up, and these fuckers are going to help me do all the lifting.”

I had to bite my lip to keep it from trembling as we all stepped into the elevator. All morning, I had been wondering how I was going to move my stuff and where I was going to put it. I hadn’t even told Kale about it, yet he had taken care of it for me.

He had taken care of me.

As the doors of the elevator slid closed and we started the decent, Kale suddenly lowered his head and kissed my lips, forcing me to stop biting on it. He backed me up against the wall, his hands holding onto my hips as he kissed me long and deep until I couldn’t think about anything but his taste. When he lifted his head, I fought back a whimper of loss.

His lips touched the tip of my nose, and then the middle of my forehead. “You’re mine, doll. That means I get to take care of you.”

Someone shifted beside me, and I lifted my head to find Jace standing right beside me, pretending he hadn’t witnessed his friend kissing me senseless. He stuffed what looked like a jelly doughnut into his mouth then licked his fingers.

Remembering the rest of the guys, I buried my face in Kale’s shirt, a little embarrassed that I’d let him kiss me so thoroughly.