Page 53 of Poison's Kiss
"Only when he's not around me, and they're barely helping then. Why is he so freaked out about you being here?"
A wolfish grin takes the place of his apologetic expression. "Because girls love my bite. He probably thinks I'm here to set you free from your bond. Secretly, I think he's hoping you stay bound to him. It's in our nature to be possessive. He's claimed you since the day he set eyes on you. He made it very clear to all of us you were his."
"I don't belong to-"
Before I can finish, Kane is barging through the door, breaking the lock.
"You could have just knocked," Zee chuckles out.
Kane glowers at him, ready to knock him out, but he shakes his head and curses under his breath instead.
"You're a complete dick, you know," Kane gripes while pulling up a chair on the opposite side of the room from me.
He can distance himself all he wants; it still kills me to be in his presence.
"I know," Zee snickers out. "You got here faster than five minutes."
"Why didn't you tell me you were on guard detail?"
I tune them out, my pulse finding my ears, and I try to hold my breath to make the worst of it go away. Without looking back, I head into the bathroom and splash some cold water on my face.
I kneel to the ground when it all becomes a little overwhelming - too intense for me to withstand.
"Alyssa, we're calling for you," Zee says as he opens the door. "Shit. Are you okay?"
Before I can swat him away, I'm being picked up, but it's not Zee. Kane's arms are around me, pulling me into his toxic perfection.
"You need to get out of here. It's her proximity to you that seems to make it worse," Zee mutters, but my arms clutch tighter around Kane's neck, begging him to get closer.
"I can't just leave her with you."
"I'm not going to do anything. I was just fucking with you. Go. Get out before she gets sicker."
Before Kane can speak, my lips are on his as I prop up and wrap my legs around his waist. He grips me tightly to him, kissing me back as I tug at his hair.
"Or you could stay and take care of it that way," Zee says through a chuckle.
The pain is almost unbearable as I tear myself away. It feels like someone has just filleted me with a dull knife, but I end it before I can let him break me more.
"No. I need some air. Kane, please be gone when I get back," I shakily release, my legs wobbling beneath me as I head outside.
"Fuck," he says in an angered, exasperated tone as I slink through the hallway of the hotel.
I see a taxi without a fare, and I decide now's as good a time as any for a road trip. I have to get away from Kane, and I know he's not going to leave. I can't keep letting him break me like the sadistic bastard he is.
Besides, there's someone I never thanked.
