Page 70 of King of the Unsightly

My body melted and froze, and melted again as Kaschel bit my lower lip and cupped my cheeks. My body liquefied from his touch as his hands moved slowly down my back to my hips.

I pushed on Kaschel’s chest again, breaking our contact. My voice came out breathless and uneven. “I still find you incredibly arrogant.”

Kaschel's deep chuckle sent goose bumps down my legs as his lip twitched at my words. “You think I care?” He seized my chin and lifted my face so our lips were parallel again.

He caressed my cheek before letting go and my insides burst with excitement as his hand glided down my side. His touch was soft but steady as it moved to my inner thigh. He teased me with his thumb, gently rubbing it in a circular motion.

God, I really hated his smirk too.

I hated this man, but I also wanted him back on my lips, consuming them. I was a fucking contradiction, but I didn’t care. As much as I hated him, I wanted him more, and I yearned for him to want me just as badly.

My lips were centimeters from his as I breathed in. “This doesn’t change anything.”

He laughed and it was low and vibrated against my bottom lip as his maddening touch made me ache for more.

“So this is what you’ve been doing? Fucking around with some guy?” a voice asked with such a sharp tongue it pierced through my heart.

Iknewthat voice, but it didn’t sound like him. It wasn’t sweet or radiating warmth and kindness.

It was cold, bitter, and full of resentment.

But it was stillhisvoice.

I pushed myself away from Kaschel, and my soul shattered when Lucien emerged from the darkness.

Good Fellow

Ireleased my breath as my heart flailed violently against my chest.

Lucien stood there with his hands shoved into his jean pockets.

He wasn’t wearing his usual clothes—not his grimy trucker hat to cover his blond waves and not the black joggers I never caught him dead without.

Instead, Lucien wore a gray collared shirt, and it hugged his muscular back and arms, purposely flaunting the physique he cultivated from countless hours spent at the gym.

Lucien pinched his lips into a grimace as he studied Kaschel by my side.

The dark shadow cast over his face gave him a calculating and vicious appearance. A stark difference from the expression he always greeted me with; I almost succumbed to his darkness.

His gold-speckled eyes shifted away from Kaschel and pointed all their hostility toward me. It was like he lodged a knife into my very existence with a mere glance.

My vision tunneled in as Lucien stalked closer. Each step—predatorial—sent shivers down my spine as my breathing came out in sharp and unstable spurts.

Lucien’s footfalls echoed off the cave walls, and my concentration faded.

My gaze flickered to Kaschel, but he froze in place with a deadpan look.

Had time stopped for Lucien and me? But it wasn’treallyhim. It couldn’t behim.

I blinked, and we were back in his apartment.

My temple throbbed, and I winced in agony as it thundered against my skull—until the pain blinded me.

A chill in the air caressed my skin, and I quivered.

I rubbed my pulsing temple harder, trying to recollect what I was doing before this, but a heavy fog funneled into my mind, and I couldn’t for the life of me remember why I was at Lucien’s house.

WhatwasI doing here again?

---