Page 222 of Forbidden Lessons

“I don’t want…”

“Put it on, Haven.”

My hand shakes as I take the mask. As I slip it over my damp hair. Bastian adjusts the straps with a tap and pull of his fingers, and then smooths down my hair with a long, slow stroke.

Fuck. That one touch sends my body into overdrive.

He clicks his tongue.

The chain rattles, goes taut.

“Come, girl.”

I have no choice but to follow him. Not just because of the collar…but because I want this.

I wanthim.

I don’t care how fucked up it is.

And, yeah, maybe it’s the fault of the drugs in my system. But so what? My track record of good decisions is non-existent, anyway.

Ask Kai.

Bastian’s not wearing his shirt. It smells like he just got out of the shower. I must have zoned out in front of the fire and imagined everything.

And I let Bastian lead me to his bedroom, my body already tingling with anticipation.

But that’s when it all goes to hell.

Chapter 66

Bastian

Haven follows me into my bedroom like an obedient little lamb. Nervous, yes—hands outstretched. Cautious—her feet shuffling over the carpet.

But she comes willingly.

And when I coax her onto the bed with little tugs on her collar’s chain, she doesn’t resist.

Kai stares at her like she just appeared out of an interplanetary vortex. He rushes to his feet, hands clenched at his sides, and if I hadn’t put my finger against his lips, he would have spoken.

Shattering the illusion.

He grabs my wrist, pulling me away from his mouth, then the bed. Haven’s chain clinks where it pools on the bed, and she’s on all fours, pawing the sheets like a cat, oblivious.

“I’m not doing this,” he hisses as soon as we’re out of earshot. “Get me an Uber. I’m leaving.”

His impudence is charming, but he’s going to pay for that later.

“Are you sure?”

He glances over where Haven’s gone and slid onto her stomach, her hoodie barely covering her ass. “Fuck.” Then he shakes his head. “Yes.”

“She doesn’t even know you’re here.” I step closer, Kai’s body going rigid as the fabric on our sweatpants brush against each other. I turn my head, putting my mouth by his ear. “She thinks she hallucinated you.”

When I chuckle, Kai shivers.

“You can do whatever you want to her, and she’ll think it’s me,” I whisper. “That kind of anonymity rarely comes around more than once in a lifetime.”

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