Page 26 of Tarnished Embers

A sharp rap on my door has my head snapping upwards, my heart thudding inside my chest.

“Cinders?” My shoulders sag, the tension leaving my muscles as Cas’s voice filters through the thick wood. I’m not sure who else I worried it would be, but I think seeing Odette right now wouldn’t be the best idea. I’m not sure if I would burst into tears again, or slap her plastic face for making me feel so small. Kit’s pep talk seems to have helped build my confidence back up. I rush over to unlock it and then pull it open, finding his pinched forehead smoothing as he takes me in. “You okay?”

Aside from coming harder than I ever have before…

“Yes,” I answer, feeling my cheeks heat even more and wondering when the reaction will lessen as it’s all I seem to do around these guys.Does he know what Kit did earlier?

“Look, I’m sorry about breakfast. I should have said something, but fuck, no excuses.” He looks me dead in the eyes, his full of remorse. “I apologize, Cinders. I should have told Odette to fuck off. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met, the best fuck of my life—”

“Cas!” I whisper-shout at him before grabbing his arm and tugging him into the room, slamming the door behind us. “Someone might hear you!”

“I don’t give a shit,” he says, his tone a low growl that has my nerve endings tingling. He spins us, crowding me until my back is pressed against the door, his arms bracketing me in, and I can’t seem to draw a full breath as his copper eyes engulf me in metallic flame. “I want the world to know how fucking incredible you are. How fucking mine you are.”

The last part is said right against my lips, and the brief touch leaves me reeling and lightheaded.

“Cas…” It’s a moan, a prayer, and I’m not even sure what I’m asking him for. My hands fist his shirt, the soft, light green cotton making his eyes pop and spark as he rakes them over me.

“If I hadn’t watched Prince fuck the life out of you earlier, Cinders, I would be buried deep inside that beautiful cunt right now,” he tells me, and my knees feel so weak that I’m not sure how much longer I can keep standing. “But you need a rest, so come downstairs and watch the movie with the rest of us.”

It’s like a bucket of ice-cold water has just been poured over me, and even the warmth of his body pressed against mine can’t warm my suddenly chilled skin as I swallow hard. “Is— Is Odette going to be there?”

He heaves a sigh, then presses a tender kiss to my temple, and my eyelids flutter at the touch. “Yes, but you’ll be sitting with us, and I promise if she says anything, I will call her out on her bullshit.”

“You would do that for me?” I press my face into his chest, inhaling the toffee apple scent that will forever remind me of Cas.

“I would burn the fucking world down for you, Cinders. Standing up to that bitch is nothing.” My heart stills inside my chest, and a question bubbles up before I can stop it.

“Then why didn’t you earlier?” I feel sick asking it, the thought that I really am not enough for them making something inside me shrivel and die. Even after Kit’s assurance that I am all he’s ever wanted, actions speak louder than words, and it still hurts that none of them stood up to Odette earlier. His chest expands beneath my hands and his exhale ruffles my hair, his forearms either side of my head. The skin bunches around his eyes and his jaw clenches as he takes a shuddered inhale.

“A lot has gone down in the past. It’s fucking messy and complicated, and I—” He huffs out another breath, his eyes tormented and his brows lowered. I hate the shadows there, but I won’t push him to tell me all their secrets, not if they’re not ready to. “But this is a fresh start for us. I forgot that for a moment, and I will apologize for the rest of my days for letting you believe anything other than that you are a fucking goddess, Ember.”

My name on his lips has a similar effect as when Kit used it earlier. It makes my breath quicken, my entire being flooding with warmth when they use it.

“Will you tell me about it? About what has you all so scared of her?” I don’t think he’s going to answer, his body so rigid that I can feel the tension thrumming through him.

“One day, Cinders,” he says after a long pause. “But for now, come watch a movie with me?” His copper eyes plead with mine, and I feel my walls crumbling under his gaze.

“Okay.”

His whole body sags, a breath rushing out of him as his mouth tilts up in a small smile, and then his lips are against mine and I’m fucking lost. He’s like a poison, a drug that I’m still not sure won’t kill me, but I’m powerless to resist. I melt into him and his hand cups my face as he deepens our kiss, almost as though he will steal my very soul from my lips, and I know now that regardless of the fact I’ve only known these guys for a short time, I’d let any of them take it.

CHAPTERTWELVE

“STROKE” BY BANKS

EMBER

We spend the rest of the day in the family room watching films and chilling. After a delicious lunch of homemade pizza, Odette and Dad go off to pack their last few bits, so I snuggle between the twins, my body relaxing fully as the huge screen plays the opening credits ofBirds of Prey.Fucking love Harley Quinn.

Oct drags a blanket over us, and I rest my head on Kit’s shoulder, breathing in his lime, mimosa, and cedar scent, letting it wash over me in a soothing wave.

“Are you sniffing me, little Ember?” he asks, a teasing note to his voice, and I freeze, my nose firmly buried in the crook of his neck.

“Is that weird?” As I say it, I realise how strange it sounds that I even have to ask. Of course it’s fucking odd to go around sniffing hot guys.

“Not when you do it, baby,” he assures me, and my chest swells when he angles his head so I can take in another lungful. A wicked idea comes to mind then, and even though I should be worried about my father or Odette coming back into the room, the risk of being caught seems to have become my new kink because it just makes my heart beat faster and my thighs squeeze together. I dance my fingers down his soft T-shirt and over his muscular abs, which clench and ripple as my hand heads lower. “What are you up to, Pretty Thing?” There’s a hitch to his tone, a breathiness that makes my core heat.

“You made me feel so good earlier,” I tell him in a low whisper, and he hisses a sharp breath when I pop open the first button of his jeans. “I’m just returning the favour.”

---