Page 71 of King of Pain

“I…” She lets go of my hand for the first time all day, rubbing her palms on her own thighs. “I missed the start of my internship.”

“Fuck,” I scrub my hands down my face. “And Mason asked me to do this?”

“Yes. I think so.”

The picture is getting very sharp.

It’s funny how when you take your assumptions out, how clear situations become.

“Do you know when I’ll get all these memories back?” I turn to look her, wishing I could say to her that I’d never hurt her.

She shakes her head. “It’s different for every person. The fact that you already have them returning would indicate that this is very short term, and you’ll remember everything soon.”

I look into her eyes and this memory punches me in the gut. Fucking her in a river. It doesn’t sound like the most romantic moment except…

I can see her face as she cums, feel her pussy around my cock as I explode. And then she looks into my eyes.

It’s like falling in love all over again.

More memories trickle in. Her insecurity over a waitress. The way she held some kid in my truck.

I have no idea why we’d have kids in my truck.

It doesn’t matter.

“Kate,” my voice is rough with emotion. I flick her buckle open and then grab her by her hips, tugging her into my lap.

I hear the small sound of relief that leaves her lips. Has she wanted to be in my arms?

I settle her against my chest, pushing her head into the crook of my neck. “The next time we’re on a plane, we’ll join the mile high club,” I rumble.

She gives the smallest laugh into the chords of my neck, as she burrows deeper.

“But I swear, sweetheart, from now on, it’s me and you.”

She shakes her head against my neck. “Don’t promise anything. Not yet.”

“Why not?”

She tips her head back, looking into my eyes. “Because. First you need to remember. Then we can talk.”

The plane shifts, banking to one side.

I look down to see the Rockies to my left. I don’t know how, but I recognize Aspen. “Where’d we fly out of?”

“Durango,” Kate says. “The cabin’s near there.”

The plane lands fifteen minutes later, and several security types meet us with black suits and earpieces.

If I didn’t know that Mason was my family, I’d swear that I was in trouble here.

We’re shuffled into the back of a limo, Kate looking around the interior like she’s been transported to another universe.

“Funny,” she nibbles at her lip. “You don’t fit here like you do with Alice.”

“Alice?” Is she talking about another woman. There is no way…

“The truck. That’s what you named her.”