Page 233 of Kiss the Villain

So maybe I’ve been in too much pain to be completely sappy, and I don’t know how to direct these emotions.

“But you’re mad at me.” He closes the laptop, cutting off the thrill of the game, and grabs my hand. “Baby, look at me.”

I lift my eyes and he pulls me closer, making me sit on top of him. I straddle his waist, careful not to touch the bandage. My senses fill with him—his warmth, his scent, his breathing.

Damn, I love the sound of his breathing.

He’s here. He’s alive.

He didn’t leave, because I didn’t allow him to.

And I’llneverallow him to.

Kayden’s big hands land on my waist, and I suck in a large gulp of air as his silver eyes bore into me. “I know you still haven’t forgiven me, and while I can’t go back to the past and change my marriage or history, I promise you the rest of my life.”

“What’s the point if you’re going to shorten it?”

A frown appears deep in his forehead. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not mad about that, asshole. I’m mad because you threw away your life without any thoughts of me! Of us! How do you expect me to live on without you, Kayden? You injected yourself in my bones and you’re flowing in my veins, my head, my soul. You’reinme. How can you not see that if you remove yourself from inside me, I’ll just wither and die?”

He strokes my cheek, the pad of his thumb gliding beneath my eye. “The last thing I want is to hurt you, baby. But I’m physically unable to watch you being hurt. That just won’t happen, but I promise to be more careful. I’m not done with you yet, and I never will be. I want to show you how much you mean to me, my little monster.”

“You already did.” I punch his chest with no actual strength. “Took a bullet for me like a goddamn idiot, remember?”

“I’d take ten and however many it takes to erase your pain.”

“Don’t you dare.” I slide my hand to his face, trembling with all the emotions vibrating through me. “Please don’t leave me. Or I swear I will kill you.”

He chuckles, the sound soaring through my chest, expanding my lungs. “Never, baby. I might have entered your life with thoughts to break you, but you’re the one who broke me. You cracked me open, tore me apart, and molded me back together in your image. Now, I’m incapable of existing without you. The absence of your voice, your scent, your tough love, and even your impulsiveness and spoiled-brat behavior painted my world black. I was fine with that color before you, but I can’t stand it now. Willnotstand it. You gave my life meaning after years of aimlessness. Your chaos soothes my calm, your darkness is a mirror of my own, and that beautiful soul of yours is a figment of mine and a torch that burns in the depths of my blackened heart. I didn’t know what love was before you, but I’m certain that’s what I feel for you, my little monster.”

My chest aches with every inhale, his words incinerating me alive, and I grab his face with both trembling hands. “You’re not allowed to leave me. Ever.”

“I won’t.”

“I mean it, Kayde. If you do, there’ll be no me without you.” I lean closer,needinghim closer. “There’s this void inside me. A black hole I lived with my entire life. I thought I’d filled it up once when I killed for the first time, but that high only lasted for a while. I’d always had this insatiable urge for more and more andmore. But then you came into my life and filled me up. Not the void,me. So I mean it when I say you’re inside me. You tame my darkness, calm my chaos, and quiet the voices. I don’t only love you, but I’m physically unable to live without you. It hurts to even think about it.”

“Good.” He drags me closer so that his breaths skim my lips. “Because I refuse to think about it.”

“You should probably think about it, not that I’ll let you go, but I’m kind of toxic.”

“I’m toxic, too.”

“I get jealous easily. I’ll keep thinking about the years you were married.”

“I’ll give you the rest of my years instead.”

“I might act like a brat sometimes.”

“Only sometimes?” He lifts a brow.

“Okay, all the time.”

“You’ll be my brat, and you’ll be punished accordingly.”

A jolt rocks through me, and I whisper, “What if I get the urge to kill? Will you hate me?”

“I’ll bring you a waste of space and hold your hand while you do it.”

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