Page 56 of Pray for the Damned

My breath catches in my throat at the admission, and despite my best efforts, I can’t help but look up into his inky gaze.

“What are you doing after this?” he asks.

“I have a couple of hours before I have to head to the club for work.”

A dark smile tugs at his lips, but he doesn’t tell me what he has planned, and I don’t bother asking.

There’s something about this version of Emmett that has my heart stuttering in my chest, and I can’t help but wonder what changed between last night and this morning.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

KADE

Am I an asshole for not telling her I’m not my brother?

Yes.

Does that mean I’m going to admit that fact as I lead her toward my bike parked in a back alley beside the soup kitchen?

No. No, it does not.

I tighten my grip on her hand and allow my shoulders to relax in a way I rarely do. She’s not in danger right now. Everyone in this neighborhood knows better than to fuck with me after some drug-fucked asshole tried to steal my bike the first week I was parked outside Waverly’s apartment. They learned the hard way that fucking with me would get them a one-way ticket to hell.

She spots my bike, and she looks up at me with excitement sparkling in her eyes. Fuck. I never thought I’d be the kind of guy that would notice a thing like that, but watching Waverly’s emotions change in her eyes has quickly become one of my favorite things to witness.

“You have your bike today?”

I nod. “I do. You seemed to enjoy it last time.”

Her head tips to the side as she sizes me up. “Did you know I would be here today?”

I consider lying. It comes so naturally to me that sometimes I forget I’m doing it, but since I’m already assuming a fake identity, I probably shouldn’t add any more lies to the web I’ve woven. “I did. Danny is an old friend, he let me know you would be working today after I asked him to keep an eye out for you.”

“And why would you think I would volunteer at a place like this?”

“Because you’re a good person that wants to help others,” I answer immediately. That’s something she has in common with my brother, and a trait that doesn’t come naturally to me at all.

Today was eye-opening in a lot of ways. I’ve always considered people who used services like this to be beneath me. It’s not a conscious judgment I made, but one my father instilled in me. But today I realized that’s not the case at all. These are people just like me that have fallen on hard times. They’re people that are fighting for a better future for themselves, who are rebuilding their lives and need a little help.

There’s nothing shameful about that.

Her answering smile is so bright it takes my fucking breath away, and the foreign feeling has panic raging through my chest for a moment before her hand tightens around mine and drags me back to the moment.

We stop beside the bike, and she stares up at me through long lashes. She looks so fucking beautiful I can barely believe she spent the whole night crying over my idiot brother, and as if my body has a mind of its own, I dip my head and press a kiss to her full lips.

She meets me in the middle, her lips parting immediately for my probing tongue, and before I’ve registered my own movements, I have her perched on the back of my bike with her legs wrapped around me.

We’re too out in the open for my liking, even if I have always had a bit of an exhibitionism kink. It feels wrong to share this moment with others, the first time I get the woman I’ve been stalking for years in my arms.

And yet I can’t drag myself from her.

I slip my fingers through her dark hair and tug slightly, pulling a moan from her throat.

I’m not surprised she has a thing for pain, and I’m going to use that to my advantage at every opportunity.

I tug her head back until I can run my eyes over her face, pausing on her swollen lips. Fuck, they would look so pretty around my cock, but I don’t want her kneeling in a filthy alley. I don’t have many lines, but that’s one of them when it comes to Waverly.

“You gonna be a good girl for me, Waverly?” I murmur against her lips.

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