Page 62 of Faithful

“Don’t miss me too much, huh?” Kai chuckles.

“I’ll try.” I nod and watch him speed dress, then disappear into the bathroom to brush his teeth and pull his hair into a bun.

When I address the lack of a shower right before he exits the suite, he smiles coyly and says, “I thought it’d be quite symbolic if I smell like sex with you when I talk toMayhemabout my new single.”

Ah, yes, when he puts it like that…

He’s gone then.

Alone and still not quite believing the fact that everything that happened yesterday was indeed real, I spend the next hour drinking hotel-issue coffee and reading the latest Iodine news on my phone.

Currently, “Kneel” is a trending topic on pretty much every important social media platform. The promotional artwork–a drawing of what appears to be a pair of hands holding a bleeding heart against a distressed gray background–has raised certain questions about the source material.

If I were to describe Iodine’s music catalog in six words, I’d say the general theme of all their songs is the vicious and bloody circle of life. There are a couple songs about feelings but nothing as explicitly vulnerable as “Kneel,” at least in the demo version of it I heard. I don’t know if the lyrics have been altered or if the instrumentals have gone through massive changes.

What I do know is that Kai’s never openly put himself in a position of emotional weakness in any of his songs before, at least not to the extent he’s doing it now, and reading netizens’ speculations about his reasons makes me a little angry.

I’m not sure why.

Perhaps it’s jealousy.

* * *

Kai returns a little ruffled an hour later just as he promised.

I catch the faint scent of cigarette smoke and gum on his lips when he walks over to kiss me.

“How did it go?” I ask, slightly unsure of what I’m allowed to bring up.

Pouring himself some of the leftover coffee I made, he informs me that he needs to leave for the venue to sound check right after lunch.

Then he proceeds to recap the interview he, Finn, and Danny have just been subjected to by the “brainless losers” fromMayhem.

“Asshole had the audacity to ask me to show him my ink.” Kai finishes his speech with the plop of an empty paper cup against the kitchenette counter. “And that’s after I told Bodhi that he needs to make the rules crystal clear before these fuckers come to me with their questions.”

This disturbs me a bit. His body has always been off-limits. “How do they know you have ink?” I remember finding out Kai had tats only by accident. It wasn’t until later on and because of my own initiative that I knew for sure.

He shrugs. “Apparently, shit gets around.” His expression hardens.

I’m still half-dressed after a shower in nothing but my sweatpants and Kai is in full freaking regalia: boots, coat, long-sleeved T-shirt. Even the nail polish feeds into this picture of him that’s blatant intimidation.

“I’m sorry,” I say dumbly.

“What are you sorry for?” He wings up an eyebrow and moves to stand in front of me.

His body is dangerously close now, his clothes brushing against my chest and stomach.

“For crossing paths with stupid people this early in the day,” I suggest, my mind suddenly foggy.

“Oh yeah?” Kai places both hands on my shoulders, the intent in his gaze more than evident. “Does your apology come with some, let’s say, perks?”

“Aren’t you sore after last night?”Wow, I managed to make a sex joke. Who am I?

He leans in, his mouth grazing the tip of my ear, fingers skimming down my biceps. “Oh, I want to feel sore, babe. I want to feel very fucked and full of your cum when I tell the world tonight about your cock.”

I swallow and attempt to steady my pulse, failing miserably. I legit black out for several seconds.

When my brain turns on next, Kai’s spread out on the bed beneath me, my hands pawing at his clothes greedily but getting off track a couple of times before finally reaching their destination.

---