Page 48 of King of Depravity

I just like the feel of her skin under my hand. She’s so silky and soft, it’s another comfort I never expected and I’m going to enjoy taking full advantage.

I let out a breath, her hair blowing up and landing across my cheek. I rumble out a small laugh as the strand tickles my skin.

Fuck me, I’m like a smitten kitten.

“What’s funny?” she asks, cracking open an eye as she asks in a sleepy voice.

“Your hair is tickling me.”

“Tickling? You mean to tell me you’re ticklish?”

She reaches back then, her fingertips dancing up my side toward my armpit. “Don’t you dare,” I growl, catching her hand. It’s her turn to laugh, cute little bubbling giggles that make me warm inside.

I catch her fingers, pulling her body and turning her so we’re spooning. Then, wrapping her arm and mine around her torso, I playfully bite at the sensitive part of her neck.

Her giggles turn to shrieks as her feet kick out.

I’m laughing too as I roll on top her, play biting at her shoulder. It’s this moment of quiet fun I haven’t had in forever. Not since I was a kid.

But the memories of what killed my simple joy as a child, steal it again now as I stop biting, easing off her.

Laying on her stomach, she lifts her head, her eyes full of her questions. “Where did you just go?”

I shake my head, and start to roll away, off the bed, but her hand on my chest stops me. “Killian?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you know what I like best about you?”

This is a question that erases my pensive thoughts, replacing them with curiosity and appreciation. How did she know I needed her affirmation? “My cock?”

She snorts even as she smiles. “No.”

“My muscles?”

Her hand slides from my chest to my biceps. “They do make me feel very safe, but no, they are not what I like best.”

I turn back toward her, pulling her stomach to mine. “The fact that I live in the shadows and can see all the monsters?”

Her eyes search my face. “I’m glad you’re not calling yourself a monster anymore, but no, that’s not it either.”

“I am a monster,” I say to her, my previous thoughts slamming back to the front of my brain. And then I’m off the bed, striding toward the bathroom.

“I like your honesty.”

I stop in the doorway, turning back to her. “What?”

“I like that I don’t have to wonder what your true intentions are. I always just know. Even when I don’t like them, I know them and then I can respond to them. That is what makes me feel safe with you, when I don’t with anybody else.”

I stare at her, blinking in surprise. “Everyone hates how much shit I just let fall out of my mouth.”

“Not me,” she whispers. “I like it.”

I’m back to the bed in an instant as I practically dive on top of her. No one accepts me for who I am.

They all look at me with worried eyes, even my family treads cautiously around me, leaving a wide path.

I kiss her, not just with passion, but with tenderness and…gratitude. This swell of emotion fills my chest as I taste her.

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