Page 42 of Two Chambered Heart

It was riskier with her, since he couldn’t hear when it was too much, when she’d gone too long without oxygen, but he knew many people without his gifts safely practiced breath play, so he was just going to have to keep attuning himself to her. Maybe he’d have her train breath retention in the pool upstairs.

“I’m not sure what I did to deserve it, but thank you for the trust.” Kayden leaned over and kissed her. “Now go get changed. Let’s go for a run.”

Just like he had every time he’d gone out into the world with Corey, Kayden felt absolute liberation. If she felt their sex was freeing, it had nothing on how free he felt running along the sidewalks amongst hordes of people, without all the noise of thousands of thoughts.

Kayden could admit that he and Jason had become recluses in their adult life. After a few years of freedom since escaping the facility where they’d been prisoner, the noise had just become too much. It was simply too draining to continue to try to block out what everyone was thinking all the time, and it wasn’t possible anyway. The only thing they could do was focus on their own thoughts to try to dull all the clatter. But now, with Corey neutralizing their gifts, he could go to his favourite coffee shop, he could go to the market—damn, he could even run down the street.

Before Corey, he would have had to drive out to an empty trail. He loved trail running, loved the technical aspect of it, the elevation, the natural beauty of the woods, but it was the lack of choice that made him bitter. He went to the trails out of necessity, not by preference.

They ran for almost two hours before Corey started to tire. Every few kilometres, he had to squash his instinct to start chasing her. She was lostin her own world running, and he paced just slightly behind her, giving her the space to enjoy some time to herself.

She came to a stop in front of an ice cream parlor around the corner from the condo.

“Ice cream?” she asked him, breathing hard. Her long legs were red from the brisk air in her little running shorts, matching her flushed face. She had on one of his hoodies over her sports bra. Even with all the exertion, her eyes were bright, and she was beaming at him—she looked alive. Kayden hoped he looked the same.

“That’s not in my meal plan.”

“Fuck your meal plan,” she said, and opened the door.

He followed her in. She ordered herself a cone, mint chocolate chip.

“Which flavour?” she asked him.

Kayden rolled his eyes, then glanced at the flavour options. “Chocolate.”

“Chocolate?” she repeated, looking stunned. “You’re so boring.”

Now, that’s a first.

“Well, you just ordered glorified toothpaste, so you’re hardly one to judge ice cream flavours, baby.” He winked at her before telling the cashier he’d have his scoop in a cup.

“He’ll have it in a cone,” Corey amended.

The guy behind the counter just shrugged, putting the two scoops of ice cream in their respective cones and handed them over.

“That’ll be $8.50.”

Corey’s smile dropped. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it again, looking to Kayden with something like embarrassment in her eyes.

Kayden smirked at her and took out his card to pay. He checked his phone, making sure there was nothing from Archie or Jase. There wasn’t. And his anxiety marched back in, gripping his chest in a vise.

“I need to start working again,” Corey mumbled as they walked out of the shop.

“Just tell me what you need.”

“It’s not about that.”

“If you trust me not to suffocate you, then you could at least trust me enough to buy you what you need.”

Corey didn’t look convinced, but she bit her lower lip and didn’t press the topic.

“So do you just like… have an infinite amount of money?”

“Something like that,” Kayden confessed. “Don’t forget, me and Jason run this city.”

Walking back to the condo, the two ate their ice cream in peace. Kayden hadn’t had ice cream in a while and was swept away in the simple pleasure of modified sugar, the cooling texture melting over his tongue. Maybe chocolate was boring, but it had been his sister’s favourite flavour, and he ate it in memory of her.

When they got back up to the penthouse, Corey kicked her shoes off in the front hall.

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