Page 58 of Unmask
“Until you get tired of me,” she whispered, sadness threading through her words like a needle through cloth, stitching wounds I wanted to tear open so I could heal them myself.
Those words nearly dropped me to my knees.
I gripped her chin gently, forcing her to look at me, making sure she saw the truth bleeding out of me. “I’ve tried to get you out of my head, little raven. I can’t. I’m not built that way. You’re not just a complication. And you’re most definitely not just some girl. You’re the only thing that makes this fucked-up life make sense.” I cupped her face, my thumb dragging across her bottom lip with a reverence I didn’t know I was capable of. “I never wanted a commitment. Never wanted the complication. But you—” I dragged my thumb slowly down the side of her throat, feeling the frantic beat of her pulse. “You’re the only risk I’m willing to take.”
She swallowed hard, her hands sliding from my neck to my chest, playing with the frayed strings of my hoodie like she didn’t know what else to do with them…or herself. “I can’t think when you’re this close,” she said breathily, her eyes glazed and dazed in a way that made my chest feel too tight, so goddamn sweet it nearly undid me.
“Good,” I murmured against her mouth, stealing another kiss, slower this time, a deep pull that made her body meltagainst mine. “I don’t want you thinking. I want you feeling everything.”
“Kreed.” She sighed my name, her fingers curling deeper into my hoodie, her body arching into me instinctively.
The press of her against every hard line of my body was pure torture, but it was a torture I craved. Would burn in hell to keep.
She was mine.
She just didn’t know it yet.
But she would.
By the time I was done, there wouldn’t be a single part of her that didn’t know who she belonged to, and for once, I was ready to believe in something bigger than myself. Something that felt a hell of a lot like her.
I dragged my mouth from hers, only far enough to find the sensitive shell of her ear. “You’re mine,” I rasped, my voice a raw, guttural scrape against her skin. “You understand me, little raven? Every breath you take belongs to me now. Every shiver…every sound you make.”
Her breath hitched, body trembling under my hands. God, she was so fucking responsive. So perfect.
She shook her head, her fingers flattening on my chest as she pushed me back. “It doesn’t work like that. It’s not that simple. This shouldn’t have happened. You can’t keep kissing me.”
“So, you’re saying you want me to kiss other girls? That I should touch them like I touch you? Let them put their hands on me?”
A flare of anger and jealousy streaked over her face. “Do whatever you want. We were never together, and we’re not now.”
“You’re not running again,” I whispered darkly, letting my teeth scrape gently down the line of her jaw. “You’re staying. You’re staying right here—with me.” I kissed her again, stealing the tiny gasp that slipped from her lips, swallowing it like a drug I couldn’t get enough of.
Nothing else existed. Not the cold bricks biting into her back. Not the thin dusting of snow falling outside. Not the gnawing feeling that danger was still nearby.
Just her.
Just us.
The heavy thud of boots overhead jerked me out of the spell I seemed to fall under in her presence. Voices followed, a group laughing and talking as they came down the stairs above our heads.
Kaylor stiffened against me, quickly buttoning her jeans and adjusting her sweater, the dazed look in her eyes clearing.
Fuck.
My first instinct was to threaten whoever interrupted us, but I took her hand and led her out of the stairwell, knowing Evan waited for me in the parking lot. It was time we got the hell out of here.
13
KAYLOR
Evan pulled away from the curb, the black town car gliding smoothly into traffic as Kreed and I sank into the leather seats. The sky outside had turned a muted gray, the threat of a more serious snowstorm heavy in the clouds as perfectly shaped white flakes continued to dance from the sky.
With us tucked warm inside, Evan drove us toward the other side of town. Nothing was going to plan. The pompous ass just thought he could claim me, kiss me whenever he wanted, touch me. The worst part was that I let him. I liked it. Too damn much.
Only Kreed could bring me so much pleasure and rage within the same minute. One second, he made me feel treasured, and within the next, I was consumed with zapping jealousy at the thought of him with another girl.
Why did he put that image into my head?
