Page 114 of I Replaced His Husband
No matter how exhausted I was, I couldn’t close my eyes. Something in my chest kept aching, needlelike and constant.
I wanted so badly to be patient, to be perfect for Kay, just like I’d promised my dad, just like he’d told me to. But why did it have to be so damn draining?
The True Mate Bond kept pulling me toward him, but I couldn’t follow that powerful call.
The wound inside me seemed to be tearing wider and wider, its jagged edges pulling apart until it was hard to breathe.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Kay the way I saw him that first day, like a wounded panther, beautiful but still dangerous, bleeding the same way I was.
His dark navy-blue eyes, full of anger and something else… a bottomless sorrow.
I wanted to soothe his pain, to reach him somehow… but he kept slipping away.
Was it a dream?
I flinched a little as the image of Kay dissolved into darkness. Someone was standing in the room, the sound of quiet sobbing filling the air.
I jerked up, bracing myself on my elbows.
"Kay?"
A slender figure crossed the shadow-filled room.
Was I imagining it? It wasn’t possible for him to be here. I must’ve hallucinated him. My tormented mind was already slipping.
But then that wonderful scent hit my nose, Allure, that one aroma, that perfect one… The fragrance of my True Mate.
In the silence, he climbed onto the bed, his hand groping in the dark until it found my thigh. I trembled, but he didn’t stop. He moved closer, until he was on top of me, straddling my hips, his lithe body pressing on mine.
His breath brushed my face as his slim fingers traced my cheeks, sliding up along my cheekbones and jaw.
And then it happened.
The thing I’d wanted for so long.
Kay’s soft, full lips brushed mine. At first, it was shy, a warm touch that barely grazed the surface of my mouth. Then the kiss deepened. I felt the damp warmth of his tongue, the gentle glide that made me part my lips. Our tongues met, tangled, slipped deeper. His taste reminded me of strawberries, and my hands instinctively reached up to hold his shoulders, wanting to keep him there, to make the moment last.
But suddenly, Kay lifted his head, breaking the kiss.
"Rain…" he whispered.
"Kay?"
"I want to apologize, to beg for your forgiveness… to say how grateful I am for your patience, and—"
"Kay, you really don’t have to—"
"No! I need to explain this! I shouldn’t have said I didn’t want you to overshadow Maurice, because that’s exactly what I want, Rain! To have the best damn thing! I’m ecstatic that I found you, so happy you wouldn’t even believe me!"
Kay’s hands slid over my face almost feverishly, fingers tangling in my hair.
"The moment you walked into my room, I already knew, Rain. You were the embodiment of everything I’d ever wanted. It hit me like a waterfall, and I keptlyingto myself, just to feel like a good, moral person, a grieving widower, when in truth all Isecretlywanted was to claim you the very first day we met. Don’t you see? That’s why the anger, that’s why the prickly behavior. It was disbelief, hating myself for acting like awhorewho forgot the father of my child the moment you walked in…"
"Kay, my love, you weren’t. The True Mate magic is powerful; it’s the strongest pull that exists…"
"There’s more I need to say, more to apologize for, Rain!" He raised his voice. "Because of my stupidity, I messed up big time! Today I endangered us both with my stupid outburst…"
"Kay, please!"
