Page 33 of Hush (Fighting Fate)

I kissed her deep, pushing our bodies together from our knees to our chests. One of my hands moved to her lower back, pulling her in harder against me while the other one held her kiss to mine.

It wasn’t until she tore her mouth away from mine to take deep, panting breaths, and I went to consume her throat, that I realized just how far I was taking things.

I jerked away from her like she’d given me an electric shock and forced myself to walk away. “Fucking hell.”

Closing my eyes, I paced the room, willing myself to calm down. When I thought I had myself under control, I glanced up at her. I was expecting to see anger or worry on her face, and I prepared myself to offer an apology, but when I was met with dark desire in her gaze instead, I growled. “Motherfucker.”

Spinning away again, I screwed my eyes shut. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I counted to twenty, then I continued on to fifty, then one hundred. With a deep breath, I forced myself to keep my gaze far away from hers and grabbed a clean shirt out of my cupboard. Shucking it on, I growled something that might’ve sounded like ‘Come on’, then yanked the door open.

Chapter 25

Kaeli

My head was one big swirling mess as I followed Mitch out the door.

I kissed him. I actually kissed him. And holy mother of god, was it good. I was actually surprised my legs were able to support me right now.

It had taken all my strength not to touch him. I swear I thought I was going to rip holes in my skirt I was holding on so hard.

I didn’t know what it was that made me decide not to fight. It might have been the way he ignored me the second we were locked in his room, or maybe it was the way he appeared so desolate as he sat on the bed, or maybe it was just pure sex appeal, the way he stripped the shirt from his body and all those hard, tight contours…

Whatever it was, it made me want to stop fighting.

As we walked downstairs, I knew I would’ve looked a wreck, and I supposed that was probably a good thing. If Mitch was going to so much trouble to make it look like he was taking advantage of me – regardless of whether it was for my benefit or not, because let’s face it, it was to my benefit, then the least I could do was act like I’d just been taken advantage of. TJ might be a criminal, but I certainly didn’t think he was stupid, and it took a lot more than some messed up clothes and swollen lips to make it look like someone had been raped.

I thought of what emotional state I might be in if I really had been in that situation. I could image I’d be a crying mess – pretty much how I had been the last couple of times I’d been in this position, but I wasn’t sure if I could manage tears right now. My head was too much of a mess. I thought maybe I could just go for hollow. I’d imagine if you’d been placed in the same horrifying situation a few times, you’d have to go into some sort of survival mode.

Moving behind Mitch, I masked my expression into one of emptiness. Of complete hopelessness. I didn’t meet anyone’s eyes, I just moved like I was on autopilot.

I heard someone laugh. “Damn, Mitch, you’ve broken her. Now she’s not going to be anywhere near as much fun to play with.”

I didn’t look at Mitch to see what kind of an expression he was wearing, but I heard him grunt a little like he was smirking. “Nah, man, this is just the way I like them.”

He shuffled me out the back door, put me into his car, and pulled out onto the street without saying a word. His body looked so tightly wound, I didn’t know how he wasn’t exploding. Two days ago I would’ve been frightened of the way he looked, but now I knew I had nothing to be frightened of.

There was no doubt in my mind that had he tried to go any further with that kiss, I would’ve gone with it. The fact that he was the one to stop it spoke volumes. I wasn’t sure of his reasons, but I certainly wasn’t going to question it. If he was going to keep me safe, I was going to let him.

It wasn’t until we were a block from where I parked my car that I remembered I’d driven. “Oh shit. I forgot I drove my car.”

His bright green gaze swung to meet mine with surprise. I really liked these contacts. They were almost as mesmerizing as the violet ones.

“It’s just in that little parking lot up there,” I said, pointing.

He flicked on his indicator and pulled in, parking right next to my little corolla. I didn’t know how he knew it was my car, but the fact that he did didn’t surprise me. When I glanced across at him, he was pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Please don’t drive again, Kaeli. It’s not safe.”

I quirked an eyebrow. “And walking seven blocks through dark, questionable backstreets at night with that bag is?” I said sardonically.

He paled a little then sighed. “Point taken, but I’m talking about a different kind of safe here.”

He let his words hang in the air for a little while, letting me take in his meaning. He meant TJ wouldn’t like it.

I watched him for a while. It was strange how much I didn’t feel threatened by him anymore. Now that I could look him in the eye, I could see the worry there. I could see the need to protect me. It was…overwhelming. There didn’t seem to be any other way to describe it. It completely overwhelmed me.

Mitch sighed and let his head fall back against the head rest. When he eventually turned back to look at me, his gaze was desperate. “Kaeli, I want to tell you to keep your eyes open – be prepared for anything, but I also want you to stay blissfully ignorant. Your innocence is such a beautiful thing. I hate that you’ve been thrown into this.”

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