Page 36 of Kings & Chaos

Now she was in my blood, in my fucking bones.

And Neo wasn’t the only one who’d be living with a hole in his heart when she left.

Chapter13

Willa

Taking a shower after the hot tub was a dilemma. On the one hand, I didn’t want to get into bed covered in chlorine and chemicals, but showering also meant getting rid of Rock’s scent, and I didn’t want to do that either.

These guys were turning me into a sex-hungry romantic and I didn’t even care.

I stripped off my clothes and got into bed naked. I was sleepy, my body loose and relaxed from three orgasms and my long post-sex cuddle sesh with Rock in the hot tub.

I could shower in the morning.

Rock had offered to sleep in my bed, but I knew neither of us would get any sleep if that happened. Sex with him was every bit as hot as it had been with Oscar. I wasn’t even going to try and tell myself I didn’t want more.

And it wasn’t just Rock and Oscar. The moment I’d shared in the kitchen with Neo came rushing back, his hand wrapped around my throat, his hot breath against my neck.

I squirmed in bed when I remembered the way his fingers had sunk into my pussy, his voice hoarse when he’d discovered I was wet. My hunger for him took my fucking breath away and I had zero idea what to do about it.

Or more accurately, I had a lot of ideas, and they were all bad.

Now you’re catching on…

Rock’s words in the hot tub drifted through my mind. Our post-sex convo was the closest we’d ever come to a conversation about our shared past. There had been a second, just a blip in our conversation, when it felt like he was trying to tell me something, like he had a hold of the loose thread in my mind and was pulling.

It had passed so quickly, I wasn’t even sure it had been real.

We all deserve better…

I burrowed into my blankets, sighing at the pure pleasure of expensive sheets and the fluffy duvet on my bed after the hot tub. My eyelids were heavy, my mind drifting. I saw Neo staring at me in the living room, the strange mixture of rage and sorrow I sometimes caught on his face when he didn’t expect me to be looking.

His amber eyes flared like a match as I fell into the emptiness of sleep.

* * *

I was walking down a long hall at night. It was a fancy house, with wallpaper and art on the walls and soft light leaking from sconces on either side. The murmur of voices sounded from another room, a backdrop to muffled music I sensed more than heard.

Something was banging at the end of the hall.

I was scared, but the banging sound was like an alarm in my body.

Something was wrong.

I looked down as I made my way toward the sound and saw my legs covered in white tights, the hem of a pink dress fluttering with every step I took.

My legs were small. I was small.

The sound was getting louder, and now there was something else: a shouting that sounded soft because it came from behind one of the doors.

I kept walking, making my way toward the door. Something — someone — was trapped.

They needed help.

I stopped in front of the door. The shouting was clearer now.

“Let me out! I’m sorry! Please don’t leave me in here again. I’ll be good, I swear!”

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