Page 103 of The Piece You Stole

I jerk my head back to his as arousal punches me in the gut. “What?” I ask, my mouth dry.

His lips quirk in a smile. “Or maybe he was kissing you in the wrong place.”

I don’t ask where because my core is pulsing as if it’s trying to say, ‘here, this is the right place.’ I press my thighs together and hope Kade doesn’t notice. “Uh…”

“Kade, she’s hurt,” Aden says as he enters my room, clutching a roll of white bandages. “What have you been saying?”

I point my red face at my feet, positive Kade is watching me with a hungry grin.

Aden returns to crouch in front of me and gently peels the bandages from my palms.

“She didn’t seem all that impressed by your kiss,” Kade says, a smile in his voice.

My cheeks burn all the hotter as Aden examines the tiny red cuts. He hasn’t asked how it happened, though, surely a doctor in the hospital would have seen them and asked Kade and Aden about it.

Aden unravels the bandage. “Is that right, Saige? Or is there room for improvement?”

Hesoundslike he’s smiling, but I don’t dare lift my head to check. Instead, I start wishing myself somewhere dark where no one can see my red cheeks.

“Yep,” Kade murmurs. “I suggested that maybe you’ve lost your touch. Or maybe...”

Please don’t let him say—

“That or you were kissing her in the wrong place,” Kade continues.

I slam my eyes shut when Aden pauses. “Saige?”

“That isn’t true,” I mumble, still wishing myself into a black void.

“So, you don’t want me to kiss you anywhere else? Or my kisses weren’t as impressive as Kade’s?” There’s nothing in Aden’s voice to tell me what he’s thinking.

I’m suddenly desperate to know if he’s joking. Hesoundslike he might be. But what if he’s not?

He’s sticking a gauzy bandage on my palm when I lift my head to study him.

As if he feels my attention, he darts a glance up at me. The smile tugging at his lips makes me release a soft breath of relief.

“You were joking.” I sigh.

His eyes crease in amusement. “You’ll learn, hopefully, before too long, that you can’t always take what Kade says at face value. He likes attention.”

I dart a glance at Kade, find him eyeing me as if waiting for my response, and I don’t know what compels me to, but I raise my eyebrow. “I liked Kade’s kiss,” I admit in a low voice. “But he does this thing with his fingers that I liked more.”

For the longest second in the world, neither of them reacts. My face flushes bright hot because I can’t believe what just came out of my mouth. I’m getting ready to apologize when Kade and Aden throw their heads back in a booming laugh.

“Well, angel,” Kade grins. “If you’d like a repeat, I’m game when you are.”

A repeat.

A repeat would imply I was staying. And if Rylan were to find me here…

Simon’s torn throat as his blood paints the hospital parking lot red flashes in my mind. That could be Kade’s body at my feet. Or Aden’s.

All my amusement dies. “He will kill you if he finds me here,” I whisper. “Don’t think I’m not grateful that you came after me. I am, but you don’t know what he’s capable of. I should leave.”

Kade’s smile doesn’t fade, and when I return my focus to Aden, his expression isn’t the least bit alarmed.

“Your job, Saige,” Aden says, his voice soft, “is to heal. That’s it.”

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