Page 43 of Insatiable

“The fuck?” His voice is a growl – deadly. “What happened to you?”

My blood turns to ice as he touches my scars, tracing them. I gulp. “Dancing.”

“Don’t lie to me. Do I need to kill someone?”

I scoff. “No. I’m not lying. They’re from dancing.”

“Really?” he asks. “Why didn’t you have these before?”

I close my eyes as I feel him pull my top up more, exposing every scar and bruise.

“Fuck no, Stacey. Turn around.”

“No,” I say quietly.

“Turn. Around.”

I sigh and glance at him over my shoulder. He looks furious, brows furrowing, his eyes full of rage.

“I do silk routines now, remember? They rip at my skin.”

My phone starts buzzing, a random number popping up on my screen. I silence it as Kade grips my shoulder, pulling me back so I lie flat on the mattress. He’s so close again as he hovers above me, inspecting me. One hand is buried in the pillow beside my head; the other pulls my top up to just under my breasts, revealing a messy scar under my belly button from being dragged across the ground and cutting it on glass.

“Stop it, Kade.”

His finger glides over the dented skin. “You didn’t have any of these before.”

I yank my top down before he can see between my breasts. There’s no way I could lie about that and blame dancing.

“Leave it.”

“What about the bruises on your neck and the marks on your face? Dancing?”

He’ll know I’m lying, so I bite my tongue before responding quietly, “No.”

His eyes flicker over my face. “Me?”

My phone begins buzzing again. “No,” I reply.

“They must be from me,” he replies, frowning deeper as he traces a bruise on my shoulder, and then one on my throat.

I shouldn’t shiver, but I do, and he notices.

The touch shouldn’t be sending me into a spiral or causing heat to gather between my legs. Yet here I am, getting wet and needy from Kade simply being near me.

My eyes widen slightly as he mimics the hold he had on my throat in the studio. “I held you like this. It was me.” He looks horrified, his eyes darkening a fraction as he takes in my appearance. “I hurt you.”

“It wasn’t you,” I whisper.

“So you fucked someone last night?” His eyes flash with something threatening. “Since when are you into getting beaten up during sex? Who was he?”

My pulse flutters beneath his thumb, and I know he can feel it. His jaw clenches as he stares down at my neck, and the need to wrap my legs around his waist is too much.

“I’m not answering those kinds of questions from you.” I can’t. All I can see is the real reason I’m battered and bruised. “Drop it.”

Kade sucks on his bottom lip, breathing through his nose. He’s still above me, and the heat radiating from him has me nearly squirming.

“I want to know who.” His voice is frightening, the mania sobering him. “If you don’t tell me, I’ll find out. Don’t go near him again if he’s going to do this to your body.”

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