Page 54 of The Lie of Us

I didn’t bother answering her as I kicked off my shoes and stripped down to my boxers. Winter shifted on the mattress as she pulled the blankets back for me. Climbing onto the bed, I slipped beneath the sheets and closed the distance between us. My hands instinctively reached for her and my arms wrapped around her as I pulled her flush against me.

Her skin was soft, gliding like silk across mine as she slid her hand to my chest. Her head was resting against my shoulder, fitting perfectly in the crook of my arm. It was where she belonged; she was where I belonged.

Holding her felt like coming home.

“How did today go?”

I absentmindedly traced invisible patterns across her back. “It went as expected."

“Don’t be coy, Kai. How did you place in the tournament?”

I smiled to myself at the sternness in her tone. “I won.”

“And that was expected?” She lifted her head to look at me and raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know how you manage to be cocky and modest in the same breath.”

“It’s an art, darling,” I said with a smirk as I rolled her onto her back and settled between her thighs. Winter laughed softly as I nipped at her bottom lip. “And for the record, I wouldn’t consider myself cocky. I’m simply confident in my ability, among other things.”

Winter wiggled beneath me as I trailed my lips down the column of her throat. “What else are you confident in?”

I was deliberately slow as my lips traveled down her torso. Pushing up her cotton tank top, I kissed my way down to her stomach while moving my body toward the end of the bed. My fingers slid beneath the waistband of her panties and I dragged them down her thighs, freeing them from her feet as my knees hit the floor.

“I’m confident in knowing every inch and every curve of your body. I’m confident in knowing how to give you the pleasure you desperately need.” I hooked my arms underneath her thighs before pulling her across the mattress to me. “I’m confident that no one else can ever love you the way I do.”

She lifted herself up onto her elbows, her eyes wide from my words as her gaze slammed into mine. I wanted to take them back, but I couldn’t. There was no sense. One day she would know the truth, but it didn’t matter either way. There would never be a right time for us.

I slid my tongue against her pussy before sucking her clit between my teeth. Distracting her with my mouth was the only way I could prevent her from questioning me on my admission.

“Kai,” she moaned my name as her head tipped backward before she looked back at me with a mixture of emotions swirling in her heated green eyes.

“Shh,” I breathed against her flesh before pulling back far enough for my eyes to meet hers. “Be quiet for me, darling. You don’t want anyone to catch us, do you?”

She shook her head, falling silent as she folded her lips between her teeth. Moving my mouth back to her, she remained quiet as she collapsed back against the bed. My tongue moved against her, licking, sucking, and tasting her pleasure until she was withering on the mattress beneath my touch.

Winter’s hands were around the side of my face, pulling me upward. I rose from my knees after discarding my boxers, climbing onto the bed above her before sinking deep inside her. Her legs were wrapped around my waist and her arms around my shoulders as I shifted my hips, slowly thrusting in and out of her.

“You know, you’re not the only one who is confident,” she murmured against my mouth as we moved against one another, caught in a tragic melody of our own.

I pulled back, just enough to meet her gaze. Her green eyes pierced my blue ones, spearing directly through me, straight into my heart.

“No one will ever love you the way I do either.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

WINTER

Present

It’s late in the evening as I sit out on my front porch, waiting for Kai to show up. I let him know when I had finished dinner with Giana and he had responded, telling me he would be over soon. I couldn’t help the nervousness that was encapsulating me as I stared out at the driveway.

With the shift in the dynamic between us, I wasn’t sure what was appropriate. How was I supposed to act around him? Did I seem too eager if I was sitting outside waiting for him to show up? We were supposed to be taking things slowly, but this didn’t feel slow… not that I was complaining.

Off in the distance, I heard the creaking of the wrought-iron gates opening. I needed to have someone inspect that and eradicate the dreadful sound. My spine straightened as I sat up in my seat with my hands folded carefully on my lap. I saw the headlights on Malakai’s car before I could actually see the vehicle in the darkness of the night.

His sports car was painted a matte black and the entire thing was blacked out. He blended in with the darkness, just as he always had.

The engine purred as he slowly pulled up in front of my house and put his car in park before turning it off. My breath was caught in my throat as my heart pounded erratically in my chest. I needed my body to calm down, yet it wouldn’t. I hated him for having such a profound effect on me like this.

As he slipped out of his seat, the door closed softly behind him and he rounded the car with his jaw set. He looked so perfect and so beautiful it hurt. His stormy eyes shined under the soft light of the moon above while it illuminated his chiseled features. He was wearing a pair of black sweatpants, paired with a matching black sweatshirt and white sneakers.

---