Page 37 of Moments of Madness (The Hunters)

“What if I said it was?” I challenge.

Kalilah thinks it over while she washes herself. “Well…” I wait, and when she looks up, she sees my smile. “You’re being a jerk.”

“Of course, I don’t want you to piss in my mouth. Though I do get that it’s a fetish, it isn’t one of mine.”

“What’s yours?” she asks.

“I like to fuck,” I reply immediately and move away to get a towel. When I come back, she’s where I left her, but she’s finishing up rinsing off the soap. I turn the faucet off and step in.

“Do you want to walk?” She shakes her head, so I wrap the towel around her, and she lifts her arms easily. When the towel is secure, I pick her up again.

“I could get used to this. Best treatment I’ve ever had after a fuck,” she mutters.

“What did you do last time?”

“I ran,” she says.

I stop dead and stare at her. “What?” I am unsure if I heard her correctly.

“I ran.”

“Why?” I take her to the bed and place her down. It doesn’t even occur to me that I should have walked Kalilah to her own bed until I climb in after her. She lies on her back and whines when she moves.

“Is it your back?” I ask.

She turns her head toward me. “No, my ass.”

I can’t help the smile that touches my lips, but then the question that’s been roaming around in my mind comes to the front, and I ask, “Why did you run?”

“Because I knew he would pass out after sex. It was the perfect time for me to get the hell away,” she whispers.

“Who from?”

“My husband,” she admits, dropping a bomb that I didn’t see coming. My gaze flicks to her hand that’s gripping the towel, and that’s when I see the outline of a ring that she must have worn for some time. “I haven’t told you because I wasn’t sure how…” She pauses. “But now that we’ve fucked, well, you should know I’m married.”

“I’ve fucked many married women,” I point out.

“Yeah, I get it. But—”

“Why did you run and not just leave him?”

“He was controlling. I saved enough money—well, I’ll rephrase…hid enough to get me by for a certain amount of time. But no one would hire me because I couldn’t use references. I knew if I did, he would find me, and I changed my surname. I’ve been getting by…barely. But I know he’ll be mad, fucking furious, actually, but I don’t care. I just want to be free of him.”

“Tell me his name.”

“No,” she says.

“You know I can find it easily.”

“Your brother already knows.”

My eyes narrow. “Kenzo?” She nods. “Did your husband hurt you?”

“You hurt me,” she reminds me, moving her body and wincing.

“You enjoyed that though.”

“My face didn’t the first time,” she scolds.

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