Page 27 of Up in Flames

The problem is, the only thing I want to do right now is get the fuck out of here, get my ass back to that park, and spend the rest of the afternoon with my woman.

Wipe this fucking crap from my mind.

Letting out a long huff, I unwrap my bloodied knuckles from around Buckley’s purple throat and move to stand, brushing out my clothes. Clearing my throat at the deathly silence in the room, I turn to Trap, who looks stunned that I let my animal take hold. Pointing my finger at his bruising face, I grit my teeth, attempting to restrain myself. “You’re on probation. You fuck up again, you’re going to know about it. You want to step up, Trap, fucking act like a superior, not like a subordinate who doesn’t know shit.”

Trap glares at me like he’s internally stabbing me a million times over in his mind, but he says nothing and simply wipes the blood from his face.

“Clean up this mess, anddon’tfucking call me again today.”

Alfie slaps my back as I walk out the door. I tip my head at him as I glance down at my knuckles, rubbing them. There’s no denying I’ve been in some kind of fight. I just have to hope Makaylie doesn’t notice. I need to get back to her so she can pull me out of this hell and calm my black heart because as much as she says I am her muse, she is mine too.

She makes me wantmore.

She makes me believe there can bemore.

But I can’t think about that right now.

Because after the fire I felt burning inside me, I need Makaylie to remind me of the man I can be.

MAKAYLIE

It’s been colder without Cain beside me, but I am still getting my words down. Though I have to admit, it’s better when he is here, cuddled up behind me.

A shadow looms over my laptop, and I glance up at Cain standing over me. A bright smile lights my face, but something about his aura is different from when he left. He weakly smiles down at me like there’s no spark inside him anymore.

It concerns me.

So I place my laptop to the side and reach for his hand. “Hey, how was work?” I ask, but the second I grab his hand, I notice his knuckles are bruised and bloody. Cain tries to pull his hand back from me, but it’s too late. I’ve seen everything I needed to see. “What the hell happened to your hands?” I blurt out, standing from the blanket.

He exhales, turning from me like he’s annoyed with my line of questioning, which only aggravates me because I am genuinely concerned for him. So I reach out, grabbing his hand, and yank him back to face me. “Hey, don’t blow this off. Talk to me.”

Cain turns back, his eyes hard, dark, so sinister it shocks me, and I take a step back. “Little dove, I thought about not coming back. I thought about leaving you here.”

I jerk my head back in confusion. “What! Why?”

He exhales, running his bloodied fingers through his hair. “Makaylie, can’t you see? I’ve tried warning you, butyou don’t listen.”

“This again?” I groan.

He grabs my hands in his and shakes them. “Look! Look at my hands.”

My eyes shift to the bruises and blood on his knuckles. He’s obviously been in a fight. Every inch of me wants to know why. What happened? “I have a feeling even if I asked, you wouldn’t tell me what happened, would you?”

He groans, spins, and starts pacing. “Why? Why don’t you push?”

“You’d tell me if you wanted to. I trust you.”

He spins, glaring at me. “You shouldn’t.”

I step up to him, gently cupping his face. “But I do, Cain. I trust you.” My eyes fall to his hands again, an uneasiness rolls in my stomach, and maybe I am simply susceptible to his charms or his stunning looks. Maybe I am completely insane. But something inside me tells me that I can one hundred percent trust this man. “I can’t explain it. And maybe it’s irrational, and I should be pushing you for more information, but you will tell me when you’re ready. I know you will.”

The darkness in his eyes begins to lift—the Cain I know is returning to me. He slowly wraps his arms around my waist, gently pressing his forehead to mine. “I shouldn’t have come at you like that. Work was just—” He stops midsentence and doesn’t continue, so I bring my fingers up, gently caressing the back of his head.

“Well, I am glad youdidcome back. Because I still have to finish this chapter, and I need my muse,” I joke, trying to lighten his mood.

He smirks and leans in, pressing his lips to mine. I kiss Cain back, just needing to calm the storm raging inside of him. I don’t know what he’s just gone through. All I know is that whatever it was wasn’t good. So I kiss him with all that I have, my fingers clenching in his hair, my tongue dancing in his mouth, until he groans, slowly pulling back from me.

“Makaylie, if you insist on kissing me like that, I will not be held responsible for what I do.”

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