Page 55 of Voracious

Lu’s mask is pushed up and she’s running away from Base, but she’s laughing. He catches her from behind, and I can almost hear her squeal as he lifts her and drags her into a corner. Then the crowd morphs, and I lose sight of them.

Everyone’s kissing, and I try to dodge their tangled bodies as I push through the dance floor, aiming for the kitchen to pour another drink.

A shadow appears in front of me, stopping me from going forward, and I look up to see the silver skull mask, but the mesh over the holes stops me from seeing the wearer’s eyes.

Although my insides scream at me to pull the mask up and see who it is, I pat his chest and try to walk to the side of him. “No thanks.”

He takes my waist and drags me to him, and I arch my back. “Um. No, sorry.” When I push against his chest, he doesn’t budge. “I’m not playing.”

It’s dark in here, but I do notice his gloved hand rising between us, his fingers tracing the writing on my chest. He smears the words with his palm, sliding the fake blood up my throat, blinding me temporarily as he forces my mask to lift then he stops at my cheek. At this point, I’m frozen, even as he smears the fake blood across my lips, dragging my lipstick with it.

“Are you real?”

My heart accelerates at hearing the voice I’m so familiar with, and I try not to smile. “I am.”

He pushes my mask all the way up so I can see again. “You’re real.” His voice is muffled from his own mask, but I would recognise it anywhere.

I nod while he traces my lips with his middle finger, his thumb pressing down on my bottom lip.

He pushes his mask up enough to reveal his mouth. I watch him with wide eyes as he keeps going, the mask disappearing inside his hoodie, hiding his unruly black hair.

His lips part as he stares at me, searching my face, dilated pupils taking me in like he’s never seen me before – like he’s looking at a fascinating piece of art. I’m speechless. Between his expression of awe, and the bruising all over his chiselled face, I can’t speak – all I can do is look at him the way he’s looking at me.

He curls his gloved fingers at my nape; my blood turns to ice from the touch, and I’m breathless from the electric current shooting through us. It’s a rush of butterflies I’ve not felt in a while that startles me as he eliminates the distance between our bodies.

“You’re going to play this game with me,” he whispers against my lips. He tastes like smoke and mint and everything I’ve missed. “The only person stopping me from pulling my gun out and blowing someone’s brain out is you – I need you. I can hear them. Taunting and laughing at me. I can fuckingfeelthem everywhere, but I only want to feel you.”

A soft moan slips free as he captures my bottom lip between his teeth.

“Make them go away, Freckles.”

“Make what go away?” I manage to ask.

“The voices.”

I try to speak, to say who knows what, but he silences me with a brutal kiss just as “Crawling” by Linkin Park starts blasting throughout the room – along with some cheering and whooping. I’m already too caught up in the feeling of him all over me to focus on anything else.

Kade keeps his lips on mine as he backs me against the wall, sinking his tongue into my mouth with desperation as he lifts me into his arms and presses me against it. Two solid walls keep me in place as my hands grip at his shoulders and I wrap my legs around him.

I should stop this, stop him from caressing my bare thighs and pushing his palms up to my ass, but I can’t. I need him just as much as he needs me – my mind has been going haywire for months, and I want to keep kissing him. And since everyone’s too busy devouring each other, basically in the same position as us, I’m not shy about rolling my hips against him.

I feel his teeth, and I melt into the kiss, pressing my lips back to his and wrapping my fingers into the material of his hoodie. He’s breathing heavily, gripping my thighs and ignoring his mask slipping off and falling to the ground.

He’s hard, and for the first time in so long, I feel like I can let go – all the worries, the stress, the anxiety gone.

“I need you,” he whispers against my throat as he nips at the skin there. “I need to know you’re real. I need to know you’re alive.”

“I am,” I cry, tilting my head to the side as he leaves a wet trail to my pulse.

I shake through my whimper as he marks my throat, his hands all over my body, not caring that we’re in front of hundreds of people.

I halt his hands as he tries to pull down my underwear. “No. We’re surrounded by people, Kade.”

He lifts his head, confused for a second as he stares at me, and then he’s kissing me again, bringing his hands to my waist instead.

Slipping my hand under his hoodie to grip his hair, my gaze clashes with Luciella’s, and I freeze in his hold.

She won’t know it’s Kade groping me and making me soaked between my legs. It’s too dark, and he has his hood up and his back to her. Unless they have some sort of psychic twin thing going on like in movies.

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