Page 3 of Voracious

Disaster struck barely a week later, and it was the beginning of the end.

Right now, I’m so confused about everything. Kade said it was over, yet he kissed me. I can still feel his lips on mine as I run my fingers over my mouth. I wish I’d let him kiss me before. I wish we’d done it the entire trip.

Do I still love him? Yes, without a doubt. Am Iinlove with him? I have no idea.

Feelings suck sometimes. They’re my best friends, but they’re also my worst enemies.

I manage to fall asleep, and when we land in Glasgow, Barry waits outside the airport bathroom while I try to remain calm and call Tobias on the number Aria gave me, but he doesn’t pick up. I send a message to let him know I landed back in Scotland.

Kyle tells me he’s parked at arrivals, and I’ve to move my ass.

I exit the bathroom. “Can I tell my brother? About what happened?”

Barry stares at me in horror. “Absolutely not. Did you not hear what I said on the flight? Consequences, Miss Rhodes.”

“Stacey.”

“Unless you want your brother dead, keep your mouth shut and get on with your life. I won’t interact with you. I’m just here to make sure the Sawyers aren’t hunting for you.”

They’d never find me. Chris is a cyber-freak. I don’t think the police could even hack into my phone or the Fields’ manor security system. After begging him last year, he removed the tracker and stopped reading my messages, but only because I agreed to stop locking my room door. I did, but only for a little while before paranoia kicked back in.

I sacrificed one form of privacy for another.

Barry leaves my side and goes to his black SUV, which is waiting a few cars behind the white Range Rover Kyle bought a few months ago. My brother grins at me and puts my bags into the trunk, and I climb into the passenger side, my nerves shattering when I see Chris glaring at me from the back seat.

2

KADE

FLASHBACK

Whoever decided it would be a fucking fantastic idea to go camping as a family needs to die. Preferably before the tents are pitched and I’m lying in mine bored as fuck.

We were supposed to celebrate my brother Jason’s birthday with a party in the manor, and as much as I hate parties, I would’ve been able to drag Stacey into a spare room or closet and devour her face until we couldn’t breathe.

I despise any sort of social gathering. But this? Spending the weekend close to Stacey but not being able to kiss or touch or even speak to her? Way worse. It’s torture.

I have to maintain this facade that she does my head in because apparently it’ll look suspicious if I randomly stop calling her names and making her life hell.

Last night, when everyone went back to their tents whileEwanand Base got into a heated debate about the blueprints of the Eiffel Tower, wetextedfor hours before she fell asleep. The last message was me asking if she was still awake, and I’ve had nothing from her all day.

All. Fucking. Day. It’s brutal. Being so close but not being able to do anything. I’m sharing a tent with Jason,Dezand Base.Ewanand Mum are in their own tent, andLuciella, Stacey andTylarare in the other a few spaces away.

I can hear my sister giggling, and it irritates the fuck out of me. How is it fair that she gets to have Stacey to herself?

It’s been an entire month since we left London, since I woke up with the smell of her vanilla-scented hair in my face, her body on top of mine, her soft breaths hitting my neck. It felt different, maybe because we’d just had sex for the first time. I felt the butterflies intensifying, especially when she woke up and smiled at me.

I’m not afraid to admit that I stayed in that position for fucking hours, stroking her dark hair, tracing the ink on her shoulder blades, wondering how long it would last before she got fed up with me.

We’ve been going slow when it comes to sex, or any other acts for that matter. I don’t mind at all. We aren’t in any rush. But the five times we have fucked, it’s been careful, safe and always ends with me holding her until we both fall asleep. I usually wake to her gone.

We’re still learning from each other. I think, along with her as a person and how beautiful she is, I’m also drawn to how understanding she is. None of this is easy for me. Emotions I’ve never been in touch with are surfacing whenever I’m around her. She’s patient with me, and I think that alone makes me comfortable around her.

Call me insecure, but I second-guess everything. It’s impossible for a person to be as happy as I am and not have the other shoe drop like fucking thunder. She doesn’t even want me to meet her family yet, for fuck’s sake.

We aren’t in a relationship. Nothing has really been established. We haven’t spoken about how we feel, except for the odd time she tells me she likes me, and I need to hold back on telling her I think I might be falling in love with her.

Might be.

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