by S Kline
“Don’t play games with me, Kace.” She doesn’t say anything, just keeps her eyes glued on me. I take advantage and let my eyes roam over her heart-shaped face, down her neck, and across her chest.
I swallow thickly, the need to touch her is actually making my fingers fucking tingle. I rub them together at my side trying to reign in my desperation. “Don’t say things you don’t mean, princess.”
A fire ignites deep inside of me from our close proximity. This car seems so fucking small right now. I lean in a little closer. I can feel her warm breath blowing gently over my lips as I speak again, effectively erasing all thoughts of why this is a bad fucking idea.
I see a shiver work through her and she leans in closer to me. Our mouths are just a whisper apart as we stare into each other’s eyes. Searching for… what? The words pour from my lips without thought, but once they’re out there I don’t want to take them back.
“I will spend all week worshiping this perfect fucking body of yours if you want me too. But if you don’t then you need to shut up, now.”
My heart is a jackhammer in my chest, and I can’t decide what to do. I really want to kiss her, give into my fantasy even for just a minute. She stays so fucking silent, the stillness settling between us vibrating with tension. The only sound is that of our mingling breaths.
I pull away and reposition back in my seat so that I am once again facing forward. I shift the car and pull back onto the road. “That’s what I thought.”
I’m not sure how much time passes before she speaks again, but what she says is the last fucking thing I expected.
“I said that I want to get out of here.”
I lift a brow and return my gaze briefly to her as I pull into the hotel parking lot. I park the car and turn to face her again.
“What are you talking about?”
“You asked what I said earlier.” Her teeth tug on her lip as she watches me.
My question on her mumbling comes back to me, and it’s only now as she explains it that I realize I had never gotten that answer. I shake my head at her.
“Look I know you weren’t expecting that, I wasn’t either, but that’s the life. You should be accustomed to that by now. I’m sorry I was so thoughtless in terms of your presence, but it needed to happen.” I know she can’t stand me, but she really wants to leave that bad? So badly that she can’t wait to get away from me? “I’ll take you home.”
I rush the words out, and try to ignore the way my chest aches. I should be numb to the feeling of her rejection by now, but clearly I’m fucking not. “I can come back after I drop you off at home. I understand your need to leave.” Leave me. I add silently so I don’t sound like such a pussy.
It is one thing to know I am a pussy when it comes to her. It is something else for everyone else to know it.
Her brows scrunch down into a V and her lips pucker. “What are you talking about?”
Huh? Did I miss something? Or is she just as fucking crazy as every other woman out there and I just never noticed. “You said you couldn’t wait to get out of here. I can take you home.”
Dawning lights up her face, and a little giggle leaves her lips. My pulse picks up again. “I didn’t mean get out of here like get away from you.”
There it is again. That fucking tightening to my chest. “You didn’t?” I can hear the confusion lacing my words.
She just giggles at me again. “No.”
Then the strangest fucking thing happens. Her face goes completely serious. Gone are the slight crinkles at the corner of her eyes that only show when she laughs. Gone are the dimples on her cheeks that have always left me mesmerized. Her eyes look sad again, and that is really starting to hurt. I rub absently at the pain in my chest as I wait for her to speak again.
“I want out, Troy. I want away from this family.” She spits the word family out as if it tastes bad on her lips.
She wants out? Why? “You know that’s not likely to happen, Kace.”
She nods and a strand of her silky brown hair falls into her face. She tucks it gently back behind her ear. I want to do that. I want to feel the silky strands against my skin. I am so tired of fighting this all the time. I want to wipe that shattered look off her beautiful face. So I do the only thing I can think of. Consequences be damned.
I lean forward, wrap my hand around the thin curve of her neck and pull her lips to mine. She freezes as I press against her warm mouth and beg for something I know she shouldn’t give me. I won’t force this. It’s your call babe.
A weight lifts off of my too tight chest when her body relaxes, and her lips begin moving under my own. Fucking nirvana.
I slip my tongue between her moist lips, and her sweet taste explodes on my taste buds. Her fingers come up to wrap into my hair, gripping tightly. I groan and pull her further into me until her chest is pressed tightly against mine, her pebbled nipples rubbing against me through the thin material of her shirt. I moan at the sensation. I have never been so turned on by one kiss alone. My dick presses painfully against my jeans seeking relief.
She pulls away firmly, her chest heaving, and her face sexily flushed, her lips swollen. Fuck that looks hot. The sound of my cell phone finally registers in my horny as fuck head. Kaci climbs out of the car before I can stop her, and runs inside without so much as a look back at me. Goddamn it.
I pull my cell phone from my pocket roughly without bothering to see who is calling.
“Troy.”
“You really need to think of a better way to answer your phone.”
Addie. Shit. “This better be about the kid.”
She sighs heavily over the line. “Actually, I was calling to apologize. I have no idea why I acted that way.”
I vigorously rub at my temple vigorously. At least she’s seen the light. Maybe I should tell Kaci about the kid. After one kiss? One kiss means she should be privy to my private life? Take your balls back Donovan.
It was one hell of a kiss though. My fingers rub gently over my bottom lip, and I grin.
“It’s cool Ads, no worries. I need to go though. I have stuff to take care of. “ The words rush from my lips.
“Okay. I have an appointment after you get back though. I will get to hear the heartbeat. I would really like for you to be there for that.” She sounds more like the girl I grew up with and less like the psycho she’s been lately.
I actually want to be there for that appointment. How cool would that be? And why the fuck would that be cool, Troy? That will make this situation very fucking real. “Sure Ads. Text me the details.”
I hang up. I need to get back to Kaci. I need to finish what I started.
Chapter Eight
Kaci
I can’t believe I let that happen!
After everything, all of my reassurance to Marcus, all of my self-proclaimed willpower, I let Troy kiss me! I didn’t just let him kiss me though; I kissed him back just as fiercely, and I really freakin enjoyed it! That kiss may have been a gigantic mistake, the hugest, but it had been an earth-shattering mistake. That had been the kiss I was supposed to have ten years ago, the one Addie stole from me.
I try really hard not to think back on that time in my life, but every moment with Troy is making it harder not to. Troy had been ridiculously handsome even when he was just a rough and rowdy boy. He was completely irresistible to my twelve year old heart, and the day I met him will be one I never forget.
How could I forget the crooked grin on his mud smeared face? The way my heart fluttered against my ribs at the sight of his rumpled black hair and icy-blue eyes. He had a way of looking at you that guaranteed you’d bend to his will. He wasn’t someone you could easily say no to, and having him hold my hand as we walked through the park, or when we shoved each other in the river were some of my best memories with him, at least until now.
That kiss trumps every other memory I have of Troy, even the one of seeing him kiss Addie that broke my heart all those years ago. I shake off the thought and resume pacing
along the plush white carpet of our hotel suite. I can still smell his unique scent lingering in the air around me. It really is a shame that I can never let him kiss me again. If he can make me feel this insane with just a kiss… No. I couldn’t think about that. It wouldn’t do either of us any good.
I chew on my bottom lip and listen to my heart pound in my ears. I’d finally gotten my kiss, but it is beyond too little too late. So when Troy gets back up to the room I need to set this mess straight. This can’t go any further.
I know all about Addie and Troy’s occasional hook-ups. Addie has always made sure I knew every detail, because Addie knew that Troy has been the one for me since way back when we were too young to know the gravity of that statement.
I don’t know who the father of Addie’s baby is, but since Addie made sure I knew every detail of anything that happened between them I know they hadn’t been together when she got pregnant. I also know how paranoid Troy is when it comes to protection. Thank God!
I grab my phone and dial Marcus. I need a familiar voice right now. Marcus has always been able to talk me down from my nerves. I can’t tell him about the kiss, but I can tell him about Becky. I have my thumb hovering over the call button when the door swings open with a bang.
I jump, screech loudly, and my phone is clenched tight in my grasp, because it isn’t Troy standing in the doorway.
I stand and stare with wide, horrified eyes at the mountain of a man standing in front of me. His big muscles pull tight under his suit jacket and he has a pistol aimed at my head. Thick black hair is combed over to one side of his head. His jaw is squared and I can tell he is clenching his teeth as he stares at me. I can’t see his eyes through his dark sunglasses, but I have no doubts they would be as menacing as the rest of him. I shouldn’t have run from Troy.
My heart is now pounding for an entirely different reason, and my knees are shaking so hard I think they might buckle and send me sprawling to the floor on my butt. I can practically feel the blood draining from my face. My chin starts to tremble, and my eyes dance over the room looking for some way out.
“Put the phone down.” His voice is cold, emotionless. There isn’t even a hint of warmth to him at all. This man would have no problem shooting me.
Suddenly, I really have to pee. I toss my phone over to the sofa, where it bounces once before settling against the cushion. My mind flashes back to Troy. He had killed a man today too, but now I am very clearly seeing the differences between these two men.
Troy hasn’t lost his soul. He killed out of a need to protect. I have no idea what I have done to cross this man, but I am pretty sure sneezing on a flower would be the only excuse he’d need to put a bullet in my head.
The tangy, metal taste of blood fills my mouth and I realize I’ve been chewing at my lip. I stay silent and keep my eyes on the man in front of me, not wanting to give him the excuse he is looking for to pull that trigger.
“I’m only going to ask you one time, little girl, and I expect an answer.” He pulls back on the gun and I hear the familiar sound of a bullet lodging in place.
He steps forward and brings the cold metal to rest against my face. Tears fill my eyes, my skin is now coated in sweat, and I let out a soundless whimper. “Where is Troy Donovan?” His voice is steady, in control.
Troy? This man wants Troy? Did this have to do with the man he’d shot earlier? I try to speak, to tell him I don’t know, even if it would cost me my life because I couldn’t let him hurt Troy. The only sound that leaves my lips is a gut wrenching sob.
“I’m right here, mother fucker.” Troy’s deep voice pulls both our gazes to the door just as a shot rings out, and a warm sensation coats my skin.
I scream. I scream and finally give into the urge to fall to my knees. Sobs tear through me and I rock in place with my arms wrapped tightly around my knees. Troy rushes over and drops to his knees in front of me. He grips my chin between his fingers and forces me to look at him.
“You have to get a grip, Kace. I know this is fucked up, but I have to get us out of here. I can’t do that with you like this.” Troy’s voice is shakier than I’ve ever heard it before, but I can’t focus, my thoughts are too chaotic.
I suck in a deep breath, but sobs still hiccup out from my raw throat. He mutters a curse, stands, and suddenly I am over his shoulder. I am staring at his muscular back covered in his tight t-shirt, I can smell Troy’s familiar, masculine scent, but it doesn’t comfort me the way it usually would.
I’m not sobbing anymore as Troy rushes through the hotel and back to his car. I am staring at the sight of his back in front of me, but I feel nothing. It’s like I am imprisoned in my mind and unable to take in any new information. I am staring through my surroundings, I am emotionless, and I am speechless. I am frozen.
Chapter Nine
Troy
I can count on one hand the number of times I have been thankful for my upbringing. This definitely qualifies as one of those times. I swing my gaze over to Kaci as I drive. She is still staring blankly ahead. I don’t think she’s even blinked since I put her into the car. I just want her to be okay. I loaded our bags into the car after I’d secured her inside earlier, and it took everything in me to walk away from her long enough to do so.
When I saw the giant of a man step out of his dark colored sedan, scan the parking lot, and then head into the hotel I knew. I can’t describe it as anything more than a gut feeling, but it was a feeling I had learned to trust. Once again, it hadn’t steered me wrong.
I only wish I had intercepted him sooner. I’d rushed after him as fast as I could, but I had been on the other side of the parking lot. Knowing it would be quicker than waiting for the elevator, I rushed through the stairwells but by the time I got there…
Words cannot describe the amount of terror that shot through my system seeing that gun on Kaci. The tightness in my chest had increased tenfold, but it had been accompanied by a heavy weight dropping into my stomach. I’ve never felt desperation like that before. What I would give to trade her places right now.
“Kace. Come on, babe, talk to me.” Blood is spattered all over one side of her body and I hate that the bastard had gotten so close to her.
My jaw ticks as my teeth clench together, and my fingers grip tight to the steering wheel. Fuckin hell! I feel damn near murderous all over again. No one is ever supposed to get that close to Kaci. Not even me. I know I need to call Ardon and Ronan, but I also know that if I do they will freak and I’ll be steering my car back toward Palms. Selfishly, I’m not ready to end my time with Kace.
I can use the excuse that I still have too much business to take care of here. It seems like my only option. So I will wait until I get Kaci to come back to me, pull her from her entrapped mind, and then I will give her the choice.
“Kace, come on please, baby talk to me.” I grip her thigh and feel the muscles flex under my hand. That has to be a good sign right?
I drive through Westin quickly but carefully. We won’t be safe in town tonight. I don’t know why that man had come after me, or who sent him, but I’m sure more will come when they don’t hear back from him. Since I still have the little issue of Delvin Kennedy to contend with, we will stay in a small motel on the outskirts of town for tonight at least.
“What if I talk about how amazing your lips felt under mine? I’ll tell you about how much more of your body I want to feel under them, that I want to taste on my tongue? Would you come back to me then?” I keep one hand gripped to her thigh, and am slightly reassured every time I feel the muscles tense under my palm.
I know it might not mean anything, but I chose to believe it means she isn’t completely lost to me. When she still remains silent I yank the car over to the shoulder. I shove the gears into park, and turn to face her. I can’t take this anymore. I need her to respond. I yank my t-shirt over my head and run the material over her blood splattered skin, wiping away the vile substance. Her face remains frozen. Her eyes fixed ahead and unblinking. I toss my
shirt into the back and turn her face in my hands, making her look at me.
“Kaci, baby, please come back to me.” She is looking at me now, but it’s as if she is staring beyond me. “This is killing me, Kace. I need to hear your voice. Feel your kiss.”
I lean forward and press my lips harshly to hers. My chest squeezes painfully when my kiss is left unreturned. I feel my eyes fill with liquid, and curse under my breath. I can’t fucking handle this. I need Kaci to be okay. Even if she pushes me away, slaps me, cusses at me, continues to reject me at every turn, none of it matters as long as she is okay. I keep my lips to hers and hope to feel some form of movement under them.
I’m not sure how long I stay there, eyes squeezed shut, throat feeling raw from my withheld emotion, lips pressed against my own form of heaven. When warmth encompasses my forearm and suddenly I am met with a small exhale against my lips. I push my lips tighter against hers and sigh in relief when her lips part slightly.
“Kace, thank God, baby.”
I whisper the words through the lump still clogging my throat as I pull back to be met with wide blue eyes. I grin at the shocked expression on her beautiful face. I will take shocked over that blank stare any day.
“What is with you and kissing me?” Her hands grip my biceps, her eyes searching my face before flicking down to my chest. “What happened to your shirt?”
I chuckle and run a finger along her jaw. “I used it to wipe the blood off your face.”
The color drains from her skin, and her lips tremble. I move until I’m only a breath away from her lips and looking directly into her eyes. “He can’t hurt you now, babe. No one will ever get that close to you again, I swear. They will have to kill me first.”
“I shouldn’t have run off without you.” Her hands begin a soft, torturous perusal of my arms. “From now on I’m stuck to you like glue.” A dimple appears in her cheek when she smiles up at me.
That fucking dimple would get her so much from me. If only she wanted it.