Текст книги "Fable of Happiness book three"
Автор книги: Pepper winters
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She glanced at me, her eyes narrowing. “You say that as if money is dirty.”
“Money is what enabled men like Storymaker to steal our lives and rent us out as if we were nothing more than a T-shirt from a department store.”
She stiffened. “It’s not the money that’s bad, Kas.”
I sniffed.
“But you’re right,” she added. “Money has caused bad people to be able to do terrible things.”
I fell quiet for a while, my head whirling. Back in the valley, I’d been rich enough. I’d had food, shelter, and warmth. I hadn’t needed anything else. I’d never owned a dollar. Never worked for cash. Never been given anything of value for the use of my body and soul.
But out here...I was fucking destitute.
I had no skills, no prospects. When people looked at me, they did so without respect in their eyes like they did for Gem. They watched me with wariness as if I was a wild animal she’d dragged from the woods and dressed in human clothes.
Not far from the truth.
My hands balled on my lap as the real reason for my anger unveiled itself. “Look, I don’t expect you to look after me, Gemma.” My voice turned hard. “I’m not a...a charity case. I don’t expect to live with you for free. I’ll...I can—” I snapped my lips together, trying to decide what I could offer her that was worth just as much as the money she’d already spent on me.
The hospital cost, the food, the clothes, the drive back to her place.
I’d been in her debt the moment she’d found me and made me come alive again. But all of this? All these gifts and care...they just compounded that debt until I had no fucking chance of ever paying it back.
I sucked in a breath, suddenly feeling claustrophobic in the car.
Gemma noticed, her gaze flicking from me to an off-ramp and making a quick detour until we parked outside some garish store with a food joint attached.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“I figured a break from driving is in order.” She touched the back of my hand. “You okay?”
My skin sparked from her touch while the whiff of oily food outside made my stomach growl even though my stomach still hadn’t gotten used to such richness.
Gem gave me a soft smile. “You’re hungry.”
I gritted my teeth. “It seems my body is making up for lost time.”
That was another thing I hadn’t gotten used to. Eating in the valley came with strict rules and rations. In summer, I could relax those rules and indulge in the blackberries I’d find by the river and enjoy an extra rabbit on an open fire just because they were plentiful. But come winter, my eating routine normally included once a day while the rest of the hours were spent trying to ignore the constant hunger pangs.
The fact that Gem could conjure food from nowhere and at all times awed and confused me. Nurses would bring extra trays if Gem heard my stomach snarling mid-afternoon. Boxes with glass windows delivered sugar-filled candy or salty fried potatoes all by tapping a plastic card where a big arrow said PAY HERE, and now that we’d left the hospital, I noticed that every few miles, a building promised hearty all-day breakfast, gravy steaks, and cheese-dripping burgers.
Most of those things didn’t even pull a memory out of my head.
All-day breakfasts? What the hell was that?
Whatever it was screamed decadence.
The excess of this world was mindboggling.
The ease in this city’s survival showed me just how hard I’d lived. How desperate I’d been to stay alive one more day even while the other part of me craved just to give in. Out here, in this overpopulated place, humans had no fucking idea what rough was.
They didn’t know the cost of cultivation. The pain of starvation. The very real danger of freezing to death if they didn’t gather enough fuel.
Gem pulled forward again, not letting the silence thicken too long between us. She drove toward the building promising food and slipped down the side under a sign with a big arrow.
“What are you doing?” I asked again.
She stopped beside a black box, and a robotic-sounding voice said, “Please place your order when ready.”
“I’m getting you something to eat.” She grabbed the same plastic card that she’d used to pay for other things and peered at the excessively bright billboard listing all kinds of items. Finally, she spoke out the window. “We’ll have two cheeseburger combos, large with fries, Coke for the drinks, and two apple pies.”
“Please drive up to the window.”
I didn’t look away as she eased the car to another part of the building, swiped her plastic card through some contraption a zit-faced teen gave her, then pulled to yet another window and accepted a big bag of heavenly smelling food along with two large cups with plastic lids and straws.
Once again, I was hit with the excess of this place.
Back in Fables, I’d eaten off plates that’d long since lost their pretty glazing. If I accidentally broke a glass, I was one less richer than before. If I didn’t look after my things, then I would end up with nothing.
But here...everything seemed temporary and non-valued.
Just like we’d been treated.
People of this world treated crockery and food as inconsequentially as my family and I had been treated by guests—something to use when they felt like it and thrown in the trash when they’d finished.
I shuddered, feeling a billow of temper rising.
Gemma noticed my curling hands and shoved the bag of food into them. The weight and heat distracted me from my thoughts as she put the car into gear and drove away from the building. Grease stains already appeared on the paper bag, making me curious.
“Go on then.” She smiled. “Eat something.”
My stomach snarled and mouth watered, but I didn’t open it. Anger still swirled in my gut. Impotence and lack of ability to survive in this new world drowned me. How the fuck was I supposed to show her I cared when I didn’t know how to exist out here? How was I supposed to protect her when she was the one protecting me? How was I supposed to provide for her when I didn’t have a magical plastic card and not a single goddamn dollar to my name?
Crushing the bag in my hands, I growled, “Keep a tally.”
“Excuse me?” She pulled the car into a parking space and shut off the engine. Prying my hands off the bag, she opened it and scooped out a burger, fries, and sipped on a large drink with a straw.
“Whatever you spend on me. I want you to keep track. I’m going to pay you back. Someday. Somehow.”
She frowned as she placed a fry into her mouth. It reminded me of the fries I’d made her when she was still trapped in my basement. The pride I’d felt watching her eat food I’d planted, harvested, and prepared had filled my chest to bursting.
Now it was just hollow because someone else had grown, harvested, and prepared the food she swallowed.
It stripped my worth as a man.
It made me completely fucking worthless, and I had no idea how I would ever pay her back.
“I’m not keeping track, Kas.” She chewed and sipped again. “It’s my pleasure to take care of you. I want to pay—”
“And I don’t like it.” I grabbed the last burger in the bag, unwrapped it, and sank my teeth into it.
My taste buds exploded.
An involuntary groan crawled up my throat.
All the bland, basic meals I’d ingested for the past decade faded into nothing compared to the detonation of salt, sour, sweet, and savory.
“Holy shit, this is good.” I tore off another mouthful, forgetting all my rules about rationing and giving in to the demands to eat more, more.
Gemma laughed under her breath. “I’m glad you like it. Better than the hospital food, huh?” She unwrapped her own burger. “And for the record, I get that you’ll feel strange about me supporting you, but honestly, you’re giving me so much in return. You’re my friend, my lover, and if I can give you back a resemblance of a life that was stolen from you, then it’s my absolute honor.”
I swallowed my bite and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. Temper still fizzed in my blood, but I did my best to calm it. I appreciated her selflessness. I loved her all the more because of it. But...I’d already taken far too much from this woman. Eventually, she’d grow to despise me if I leeched off her after everything I’d done in the valley.
Catching her eyes as she took a dainty bite, I said sternly, “I’ll eat what you buy me. I’ll take the drugs your doctors prescribe me. I’ll do my best to learn how to fit in with the rest of my species, and I’ll never take for granted the shelter you provide or the kindness you give me, but Gem...I will pay you back. I’ll give you back every single penny I cost you.”
She opened her mouth to argue, but my voice slipped past stern and went cold. “No arguments, Gemma. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you. You’ve already done more for me than anyone. By asking me to keep taking from you...that isn’t fair on me. Back in the valley, I took from you, but at least I provided for you as well. We weren’t ever equals—I’d made sure of that when I trapped you—but at least I knew my place. I knew how to survive, and I had things to offer, but out here...I’m nothing and no one. And you deserve everything and someone. Someone who can make your life easier, not the other way around.” I lowered my burger and reached across the space to cup her cheek. “Promise me, right here and now, that one day, you will let me pay you back.”
She pressed her cheek deeper into my palm. “And if I don’t promise?”
I lowered my touch. “Then I can’t eat this.” I looked at the burger in my lap. “I can’t go home with you.” I glanced at the door handle and the parking lot full of bright, awful buildings. Not a tree or flower in sight. No birds singing, no insects humming, only cars whizzing by with pollution fumes.
There had been lots of terrible things about my valley, but...I fucking missed it.
I missed the simplicity of foraging and understanding my place.
I missed feeling like I had control over my life and could extend or end it whenever I damn well wanted.
Out here...fuck, I wouldn’t survive out here on my own.
I knew that.
But I also couldn’t let Gemma become my new master. A master who collared me better than Storymaker because she shackled me with love and affection instead of pain and degradation.
I wanted to be hers but not in that way. I wanted to adore her because we were equals, not because I was so far indebted I could never be free.
I hung my head. “I love you, Gem. That love comes from a place inside me that wasn’t broken, no matter how hard the guests tried. I admit that part of me is prideful and stubborn, but it’s also loyal and steadfast. You own every piece of me that has any value. And I can give you that because I’ve taken your heart in return. I made a vow to myself the night Jareth burned down Fables that I was done with letting my past steal my future. You are my future. I’m ready to be happy...together. I want to be happy. I want to fight for us.” I shrugged as I caught her stare. “You’ve given me everything I need, and I don’t want anything else. So please, don’t ask me to accept all these gifts. I’ll borrow them. I’ll be grateful for them, but eventually, I will pay you back because that is my way of showing you that I deserve you.” I straightened my shoulders. “My way of showing myself that I deserve you after a lifetime of being taught that I’m nothing.”
Gemma put down her burger and took my hand in hers. Squeezing my fingers, she nodded. “I love you, Kas.” Licking her lips, she murmured, “And I promise you, right here and now, that I will gladly give you whatever you need until you’re on your feet, and once you’re ready to work and make a career for yourself, then you can pay me back. Every single penny.” Her lips twitched. “With interest, if you want.”
“Interest?” I narrowed my eyes.
She laughed gently. “It’s a payment that’s charged on top of the balance that someone borrows. A percentage.”
“What’s the usual percentage?” My brain kicked into gear, switching calendars and veggie planting schedules into mathematical spreadsheets with funds that I’d eventually pay back.
She pulled her hand away, selecting another fry. “Not sure what the current rate is for personal loans, but usually maybe five to ten percent, I think.”
“Ten. I’ll pay you back everything I cost you, plus ten percent.”
Her eyes flashed with denial, but she swallowed and nodded. “Fine.”
“Deal.” I held out my hand for her to shake.
She paused but slowly inserted her hand into mine and sealed the bargain. “But no rush. I’m very, eh, comfortable in my finances, Kas. You aren’t causing me any duress by being in my life or helping me spend my money.”
I let her go and grabbed my burger again.
I took a giant bite, losing myself to the intense flavors.
Once I swallowed, I asked, “How much was this?”
She shook her head with a slight laugh. “Eleven bucks.”
I nodded and added that to my mental list. I’d never been to school. I’d never been taught math or English. But the books in the library had ensured I wasn’t totally stupid. I’d been able to read thanks to a basic education before I’d been snatched. I’d improved upon that by reading everything I could. Therefore, I could ask for help to learn more. I could learn anything I wanted.
“When we get to your place, I want you to give me all the figures you’ve spent on my behalf so far.”
She bit into her burger, mumbling, “You know...you’ve been out of the forest for just a few days, yet you’re more of a gentleman than any of the other men I’ve dated.” She grinned. “If any of them knew who I was or suspected I had money, they’d always find a way to make me pay. Even my friends take advantage sometimes. But you...you threaten to break up with me if I don’t let you pay me back.” She shook her head with another laugh. “A man with no money has more decency than a millionaire.”
“That’s because I’m richer than any asshole with money.” I let my gaze drag down her gorgeous body, lingering on her breasts. “I have you. And that makes me the richest of them all. You’re the only thing I need. The rest...it’s nothing compared to you.”
Gemma gave me the sweetest smile, and we fell into companionable silence, eating our burgers. With each bite, my mind did clunky arithmetic on IOUs, and I thought ahead to a future I hadn’t dared dream of—a future where I was sane enough to have a job, earn my own living, and be free to do whatever the hell I wanted.
I slipped deeper into this new life and further from my old one.
I would get through this.
I’ll evolve.
Because I had the one person who made me want to survive.
Gemma.
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CHAPTER FIFTEEN
MY HAND SHOOK AS I lifted the fake rock in my overgrown front garden, searching for the spare key. My usual key was still on my Jeep keychain, which Kas had very kindly thrown off the cliff when I’d run from him.
Luckily, I kept a spare outside. Otherwise, I’d be calling my brother at midnight once again, begging for the copy I’d made him.
Standing upright, I eased out the kinks in my spine from sitting in the car for so long and padded back to where Kas stood on my front doorstep.
Moonlight shone from above. The street was quiet because everyone was in bed. My neighborhood was silent and poised as if sensing a predator was in its midst.
I froze.
Kas.
He was the predator.
And...he’s here.
On my doorstep.
About to go into my house.
I blinked as my brain struggled to compute that the man who I’d stumbled upon in the wild was now here, in my domain, no longer my capturer or enemy but someone I’d chosen to welcome into my home. A home I hadn’t seen in months. A home that I’d left messy as I’d flown out the door to chase Kentucky Khalessi.
God, that felt like an eternity ago.
I didn’t even feel like the same person anymore.
I felt older, wiser, more forgiving, accepting, and calm.
Kas had made me grow, and I preferred this version of myself. I liked having someone to care for and put first. It made me feel like all the wealth I’d gathered from working long hours and daring to take chances was worth it because I finally had someone who I could share it with.
Not that he seemed happy with that in the car.
Kas gave me a look.
It wasn’t sexual or demanding, but it still sent my pulse skipping and core clenching. He was so handsome, so rugged, and untamed. His long hair needed a brush, his beard needed a trim, and his body—even dressed in cheap Walmart clothes—still bristled with power that came from fighting the elements and existing with nothing and no one.
He awed me as well as aroused me.
“You okay?” he asked softly, his voice rich and deep in the night.
I swallowed hard, picturing my bedroom and the super king bed I’d never shared with anyone. I imagined my small but perfectly usable bathroom with Kas in it. His large frame in my shower. His naked body lathered in my elderberry and olive soap, his hands touching me as I grabbed hold of the taps for balance as he—
“Gem?” Kas came forward, his forehead furrowing. “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head, dispelling the fantasy.
It’d only been a few days since I’d slept with this man, but the way my body hummed for him proved it was already too long. I needed him. And soon.
“Nothing.” I beamed a smile and brushed past him. “I’m fine.”
His hand reached out and caressed my arm as I went past, sending shivers down my spine.
Aching for him, I inserted the key. The lock turned easily, and I sucked in a breath as Kas moved closer behind me.
I became hyperaware of him.
Too aware.
The boots I’d bought him from Walmart scuffed on my weed-covered stoop. His intense gaze swept over my jungle of a front garden. His lips twitched as I looked back over my shoulder, his eyes curious and shrewd in the night. “Your brother was right to mock your gardening skills on the video when you squabbled.”
I shrugged, trying to calm my jumpy heart rate. “I’ve never been one for plants.”
“Maybe that’s a way I can pay you back while I have no money.” His savage, scarred face lit up. “I’ll start another veggie patch. Get your garden producing as well as looking pretty.”
He looked positively relieved to have found an area of my life that he could contribute to. And who was I kidding? The thought of Kas shirtless and covered in mud while digging in my garden? Holy hell, the desire in my blood intensified.
He seemed oblivious as he drank in my messy section, and his hands balled as if he was about to start work immediately, even though it was almost one in the morning and we were both bedraggled from driving cross country.
His gaze caught mine again, and the eagerness there, instead of the usual wariness, made my heart thump, sending yet more tingles through my blood.
God, why did I feel so jumpy and high? My system acted as if I was about to scale a boulder that might make me fall and break something.
Well, this is kind of like that...
Having Kas in my space set me on edge and excited me at the same time. I wanted him to be happy here. I wanted him to feel welcome and free to go wherever he wanted. But I was also afraid he wouldn’t like it.
That he’d find my place small after the huge decadence of Fables.
I had money, but I was wise in my investments. I owned this small house outright and had another two rentals that returned good yields, but the rest of my savings were scattered in term deposits, growth funds with Wall Street, and a couple of start-up companies that I believed in.
I’d never been one for expensive cars or massive houses even though I could afford it.
The idea that Kas would find me lacking in some way? That he’d regret allowing me to drive him so far from his valley made me sick.
God, had he felt all these emotions when I’d trespassed?
Had he struggled with wanting me in his space versus not wanting me near the things he valued?
I’d entered his sanctuary. I’d infiltrated somewhere he felt safe.
I’d never stopped to see it from his point of view—to understand how soul-shattering it would’ve been to have someone unwelcome step inside without an invitation.
To have to share after a decade of being alone.
If he’d been this strung out, no wonder he’d had such an adverse reaction to me. It still didn’t excuse him strangling me or throwing me in the basement, but I could see how terrifying it would’ve been for him.
I’d signaled a change he hadn’t been ready for.
I’d brought forth a life he’d done his best to turn his back on.
And now?
He’s doing the same to me.
Just having him on my doorstep ensured this house would never feel the same again. I would never forget him prowling through my rooms, looking at my stuff, becoming part of my world. How could I ever forget him when the entire vibe of my home had changed just with him standing on the stoop?
How could I be sure he’d be happy here? That he’d find comfort in a suburb surrounded by people? How could I be sure I’d remain enough for him as he slowly acclimated from animal to man?
Maybe he’d find someone else?
Someone he didn’t share such a complicated beginning with.
Oh, God.
My stomach churned, and my hand turned slick with sweat on the doorknob.
Stop torturing yourself, Gem.
You’re tired from the drive.
You’ve been on high alert since being flown out of the valley.
You’ve brought someone home who isn’t used to this world.
It’s natural your mind is all over the place.
Kas wrapped his arms around me from behind. His chin landed on my head, and his chest expanded with air as he inhaled and sighed. “It’s my turn to trespass on your home, Gemma Ashford.”
I let out a surprised laugh. “I was literally just thinking that.” I turned in his arms, slinging mine around his waist. “I was wondering if you felt this jittery when I entered your home.”
He nuzzled my nose with his. “Seeing you that first day made me feel everything all at once. I went from feeling nothing to being bombarded with lust, hunger, anger, annoyance, and everything in-between.” His stare buried its way into my soul. “I tried to kill you, not because I hated you...but because I didn’t know how to cope with what you made me feel. And you make me feel everything, Gem. You made me come alive.”
Immediately, my racing thoughts calmed. The way he looked at me couldn’t be faked. His love for me blazed all over him. His trust that I’d guide him on this new path made me ache with a different kind of desire.
He trusted me.
After everything he’d been through, he trusted me, and that...God, that was absolutely priceless.
All my worries evaporated, and I stood on my tiptoes to kiss him.
I’d only meant it to be a quick peck, but his arms tightened around me, and his lips parted beneath mine. His tongue lashed out and dived deep, licking me.
I moaned and opened wider, welcoming him to kiss me deep and swift, arching back in his arms, pressing my belly to his cock, growing wet and needy and breathless.
He backed me against the door, wedging me against the wood as his hips ground into mine, and his mouth did wicked things to me.
He groaned as I bit his bottom lip, my entire body burning up.
If any neighbors looked out their windows, they’d see two people mauling each other. Gone were the days when we could be naked in the sun with no one to see us, able to run and fight and figure things out without someone reporting our uncouth dating practices.
Kas thrust his hardness against my belly, grunting against my lips. “Open the damn door, Gem.” The need dripping from his dark tone made my body clench and caused an inappropriate laugh to fall from my lips.
Breaking our kiss, I panted, “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“What? That I’m seconds away from crawling inside you?”
“No...that you’re here...with me.” I tucked a long strand of hair behind his ear, loving the way he shivered under my touch. “It feels surreal.”
Kas reached around me and turned the doorknob.
The lock was already open, and the door swung wide, revealing a slight lavender smell in my quaint little home. “Get inside.”
I turned around and tripped over the threshold, my gaze skipping over my familiar possessions. My brother had obviously been here, wild with fear and messy with looking for clues on where I could’ve gone.
My side table had all its paperwork pulled out and scattered on the top. My kitchen had been the dumping ground for his search of drawers and knickknacks as if each one was a compass leading him to me.
My spare tablet was on the coffee table along with the charging cable as if Joshua had sat there for hours, scrolling through my social media and YouTube channel, desperate to find a mention of me.
God, my poor brother.
The stress I’d put him through.
Kas drifted forward, his eyes locking onto the mess as questions quickly replaced our previous desire. He turned to me, his large presence vibrant and vicious in the homeliness of my feminine living room. “I know you’re not as tidy as me, and you only cleaned the kitchen the night you were going to run because you saw how much it upset me, but Gem...if this is how you live, I guess I have two jobs in which to pay you back. I’ll be your gardener and your cleaner.”
I threw an unopened electric bill that Josh had left on my side table at him. “Ha-ha.” As I brushed past him, tiredness suddenly filled me at the thought of how much tidying I’d have to do. So much for wowing Kas with my mortgage-free home. “Josh has a key. He would’ve looked for hints on where I’d disappeared to.”
Kas wrinkled his nose as he scanned my white couch covered in notes and balled-up pieces of paper to the open-concept kitchen with its Norwegian ash cupboards and stainless steel countertops. “So messiness is a family trait? Good to know.”
I shrugged with a guilty smile. “He was worried about me.”
His face fell. “And he was right to worry.”
“But he doesn’t have to anymore because I’m home.”
“With the very man who trapped you.”
“Yes, well...he doesn’t need to know that, does he?”
Kas’s eyebrows drew into a strict line. “You don’t plan on telling him the truth?”
I shook my head, my heart skipping a beat at the thought of what Josh would do. “No chance. Not unless I want you out of my life.”
Kas sucked in a breath. “Is that a possibility?” He stalked toward me. “That you’d want me out of your life?”
“What?” I shook my head so fast I made myself dizzy. “No, of course not!” I stepped into his arms. “I only meant, my brother is...protective. If we tell him how we met, he’s not going to accept you. He’ll do whatever he can to get you away from me.”
“Because he loves you and would see me as a threat,” Kas whispered.
I nodded into his chest. “But once he gets to know you—once he sees the man I see and understands how I feel about you, then maybe we can tell him the truth.” I pulled back to stare into his handsome face. “Promise me that you’ll go along with the story I share. Just for a little while.”
He chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment before nodding. “I’m not a very good liar, and it won’t help that I have the same tendencies as him. I would’ve happily killed anyone who dared to threaten my brothers and sisters...I did kill them when I had the chance.”
I stood on tiptoe again and kissed him. The distraction worked. “We’re together now, Kas. No one else’s opinions matter.”
“You sure about that?” he murmured against my mouth.
“Positive.” I opened my lips again, encouraging him to kiss me as deep as he had on the porch. Impatience as well as lust filled me.
I wanted so, so much to show Kas my home. I wanted him to curl up on my couch and watch TV with me. I wanted him to spoon me in bed and sleep with me. I wanted him to cook in my kitchen and laugh with me.
So many, many experiences I wanted to give him, yet he’d effectively told me that whatever I gave him, he’d pay back. Whatever gifts and memories I granted, he’d not feel on equal ground until he’d repaid them.
It frustrated me as well as made sense. I’d hoped to lavish him with new experiences to drown out the horrors of his past. I wanted to buy anything and everything that would grant him happiness, but how was I supposed to do that if being generous upset and emasculated him?
His hands landed on my hips, dragging me into his hard body. “Where’s your bedroom?”
The steel of his desire definitely didn’t seem like I’d stripped his masculine value by buying him lunch and new clothes, and I made a promise to myself to keep the promise I’d made to him.
I’ll let him pay me back.
I wouldn’t take that away from him, not after he’d had so much stolen from him. If Kas wanted to record every penny I spent on him, so be it.
In the end, it wasn’t material things that would prove my love. It was the intangible things. Things like having his back if anyone questioned our relationship. Things like standing beside him if my brother found out the truth and condemned Kas from being in my life.
It was the choice to put him first, above everyone.
And I could do that because he’d done the same for me.
Ending our kiss, I took his hand and walked him down the short corridor, past the two other bedrooms and family bathroom to the master at the end. There, I opened the door and breathed a sigh of relief that Josh hadn’t raided my room for answers, or...if he had, he’d at least tidied up after himself.
Kas stood by my huge bed, eyeing the white linen, the blush comforter, and the silver cushions thrown haphazardly on top. My orchid plant had died on my dresser from lack of water, and the scent of climbing chalk and flowery perfume wafted from my bathroom.
I waited for him to speak, to comment on my lack of perfection in neatness and decidedly bad plant care, but he merely stalked toward me, picked me up, and threw me on the bed.
I barely caught a breath as his hands unbuckled my pants, slipped off my sneakers, and pulled my jeans and panties down in one go.
Words escaped me as Kas’s eyes flashed dangerously black as he dropped to his knees and yanked my bare legs toward him.
I cried out as his mouth found my core, his tongue lapping at my clit with infectious hunger. Lust exploded through me, clenching on need, desperate for more.
Looking up, he grabbed the back of his T-shirt and ripped it over his head. Falling back between my legs, he licked and tongued until my legs snapped closed around his temples, sensitivity making me buck and moan.



























