“I’ve never killed anyone before, but once I find the person who put that fear in your eyes, there’s nowhere they’ll be able to hide from me to keep safe. I want you to understand that.”
I lifted my head to stare into his eyes. The coldness I saw in his penetrating gaze struck me to my core. I shook my head. “Joshua, you can’t—”
He took my chin in between his thumb and forefinger, lowering his lips to mine. The kiss was short, but there was a promise in it. “It’s already done, Kay.”
Any protest I would’ve made died on my lips. I should be ashamed at how his words turned me on. But I wasn’t. I’d never felt safer than in that moment. My body began to heat up and it wasn’t a result of the dancing.
A shiver ran through me from the brush of his warm breath against the sensitive skin of my neck, from his whispered words.
“Take me home.” My voice was breathless.
****
Joshua
A coldness I’d never felt before settled over me in that bathroom. It wasn’t Kay’s words, it was the insistence with which she had stated her disdain for Carlson’s defense of police. The way her eyes went wild when talking about how unfair it was. How I could tell she wasn’t just referring to those boys in that video but about her own self. The nagging thoughts I’d had ever since I’d first laid eyes on her at the fundraiser some close to two months earlier were starting to make sense. The self-defense lessons she requested, the change in her attire, the way she’d worn her hair when she first got back. All spoke to the need to protect herself from someone or something.
I should’ve picked up on it sooner. I would have if I hadn’t been distracted like I was at that very moment.
“Shit, Kay!” I cursed when she moaned deeply as I ran my teeth down the column of her neck. I pressed her back against my closed bedroom door. “Tonight, I’m going to taste you,” I groaned in her ear. I smirked at the rise of goosebumps I felt along her arms.
“Please,” she begged.
My cock twitched in my pants.
I used my hands to make quick work of unbuttoning her shirt, exposing the black silk bra she’d worn underneath. My mouth watered and I dipped my head to run my tongue along the soft tops of her mounds. Another loud moan broke free of her lips, spurring me on. I tugged at the sides of the top she wore, ripping it free from her body.
“Be careful!” she insisted.
I growled, reaching up to nip at her bottom lip. “We both know you don’t want me to be careful.”
A confirming smile crossed her lips and she leaned in, nipping my bottom lip. The bite of pain had my groin tightening and my already growing erection pressing against my pants. I kissed my way down the center of her chest, stopping to reach around and undo the offending barrier that stood in the way of my mouth on Kayla’s full breasts. Once they were free, I stood back, taking my fill of her round, cinnamon globes and milk chocolate nipples.
“Touch them for me.” I needed her to be as much a part of this experience as I was. She needed that, too.
She looked at me, tilting her head to the side.
“Touch your breasts for me, Kay.”
Her hands tentatively lifted to her breasts, covering them before squeezing them. A tiny moan fell from her full lips.
“Pinch your nipples.”
“Mmm.” Her head fell back against the door, her hips thrusting in my direction.
“That feel good, baby?”
“Yes,” she hissed.
“Good. Let me make you feel even better.” I pushed her hands away and covered her right nipple with my mouth while kneading her left one with my hands. I’ll be damned if she didn’t taste just as good as the chocolate color her nipples were.
“Josh, I need more,” she panted.
“Be careful what you wish for,” I growled, ignoring her yelp of surprise when I picked her up over my shoulder and strolled over to my bed.
“Joshua, what the he—” Her final word was cut short as I planted her body at the center of my bed, not giving her time to orient herself before I was stripping her of the rest of her clothing.
I covered her body with my own, needing to feel her lips on mine again. My kiss was returned just as hungrily as it was given. Somehow, I found the power to break free from her lips and let my mouth travel down her body to her breasts and lower to her abdomen. There I caught the long, running scar that was a testament to all she’d endured in the first two decades of her life. I kissed along the scar, committing its outline to memory before going lower.
