It’s brutal. Honest. Raw.
He isn’t just melding his mouth to mine or forcing my tongue to meet his.
He does it so I can find my way back to him.
It’s about steadying me. I can feel it.
His hand anchors me by pulling my hair, protective despite its roughness. He isn’t groaning or moaning anymore, either.
He calms me with his mouth because he can tell how late it’s getting. How exhausted I am.
This kiss is purely functional, and yet I still feel his worship with every press of his lips.
My heart swoops, and I sob as I keep screaming into his mouth.
I’m being tended to in the most primal way possible.
When he deepens the kiss, I almost hear the words he doesn’t say—Stop fighting yourself. Save your strength. I’ve got you.
I believe him.
I shouldn’t.
He kidnapped me. Speaks so casually about murdering people.
About turning them into leather.
But my soul doesn’t care about right and wrong. My body doesn’t either. While my instincts tell me to run, I sink into Knox, physically and emotionally.
I already figured out what they were doing here, but hearing him say it—thatname—I still broke down.
And he caught me.
With my arms thrown around his neck, my captor welcomes me into his embrace. He doesn’t care if I’m losing it or not, just folds his arms around me, pulling me to the edge of the chair, as close to him as possible.
He’s on his knees, compromised in a way. I could hurt him.
Except…what good would it do? Naked, barefoot, and exhausted, I wouldn’t make it very far.
Besides, I don’t want to hurt him. Don’t wish anything bad to happen to him. And…yes, I’m falling for him.
Shame has my throat locking. The feelings I have toward this beast are unnatural. Sick.
They’re there, inside me, nonetheless.
When I cling tighter to him, Knox hums, pulling me closer. He treats me like I’m the only thing in this cursed town worth protecting.
We turn people into leather.
That last reminder of what he does for a living hits me harder than the ones that came before it. It slices through the warmth I’ve been drowning in.
He’s dangerous, dealing in death. I don’t really know him. I’m half his size.
I can’t afford to blur the lines. Can’t forget how he could kill me at any given second.
So, as much as it hurts, the first thing I have to do is pull away. I ask him to let me go by flattening my trembling palms against his chest.
“Don’t, Skylar.” His voice roughens against my mouth.
