“Because it’s you,” he murmured. “You’re worth fighting for.”
A raw whimper escaped me, making me want to clap a hand over my mouth in embarrassment. His thumb brushed my lips; the tender expression on his face sent a pang through my chest.
“I’m not your past. I’m not gonna disappear on you.”
“You can’t know that. You’releaving.”
“I do,” he replied simply. “Because everything in me wants you. All of you, like I’ve never wanted anything before. Not just the physical stuff. Not just the easy stuff.”
Kai’s voice dropped even lower and if his face hadn’t been inches from mine, I wouldn’t have been able to hear him.
“You,” he rasped. “I want you.”
My vision blurred, and I blinked rapidly, looking up at the ceiling.
I hated the fact that he could do this to me.
I hated that he meant it.
I hated how badly I wanted to believe him, to the point of physical pain.
“I can’t lose you,” I whispered, my hands sliding up to his chest of their own accord. His heart thundered beneath my palms.
“You’re not.” Kai pleaded with me, cupping my jaw in his hand. “I’m right here.” His mouth brushed the corner of mine, barely touching. “I’m not going anywhere. We can make this work, we just have to want it. There is a way.”
My whole body trembled as a maelstrom of fear and desire swirled in the pit of my stomach, all tangled up into something I couldn’t name. He stayed there, his forehead pressed against mine, breathing with me until my pulse steadied.
Once again, he showed me he wasn’t taking and wasn’t pushing. He was always justthere— for me and with me — and that, more than anything, was why I was so terrified.
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
I nodded slowly. “I want you. And if you think…” I blew out a breath. “If you think there’s a way for us, I … I want to believe you.”
He crushed his lips to mine. “Thank God,” he groaned against my lips, the words almost swallowed by our kiss.
We broke apart, breathing heavily. “Don’t let me down.”
“Never,” he vowed.
I wasn’t just falling anymore, I was fucking gone.
Chapter 25
Tori
Theweirdestpartwasn’twaking up tangled with Kai — that had becomedisturbingly normal. It was the weight of the silence blanketing us, like we’d crossed some invisible line and neither of us knew how to go back.
Kai was already awake, propped on one elbow, watching me like he was memorizing every last one of my eyelashes. The morning light caught in his thick, inky black hair, turning him into something almost stupidly soft.
“Morning.”
His voice was husky with sleep and sent a pleasurable shiver straight through me. I could feel my nipples hardening in response, so I rolled onto my stomach and hid my face in the pillow.
His deep, delighted laugh rumbled through his chest, making the mattress shake ever so slightly beneath us.Then his fingers brushed my shoulder, tracing slow, gentle circles on my skin as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
I let him, even pushed myself into his touch, craving more.
