"I knocked. I really did, and that's when I saw them. She was spread over her desk, his face between her legs. Emma, fancy Principal Em back then." He laughs mirthlessly.
"I ran. All I wanted to do was get home. I was not as innocent as I should have been. Jax was a teenager, and he would let us watch some of the videos his friends snuck him. I knew what they were doing, and I knew my father should not be doing that when he was married. I don't know how long it'd been going on for, but after that, whenever he visited the school, I knew.
“I still remember the stillness in the air and the shrill of my voice when I saw her, and how my brother held me, preventing me from pulling her down. She was blue in the face, her tongue protruding. The beautiful woman who laughed and chased me around the house was gone. Instead, she’d left me a monster.
"I fell to my knees in front of her, and I sobbed. The last sob of my life."
He takes a deep breath and looks down at me. “We should say goodbye. I’d like to go home, Kenz.”
We stand and walk into the house. Everyone is seated at a long dining room table. There are several round tables surrounding it, which are more or less full. Kace drags me along, and I go willingly. I want to leave. I want to get him alone and hear everything. My heart breaks for this beautiful, imperfect man.
“We’re off,” he informs his brother.
Jax stands. “Come on, man. I need you here.”
“You have all the family you need, bro. I’m not a part of that.”
“Just like his mother. A selfish son-of-a-bitch,” his father mutters under his breath. I feel Kace’s muscles tighten under my grasp.
“Don’t,” I warn him. “This is your brother’s moment,” I whisper.
“Have you told her how you’re not all that okay upstairs?” He laughs at Kace.
"That is enough, Father." Jax faces their father, and I see Tiff lay a hand on his arm.
Kace doesn't respond, he simply looks down at me, and we exchange a truce. He grabs my hand again, and we leave the dining room, all eyes on us.
We walkin silence to my apartment, each in our own minds about the events of the evening. When we arrive at my door, I reach up and wrap my arms around his neck. His hands slip around me, holding me flush against him.
“Thank you,” he whispers.
"You never have to thank me," I reply softly. He runs a knuckle along my cheek, and it makes me shiver in the chilly night. He brings his lips to mine, first lightly, then more urgently, igniting the fire he always seems to bring out in me. His tongue searches my mouth, and my hips instinctively tilt against him.
"You want to come inside?" I ask breathlessly, my eyes begging him to say yes.
"I do," he hisses in my ear, nipping at it. Shivers course through me, and I turn in his arms and open the door. Darkness meets us, and he moves me farther inside, my back to his front. He kicks the door closed with his foot.
“I should turn the lights on.” My voice is breathy, dazed almost, and suddenly we are bathed in light. He reached for the switch.
He runs his hands down my chest and rests them on my hips, pulling me onto his erection as I grind against him. I feel him jutting into my back, and I reach a hand up to hold onto his neck.
“I’m no good for you,” he whispers in my ear as he takes it between his teeth. “I’ll fuck with your mind. I’ll fuck with your heart.”
"You already have," I declare as I turn in his arms, staring up at him.
Taking his hand, I lead him to my bedroom. I wish I’d set the bed this morning. I’m so pedantic about these things. Still, it has everything we need now, starting with that bed.
He stands before me, looking down at me like I’m the most beautiful woman in the world, and I stand on my tiptoes, touching his face with my fingertips — his sharp nose and short beard — all the things that make him irresistible. I've never known what it was like to want someone so desperately. What it was like to throw caution to the wind and just let yourself experience life.
I'd wanted William, but this — this was different.
I push Kace onto the bed, and he leans on his elbow grinning, watching my every move as he licks his lips. I straddle him. He’s already hard, so ready for me. I bring my lips to his, my hair falling over our faces in a silver curtain. His hands wrap around my waist.
"Fuck," he growls. "At this rate, I'm not going to last."
I slip down the bed and unfasten his pants and ease them off with his boxers over his hips.
"Get that shirt off," I demand, and he does as he's told.
