Jessie stuck her chin out; it was quivering. She wasn’t sure why she was picking a fight with him, or why she was picking a fight with April. Neither of them had done anything wrong. “No plans to do anything…but kiss her. I saw you grab her. I saw you lean down to her. I saw you kiss her.” Jessie’s eyes began to water as she replayed the event that had finally broken her. She couldn’t handle this. Voice wavering, she choked out, “And I already know you don’t mind moving fast.” Jessie felt her cheeks heat with anger and embarrassment. She shouldn’t have said that; it was hypocritical of her.
By the way Kai pursed his lips, it was clear he agreed. Stepping forward, he flung his hands out to the side. In a quiet voice he hissed, “I’m doing what you asked, Jessie. I’m trying to have a relationship with April, to stop this!” He indicated the space between them and Jessie felt her heated cheeks flush. He was right, he was so right; she had no room to be angry. None at all. Not finished with his defense, Kai took another step closer. “I can’t date April and not kiss her. She’s not that type of girl, and you knew that when you set me up with her.” Lowering his head, his eyes narrowed as he flicked his gaze between hers. “I’m trying to go slow with her, but April is…aggressive. I have to show her I’m somewhat interested, even if I’m…”
Pulling back, throwing his hands up again. “I’m trying to move forward, Jessie. You said this was okay. I didn’t know you were here, and I’m sorry you had to see that, but I’m trying to do what you asked me to do!”
Jessie stepped forward until she was touching him. Just the slight act of their bodies brushing together instantly sent fire through her body. She hated it, and loved it. Shaking her head, her eyes thick with pent-up tears of frustration, she told him, “I know, Kai. I know what I said. I know that I asked you to do something you didn’t really want to do. I know that you’re doing it for us, so we can be more…like family.”
Her voice broke on the word family and she had to swallow the knot in her throat. Kai’s pained eyes tracked her movement. Just when he looked about to speak, she interrupted. “But it’s too hard. I lied when I said it was okay. It’s not. I can’t stand the thought of you being with her. I hate hearing about you kissing her. And the thought of you sleeping with her…I can’t…I just can’t handle it. It makes me sick.”
Kai’s face softened as he let out a weary exhale. Shaking his head, he ran his hands through his hair. “What do you want from me, Jessie? You’re the one who thought placing someone between us would help. Isn’t that what you said? We needed a buffer? If April is too close to you, if seeing us together is too hard, then what do we do, Jessie? Who will make this easier? Who should I be with?”
Jessie’s hands came up to cup his cheeks, her body moved forward, to firmly compress against his. Against everything inside of her, every single instinct she had, she whispered, “Me. You should be with me. You’re supposed to be with me.”
Kai rested his forehead on hers, gently shaking it back and forth. “Jess…it’s not right. I can’t…We can’t…” He sighed and didn’t say what they were both feeling. Pulling his head away, he stared at her for long, intense moments. Then he brought a hand up to run it through her hair. “We can’t, Jessie. We just…can’t.”
Then his lips crashed down to hers, and the world outside stopped mattering. Her friends in the house no longer existed. The matching blood running through their veins didn’t mean anything. All that mattered was his hand slowly running from her hair to her neck. All Jessie could concentrate on was that hand clenching around her, and drawing her in, forcing her lips firmly onto his. In an instant, everything else disappeared.
Twisting them around, Kai slammed her back against her bedroom door. Jessie grunted, then groaned as his lips and his body crushed hers. Her hands drifted down his chest, then around his waist and up his back, under his multiple layers of shirts. Letting the passion they usually pushed back flood into her, she was quickly drenched, throbbing with need. She wanted him. She wanted him so much.
Kai’s hips were pushing against into hers, and Jessie could feel his desire for her pressing into her abdomen. She wanted him lower. She wanted him inside of her. Remembering the feel of him, the fullness of him, she wanted him deep in her, thrusting over and over until they both cried out in ecstasy. Jessie’s fingers trailed down his back, to the waistband of his jeans. Slipping around to the front, she desperately tried to pop open the button.