He nodded, standing like a sentinel beside me long after the other men had tracked from the room. Kain’s shadow fell over me; I was kissing distance from his Adam’s apple. His heat was all-encompassing, his nearness sapping the last of my strength away.
I was supposed to be angry with him . . . not comfortable.
Not eager.
I saw the corner of his mouth rise. The tempo of my heart was infectious. It demanded I move, so I did. I backed up, my bare heel crunching on something that bit into my sensitive skin. “Shit!” I screamed, stumbling sideways.
Kain caught me, supporting me as Francesca bent down. “Oh, no!” she gasped, noticing the shattered photo. Lifting it, I saw that it contained the smiling faces of five kids of various ages, as well as two older people—Maverick and Carmina.
Fran shook the last of the glass shards off of the family portrait. They tumbled like diamonds over the laminated floor of the hallway. “Are you okay, Sammy?” she asked.
“It’s just a small cut.” Balancing on Kain, I eyed my heel. A tiny fleck of blood shone there. “Show me to your bathroom, I’ll clean it out.”
Francesca shook her head. “Gawd, why aren’t you wearing any shoes?”
“I was getting ready for bed when that guy attacked me.”
Her face fell. “Oh. Sorry.” Too quickly, she glared at her brother. “Well? Carry her upstairs.”
“Oh, no!” I laughed nervously. “That’s not—”
“You heard the lady,” he said, scooping me up. “I didn’t think I’d get to hold you like this twice in one day.”
“Whaaaat?” Frannie gasped, flapping her hands like a bird.
Blushing to my ears, I bit my tongue. “Please don’t ask.”
Kain took a path I remembered. I recognized the stairs that led to the landing and past his bedroom. Just passing by it made me feel scandalous.
The bathroom we entered was gigantic. The tub on one side was big enough for a horse, and the shower could have held multiple people. He set me on the edge of the double sink, grabbing a few tissues and wetting them.
“I can do it,” I said firmly.
Ignoring me, he knelt down and grabbed my ankle. With a tenderness not meant for men like him, Kain dabbed at the glass, working it out with hardly any pain. “Relax,” he said quietly. “I’ll be gentle.”
Gentle is exactly what I’m afraid of. The nicer he was, the more I couldn’t hold on to that slippery monster called resentment. Kain washed my cut, placing a bandage over it when he was finished. “There,” he said, looking up at me. “All set.”
I’d never looked down on him before. Somehow, it made me feel smaller. It was like being a flimsy piece of ribbon caught on a tree branch before it vanished into the world, never to be seen again.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked.
Gripping the edge of the counter, I locked up so hard that my joints popped. “Nothing.”
The cockiness that fit him best rolled through his almond-shaped eyes. “Must be about me, then.”
“I—what? No!”
“You’re not the best liar.”
Flushing, I stepped gingerly to the floor. Testing my heel, I said with some surprise, “It doesn’t even hurt.”
“I’ll take that as a thank you.” His smirk split his hard jaw. “Or a kiss will do.”
“Like hell.” But my lips buzzed at the very mention of kissing him. Rolling my ankle experimentally, I said, “Your dad said if I needed anything, to make sure I got it.”
“Of course. Just ask.”
“I need to make a phone call.”
He arched an eyebrow. “You know you can’t call the cops.”
“I’m not. It’s someone else.”
“And you won’t tell me who?”
Chewing my bottom lip, I thought it over. If I tell him about my mother, can it be used against me? I didn’t know if I could trust this family. I’d been told they were dangerous, but Kain had also rescued me from harm.
But I was trapped, so . . .
Who was really a threat to me?
“No,” I finally sighed. “I can’t.”
Shaking his head, he ruffled his thick hair. “In that case . . .” One step and he was looming over me, the sink at my back. “It’ll definitely cost more than a thank you.”
The thumping of my heart vibrated into my teeth. “You think you can blackmail me into kissing you?”
“I don’t think I need to blackmail you at all.” Chuckling warmly, he showed me the edge of his teeth. That grin shredded my defenses, and the thickness in his voice did the rest. Kain had me pinned, his hips pushing into mine. “I think you’ve been wanting to kiss me all day, Sammy.”
Swallowing, I whispered, “You’re wrong.”
“Am I?”
Darting my eyes to the side, I breathed faster. His scent was in my brain. “For most of the day . . . I wanted to punch you.”
He started to laugh. His body rippled, muscles rubbing over my chest. His joy was contagious. Everything he did was contagious.
The last of his laughter went down my throat, tickling into my heart. He kissed without limits. His strength pressed me into the porcelain, but it was his lust that held me still. Kain Badd was a man who consumed whatever he desired.
I was ready to let him eat me whole.
- CHAPTER TEN -
KAIN
I could see myself in the mirror behind her. Arousal colored my skin and coated my tongue. Her taste was like a deep breath after years below the ocean. I’d never kissed—or wanted to kiss—like this.
My cock reached for her through my jeans. Her moan when she felt me grinding against her sweatpants sent a new throb through my shaft. Each brush of my tongue on hers sent pulses of excitement through my pores.
Our heat met, her hips pushing back on mine. Sammy had stopped pretending she didn’t want me. Whatever wrongs I’d done, they wilted when compared to her desire. I knew the feeling.
“Fuck.” I bit the word off, my teeth chasing her lower lip. “I’ve been wanting to do this since I saw you outside my room this morning.” It could have been years ago, it felt like forever; another time, another world.
Sammy buried her hands in my hair, trailing her nails down my neck. Her touch called forth goose bumps. “I’m still mad at you,” she whispered. Her eyes dared me to challenge that fact.
Grinning, I set my thumbs on her cheeks and kissed her again. “That just makes it more fun.”
Her whimper made my cock swell uncomfortably.
Scooping her ass into my palms, I lifted her so she was sitting on the counter all over again. Before, I’d tended to her foot, but it was the rest of her I was interested in now. Sliding my hands down her thighs, I squeezed her knees, vising me between them.
Sitting as she was, her eyes were level with mine. Fisting her hair, I forced her chin back, exposing her long neck. My grip was rough, but my mouth was soft as butter. I tasted the hollow of her throat, the corner of her ear.