Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Kain
I feasted like a wild animal, loving all the sounds she made.
Need soared in my blood. I loved the way her body responded to me.
I could spend days exploring her, understanding her needs and wants.
Desire burned bright in my chest, illuminating all the dark and lonely places that used to scare me. But she was here with me now.
Eva looked down at me and bit her lip. “So good.”
The need in her eyes encouraged more kisses everywhere, savoring every flavor.
She tasted like something sacred; I didn’t quite understand but knew in my soul that it was mine.
Her scent had already seeped into me like a medicine I’d been waiting for.
She was a flower blooming just for me. Nothing could compare to this moment when a quiet door opened inside my chest, showing me all the hope and beauty around me.
I couldn’t contain the powerful need coursing through me, letting it drag me into this delicious abyss that was all Eva. Her body, her moans, her scent—everything about her consumed me.
I sucked on her bud, and she writhed with desperation. I shifted her leg, opening wider to explore every inch of her.
When she cried out my name, begging for more, I grinned at my wicked passionflower. She was on the edge, ready to fly.
“Come for me, baby.” I fluttered my tongue on her swollen bud and felt the tension in her body.
My need for her was indescribable and primal. She couldn’t know the extent because I was still trying to understand it myself. Tonight confirmed one thing for me: this was just the beginning.
“Kain!” Eva moaned loudly, shuddering against my face.
Her total surrender captivated me. Her heavy, dazed eyes mixed with the lazy smile spreading across her face were like a beautiful artwork painted for me.
“You’re a wild one,” she breathed and fell against me, her heart pounding like a storm. “I’ve never done Pilates like that.” She laughed and pressed her face into my chest. “It’s addicting.”
“Don’t be embarrassed.” I turned off the music and kissed her. “You mesmerized me, and I’ve never been mesmerized before. That means we’ll have to do this again. And again, and again.”
She lifted her head and raised a suspicious eyebrow.
“It’s the truth,” I said and turned her to the mirror. “I was so hypnotized that I didn’t take off my clothes. My focus was on you, my beautiful passionflower.”
Her cheeks flushed, and she reached for her clothes. A knock sounded on the door, and she jumped. I pointed to the door in the corner. “Change in the bathroom.”
When Eva was safely inside the bathroom, I walked over to open the door.
“Sorry to bother you, Mr. Kessler,” said Amy, an eighteen-year-old college student working at the front desk. “There’s a package that requires your signature.”
I hadn’t ordered anything. At least nothing I remembered. I walked up to the skinny delivery guy, signed his tablet, and took the package about the size of a shoebox.
“Have a good day.”
I turned to Amy. “You represent Kessler’s Studio, so you can sign your name next time. I don’t have any personal packages sent here, so everything you receive should be for the fitness center.”
“Will do,” she said and turned to greet a customer who had a question.
I glanced at the box with no return address. Perhaps this was a promotional item. Every year, I’d receive samples of sports drinks, vitamins, sportswear, yoga mats, and so forth.
When Eva stepped into my office, I dropped the box on my desk to focus on her. But her attention wasn’t on me. She stared at the plants on my desk, on the floor, and on the windowsill. She walked over to the round conference table and picked up a succulent, studying it with keen interest.
Then she looked at me. “This is from Happy Flowers.”
“They’re all from your shop.” I slid a hip onto the edge of my desk, watching her examine each plant.
“They need water.” She picked off dried leaves and tossed them into the trash. “Why do you have so many?”
I pulled her into my arms. “Because I couldn’t have you at that time, I got your plants.”
She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t know you were a plant person.”
“I’m not. My mother was.” I ran a hand down her arm, remembering how intimate we’d been minutes ago.
There was no going back. “When you rejected me, I didn’t give up.
I returned to your shop, wanting to see you.
But you were off or had just left for the day.
Each time I bought something, so it didn’t make me look like a creep. ”
She cupped the side of my face with her hand, looking at me with so much warmth that a stone would melt. Could she tell my hardened heart was melting for her?
The revelation hit me like a bolt of lightning, powerful and transformative. But I didn’t want to think about that right now. I needed time to consider this emotion from various angles.
“Are you still uncomfortable with our age difference?”
“More worried than uncomfortable,” she replied. “I was worried someone like you would get bored with someone like me.” She ran her fingers over my five o’clock shadow.
“Never. You owned me from the very first moment I saw you. Now that I’ve tasted you, I’m obsessed.” Leaning in, I kissed her gently on the lips. “I’m willing to sell my soul to have you every day.”
“Keep your soul intact.” A laugh bubbled out of her. “Are you uncomfortable with a twenty-six-year-old woman?”
“Only an insane man would be uncomfortable with a smart, gorgeous woman. I’m very sane, which means nothing will keep me from you.”
She traced my jaw with her elegant fingers. “I love this defined jaw. So rugged. So sexy.” She flashed a seductive smile while moving her fingers down my neck. “And these tattoos fascinate me too.”
“You like men with tats?”
“Never been with one until now.”
“You won’t go back.”
She laughed and shook her head.
“Ready for Friday’s date?” Then sirens blared outside the building. I walked over to the window, looking out. Four police cars blocked an area in Etched Square. A crowd had formed near it. “Something’s going on outside. I need to check it out.”
Eva followed me onto the sidewalk. We walked by a distraught woman in athletic clothing, leaning against a parked car.
“Are you okay?” Eva asked.
“I’ve never seen a dead body before.” She shivered. “That poor woman . . . Her family will be devastated.”
“I’ll be right back,” I told Eva. “You stay with her.”
I had a feeling about what I was about to see. As I approached, someone called me from behind. “Kain!”
I turned to see Godfrey. “I went to your office, but they told me you were out here.”
“What happened?”
“Another Bleeding Hearts murder.”
“Fuck,” I muttered, looking over at Eva consoling the woman who seemed calmer now.
“Did you get a package today?”
“Yeah. But I haven’t opened it,” I said.
“Open it.” Godfrey eyed me. “The other boys each got a package too.”