Chapter Four
Kay
I watched him, my blue-eyed demon, holding my breath as he disappeared into the water. My heart was racing against time as I counted the seconds.
What the hell was he doing?
That water must be freezing, judging from how cold the breeze was at night. I couldn’t sleep with my door closed, and since I wasn't allowed to have my door open, I opted for the windows instead. My eyes scanned the water before darting back to the clock on the table by the fireplace.
It was one in the morning.
Who the hell takes a swim in the middle of night?
I shook my head in annoyance as fear crawled up my spine. There was no sign of him, the black water continuing to move as the moon commanded it. Tears formed in my eyes at the thought of his lifeless body.
Fuck this.
I moved, darting across my room and down the hallway, my bare feet slapping against the hardwoods. I flew past Bella as I rounded the corner of the stairs. She called out but I didn’t listen to her warnings as they echoed behind me. I should hate this man—no, I did hate this man.
For being so fucking stupid.
I entered the grand living room, my steps slowing as my eyes wanted to admire the space. In the weeks I'd been a guest here, I'd only been in this room once or twice. It was gorgeous. It felt like—
Focus, Kay. Go save your demon.
Pushing forward, I opened the French doors and stepped into the night. My skin prickled with goosebumps as the chill of the water greeted me. My eyes landed on the discarded items in the grass. His gun. His knives. His cancer sticks.
If I were anyone else, someone with common sense perhaps, I would snatch that gun up and kill him once he emerged.
But I wasn’t anyone else. I was Karina Jones, a woman in love with a mad man, with a blue-eyed demon in need of salvation.
Shaking off my doubt, I approached the steps.
The rails were made of iron, spiraling down into the depths.
The water was pitch black, and my stomach dropped at the thought of the abyss below.
I began my descent, my bare feet hitting the cold metal of the steps one by one.
I stopped one step above the water, my eyes searching frantically for him.
My heart screamed out in a new kind of pain as my eyes filled with tears.
Swallowing my fear, I lifted my foot—
A hand wrapped around my arm in a painful grip and turned me around. My eyes went wide at the drenched man standing above me, water droplets falling from his shaved head, down the side of his painfully handsome face to trace his sharp jawline before falling onto his soaked dress clothes.
“What are you doing?” he hissed, baring his teeth.
“I-I—”
Stammering, I was unable to form the words as my heart jumped inside my chest and relief settled on my shoulders.
Those icy eyes flared, and he yanked me up to him, my hands gripping his shirt at the waist to keep my balance.
Solid—nothing but solid muscle underneath my fingertips. My cheeks heated.
“What the fuck are you doing out here?” he growled, his eyes darting out to the water before settling back on my face.
“I saw you go under.”
Silence. A jaw jump.
“I just wanted to make sure you were okay,” I said softly.
His eyes flashed with something I desperately wished I could decipher. Weeks of his cold shoulder. Long days of his cruelness. Tonight was the night I would break through his icy walls. I needed to.
Bravery or stupidity took over, taking the wheel from me as my fingers flexed against his sides, my body damn near igniting from the contact. Nine years. I never once touched him unless it was his upper arm. This was something my fingers would never forget.
“You came out here to check on me?” His voice was dripping with sarcasm and mockery. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep my face neutral and just nodded. He yanked me up the steps as his face broke out into a cruel smile. “You stupid woman.”
“Col, please,” I begged, yanking myself free from his grasp. He chuckled as he bent to get his things from the ground. I watched in silence as he took out a cigarette and put it between his lips. “Please, don’t smoke in front of me.”
He pointed at me, the cigarette staying between his lush lips. “Get inside.” He was pushing me away again. I took a step closer.
“Are you okay?” I asked, concern clouding my thoughts. “Aren’t you cold?”
He stared at me, and I gestured to my room on the east side of the house.
“I came out here to make sure you were okay. I saw you from my window, and when you didn’t come up, I got scared,” I admitted as I slowly lowered my hand.
His throat bobbed—a crack in his fortress. I took another step, closing the distance between us. His chest rose and fell at a steady tempo, which told me he wasn’t cold. How could he be? He was made of ice and pain.
“I scared you?”
A small whimper escaped me as I nodded. “Yes. I didn’t know if you were okay.”
Slowly, his head tilted, assessing me as if he had never seen me before. “I scare you for the wrong reasons, angel.”
“You won’t hurt me.”
“I have, and I will again,” he said, his voice void of emotion.
I shook my head. “Don’t do this. Please.”
Stay with me, Col.
“Get inside,” he snapped as he plucked the cig from his mouth.
“Come with me?”
His eyes flashed again, and I pressed on, giving him nothing but the truth. “I sleep better with you in the room. Having you in there keeps the nightmares away,” I whispered as I tried to reach for him. He moved away from me; walking back up to his empty home.
He left me out in the cold.
Alone.
He was right about one thing.
He did hurt me.
Again.
Nine Years Ago. St. Louis.
“Is Gwen Davenport here?”
I blinked, trying to break the spell this man seemed to put on me. He just entered the restaurant a few seconds ago and I rushed up to the front, cursing him because we were about to close.
What I didn’t expect was to see the model standing before me.
He was tall, taller than me and Gwen, dressed in jeans and a school T-shirt.
Simple, but holy fuck. His hair was a jet-black pile of waves on top of his head, his skin fair, his face—a work of art, carved and sculpted by the ancient artists.
He possessed sharp cheekbones, a straight nose, lush, tempting lips, and a jawline that could cut through steel. But his eyes…
“Miss?” Oh right, a question.
I nodded, and he smirked, his ice eyes scanning my face.
“Collin! Hey, what’s up?” my gorgeous friend asked, breathless as she came up beside me.
His eyes—Collin’s eyes—seemed to hold mine for a moment longer before he turned his attention to Gwen. His handsome features lit up at the sight of her as he painted an angelic smile on his face, taking my breath away. “Hey, I was just wondering if you had those notes from Bio?”
“Oh, yes! I thought I gave those to you,” she said, yanking her ponytail out, letting her curls fall around her. Collin rubbed the back of his neck, shooting her a sheepish look. “Yeah, I lost them in the locker room. Pretty sure one of the guys snatched them to fuck with me.”
Gwen started talking, but I didn’t hear the words. My focus was entirely on the man who kept his attention on her. Envy pooled in my gut, and I silently cursed myself for it.
Gwen was my friend; she deserved a rebound after that asshole, Dean Connors, left her. She was gorgeous, kind, and had a soul that could save the world if given the chance.
Of course, a man like this would come looking for her.
“Hey, if it’s cool with you, I’m going to head out. My side work is done,” I said to my friend, plastering a small smile on my face. She turned to me, concern filling her eyes. “Okay. You good?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I have to get to Sullie’s anyways. Jer is expecting me,” I explained, turning away from the gorgeous couple. As I re-entered the kitchen, the line cooks were still griping about Collin being a customer.
“He's just a friend of G’s, guys,” I said, chuckling a bit as I headed to the office to cash out.
Once I got my money, I slipped off my apron, grabbed my jacket, and left.
The cool evening air of spring hit my face as I stepped through the side entrance. My car was in the parking lot behind the building. Making sure my purse was close to me, I zipped my jacket over it.
Growing up in the neighborhoods I did, you learned to never be too careful.
As I came to the end of the building, a throat cleared, causing me to jump and turn around. Instinctively, I reached for my switchblade in the back pocket of my jeans.
“Whoa, whoa! It’s just me,” the beautiful man said, stepping out of the shadows with his hands raised. He was beautiful, that much was clear, but the darkness made him devastating. My mouth watered at the sight.
All I could do was nod before asking, “Where’s Gwen?”
He jerked his thumb back to the restaurant. “She’s getting her things.”
I didn’t know what to say, but then again, what could you say to the first man to make your body react the way mine was? Nothing.
There was nothing you could say.
Years. Years of not having any sexual reactions to men, just going through the motions of sex like it was a chore. This was new to me. My skin heating, my breasts aching, and my—
Nope. Nope. Stop that, Kay.
“I didn’t catch your name,” he said, his voice smooth, like the whiskey on the top shelf of my uncle’s bar.
“It’s Kay.”
“Kay,” he repeated, as if he trying out my name on his lips, sampling it. He smiled at me, but it didn’t meet his eyes, and that should have been my first clue. He wasn’t interested in me. He was just making conversation.
“Do you go to school with Gwen?”
I shook my head. “I’m an online student.”
He tilted his head, and I had to fight off the urge to jump him. What the hell was wrong with me? I needed to get out of here, to distract myself with someone.
That’s all this was, right? I was just horny…for the first time in years…