Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
acelynn
My chest heaved up and down as he gently released me.
I laid both hands on the hood of my car, taking a moment to collect my thoughts.
A deep blush began to crawl up my face as I looked around the desert landscape.
Kaius’s knuckles brushed down the side of my face, and I turned my eyes down, not able to meet his intense gaze.
“Still thinking about running, kitten?” A devious smirk played on his lips.
I shook my head at him. There was still a little voice in my head that told me to run as far as I could from this town, but now, in my post-orgasm bliss, I could see that maybe I could survive this. Maybe the man in front of me wasn’t the monster I had molded him to be.
There were still so many unanswered questions that needed to be solved, and I would get them—even if it sent me to my grave. Because if the King of Lovelen wanted to drag me to hell with him, then I would gladly burn.
A feral smirk of my own pulled at my lips. “Maybe.”
I let out a squeal as Kaius threw me over his shoulder. He playfully slapped my still-bare ass as he began walking toward his motorcycle. “Keep talking like that and I will fill that smart-ass mouth of yours until you can’t choke out a single word.”
Hiding in the muscles of his back, I didn’t fight against him. After a moment, we arrived at our destination, and Kaius pulled me back over his shoulder to set me on my feet. Without hesitation, he reached down and pulled up my shorts, buttoning them the best he could manage with the tear in them.
“Those were my favorite.” I pouted up at him.
Kaius’s hands slipped up to my hips, firmly gripping them until he was lifting me up and setting me on his bike. I spread my legs, inviting him closer to me. His lips hovered over mine.
“I will buy you another pair. Hell, I will buy you whatever you want if you promise not to run again.”
My hands skim down the fabric of my jean shorts, noticing both my keys and the Polaroids must still be over by the car. I looked up at him through my lashes. “Can you grab the photos? I don’t want to leave those here if you are going to call a tow for the car.”
Kaius nodded in agreement before turning to walk back toward the vehicle. He turned over his shoulder. “Go in the side bag. There is a sweatshirt in there.”
“Why would I need a sweatshirt?” I asked.
The sun may have been setting, but it was still ninety degrees even in the shade in Lovelen.
“Because I would prefer that your ass wasn’t on display for all of Lovelen.” Kaius peered down the large gaping hole he had made in my pants.
I gasped, my back turning to him as he chuckled.
My fingers worked quickly to unbuckle the strap of the side bag and pull it open.
On top was a light gray sweatshirt with maroon block letters that said “Arizona State University” across the chest. Before I shut the bag, my eyes caught sight of a vial of bright purple liquid.
Reality came crashing down around me. I had just let Kaius eat me out in the middle of the desert when last night he had killed an innocent man.
A burning cold rage filled the pit of my stomach.
I would not let myself be manipulated by him.
Not when I had him exactly where he should be to destroy him.
What the hell had I been thinking?
My hands lingered over the vial, my mind wandering to a conversation that my brother had once had with my father when they thought I was asleep on the couch.
“Did you hear? That kid in the Knights has been slowly injecting himself every day with a small dose of rattlesnake venom.” Alec’s soft voice spoke out in the kitchen where he and my father sat.
My back was to them from where I lay on the couch.
It was late, so neither of them bothered to check if I was awake before speaking freely.
“He is probably trying to build up an immunity,” my father’s rough voice answered back.
Alec let out a chuckle. “Is that even possible?”
“Vince has been dosed with so many poisons his entire life by his father that he would probably survive the apocalypse with the roaches.”
A shiver traveled up my spine. Poisoning your own flesh and blood to ensure they were untouchable was sick.
They had gone on to talk about things with the auto shop after that, as if they hadn’t just revealed that someone was using their son as their own personal experiment.
The crunch of boots sounded out behind me.
I reacted quickly, reaching forward and taking two of the vials from the pouch.
I needed to become immune to the king’s favorite poison if I was going to survive him.
Just as Kaius reached me, I began to slip the sweatshirt over my head, letting the two vials slide beneath the sleeve with my hand.
“Ready to go, kitten?” Kaius asked, laying a soft kiss on the crown of my head.
I smiled brightly and turned to face him. Leaning in, I brushed my lips against his. “Are you sure you aren’t going to get sick of me?”
“Fat chance in hell that happens, Acelynn.”
He slammed his lips against mine, holding both the bike and me steady as he devoured me. My hand gripped tight on the hemlock vials as I smiled into the kiss.