Chapter 14
Fourteen
Dani
Present day
Kayden and I finished our lunch pretty quickly, the tension still charging the air between us to the point I could almost taste it.
The walk back to the truck had butterflies erupting in my stomach, the feel of Kayden’s hand just barely touching my lower back enough to set me on edge.
Now, I’m sitting in his truck as he drives me back to my apartment. Melody still isn’t responding to any of my text messages, and I have a feeling Kayden is going to insist on sticking around until Melody makes it back to my place.
Every now and then I steal glances out of the corner of my eye at Kayden driving.
He hasn’t peeked over at me once. In fact, he’s been staring straight ahead the entire drive, his jaw clenched so hard it looks like it might break.
He seems annoyed, and I start to worry what I might have done to trigger it.
I quickly shake the thought from my mind.
That is most definitely my trauma with Derek talking.
I was always walking on eggshells with him the last two months of our relationship, but I remind myself Kayden is not my ex.
We pull along my apartment building and Kayden turns the truck off, sitting back in his seat and releasing a sigh.
“Well… ready to go up, spitfire?”
“Yeah. Everything OK?” I ask, not sure what to do with the answer if everything is in fact, not OK.
“Everything’s fine.”
I raise an eyebrow at him, not believing him for a single second and calling him out on it.
He sighs as he reaches across and undoes my seatbelt before exiting his side of the truck. “Let’s go, Dani.”
Shaking my head, I open the truck door and jump down.
I wince as I land on the sidewalk, my right foot giving me trouble again.
Kayden catches my wince as he rounds the truck, just as I catch myself on the truck door.
Kayden is there, though, grabbing my hand as I take a second to balance on one foot.
“Wooo, fuck that hurt.”
Kayden’s eyes drop to the foot I’m holding up before snapping back to my gaze. Before I can protest, he swings me up in his arms, bridal style, and makes his way to the front entrance.
“Kayden, put me down! I can walk, I’ll be fine!”
“I don’t think so, spitfire. You’re hurting.”
I roll my eyes, but instead of fighting, I settle in with my arms around his neck.
Feeling his strong arms around me is doing something to my insides, and his scent, an earthy mix of cedar and cinnamon, invades my senses.
His jaw flutters repeatedly, and his grasp near my waist tightens as I give in and lay my head against his collarbone.
Lost in watching his features, I startle when Kayden moves to set me down outside my apartment door.
“Got your keys?”
I dig around my bag and pull them out, nervousness making my hand tremble the slightest bit. I hope Kayden didn’t catch that. I’m about to invite this man into my house, and while it’s not the first time he’s been in my home, the tension between us makes this time feel so much more significant.
“Would you like to come in until Melody gets here?”
Kayden rubs the back of his neck and peers down at me, a question in his burning gaze. It’s almost as though he’s asking if I’m sure I want to do that. I stand a little taller, resolve steeling my nerves as I lift an eyebrow.
Kayden steps toward me in the doorway, crosses his arms, and leans against the frame. The action forces my neck back to keep my eyes locked on his.
Kayden smirks. “You’re playing with fire, angel.”
“Maybe I am.” A challenge lights in my eyes, daring Kayden to take control, to show me what hides behind his restraint.
Kayden uncrosses his arms and takes a step into my space, forcing me back into the apartment.
Once he crosses the threshold, he slowly shuts the door, never breaking eye contact with me.
I bump into the dining room table as Kayden towers above me, my breath catching when he leans down, one arm on each side of me, caging me in.
“I’ve been dying to have you alone, Dani, and now that I do, I don’t know where to start with you.”
Every nerve ending in my body is begging to reach out and touch him, to feel the hard planes of his stomach clench beneath my fingers.
I bite my lip, nervously toying with my lip ring before reaching a tentative hand out to lift up the bottom of his shirt.
Just as I grab the edge of his shirt, his hand snatches mine, halting my movements.
I freeze, color painting my cheeks as though my hand was caught in the cookie jar.
“Please,” I beg, my eyes darting between his, my fingers aching to touch any part of him.
“She even knows how to ask nicely…” he says as he holds my hand that grips his shirt. We’re frozen, both breathing deeply as we’re caught in this hold together.
“Let me touch you.”
“I’m afraid if you do that, Dani, there’s no going back.”
“Who said I want to go back, Kayden?”
He narrows his eyes at me. “I vaguely remember you saying we couldn’t do this.”
“Forget what I said. I want you. I fucking need you to touch me, Kayden.”
I become desperate for his touch as chills race down my spine, and I nearly moan at the gentle feel of his hand gripping my hip. My mind becomes lost to the sensation of his warm fingers digging into my tender flesh, and it’s all I can do to stay upright.
Kayden growls as he leans down, his mouth near centimeters from my ear.
“Fuuuck, you smell so good. I want to rip these shorts from your body and fuck you on this table, Dani. I want to worship your body and make you come until you don’t even know who you are anymore.
Only then, when you’re so satisfied you can barely hold yourself up, will I slide my cock inside you.
Every barbell rubbing along your inner walls as I slowly pound into you, feeling you clench around me. ”
Kayden’s a dirty talker and I’m eating it up. The ache between my legs intensifies to the point that it’s almost painful, my pussy clenching around nothing from the picture he paints.
Closing my fist more firmly around his shirt, I pull him just enough that his body brushes against mine. “Kayden, if you don’t do something in the next twenty—”
“Fuck it.”
It’s the only warning I get before Kayden pulls back from my ear and captures my lips.
His tongue teases along the seam of my lips and I eagerly open for him, allowing our tongues to clash.
This kiss isn’t sweet—it’s hungry and brutal.
His fingers dig into the flesh of my hip, the delicious pain making me gasp.
He claims my mouth as my hands move under his shirt, feeling the muscles clench at my touch.
I quickly undo his belt and unbutton his jeans, breaking the kiss momentarily to pull his jeans down past his hips.
The outline of his cock has me swallowing in anticipation. I can make out his Jacob’s ladder through his briefs, each rung a bump against the fabric. Kayden hisses as I palm his erection, and his cock twitches beneath my touch.
Before I can move along his length, Kayden pulls his shirt over his head and hooks an arm behind each of my knees, lifting me easily.
I wrap my legs around his waist and throw my head back as he licks a scorching path along the column of my throat, stopping over my pulse point and biting down.
Without stopping his ministrations, Kayden carries me through the kitchen and into the living room, throwing me down onto the couch.
I bounce back on the cushion, looking up at him expectantly.
Heat burns in his gaze as he looks down at me.
For a second, a spike of fear stabs my heart and my pulse quickens.
Nostrils flaring, Kayden pulls his jeans the rest of the way down and steps out, bending down to pick something out of his pocket.
He stands again, flipping open a black knife.
Quicker than I can follow, he bends over me, tracing the tip of the knife down my arm, causing my heart to lodge in my throat.
My skin breaks out in goosebumps and adrenaline courses through my veins. Kayden would never…
“Are you scared, Dani?” he murmurs, all the color leaving his eyes.
“I should be…” I reply, knowing I’m a fool for not being afraid. If it were anyone but Kayden, I might actually be afraid for my life. I see the darkness inside Kayden, like a second skin he hides beneath, but right now what I feel isn’t fear.
He drags the blade over my exposed stomach and stops just below my belly button.
“I hope you don’t love this shirt too much,” he says, before pulling my shirt taut and cutting it with the blade.
My mouth drops open as he gets to my breasts, but he’s careful not to knick me.
The knife stops just below my chin as he cuts the fabric away from my body, my breasts pebbling in the cool air.
“You are absolute perfection, I hope you know that.”
My cheeks heat at his compliment as he pulls the shirt off each side of my body. Instinctively I want to hide the scars along my arms, but Kayden is having none of it.
“Don’t you dare hide from me, Dani.”
He pulls my arms apart, running his gaze along each forearm to take in every scar as though I’m actually something to be worshipped. To be cherished.
“What I wouldn’t give to carve my name into your beautiful flesh, Dani. To give you a new scar, one that only makes you think of me…”
I take the time to appreciate his torso as he stands before me, and my eyes land on the numerous scars that dot his own flesh.
Some are faint, while some are more pink and fresh.
I can tell his tattoos cover a lot of the scars, and my heart aches at all the pain this man must have endured as a child.
“Every scar tells a story, spitfire. Yours are battle scars and proof you’re still here, still fighting.”
There’s a movement in the corner of my eye, and in the next instant, I feel the sharp prick of the blade under my chin as Kayden tilts my head so I’m looking up at him. I feel the gentle caress of the blade move over my cheek, and I tremble with the chill that races down my spine.
“I want to mark you as mine, Dani. Mark you and claim you so everyone knows who you belong to.”
I have no words. My pulse stutters from fear, but underneath it desire—hot and ferocious—pulses.
My eyes close as I feel the blade move to my lips.
He drags the tip of the knife to my lower lip and my breath catches on an inhale as I feel the blade nick me.
My eyes shoot open as I feel a small bead of blood form, but before my tongue can dart out to lick it, Kayden’s lips crash into mine, completely owning me.
I let out a breathy moan and pull his hair, our tongues dancing together, the taste of my blood overwhelming my senses.
I couldn’t stop now even if I wanted to. The man fucking cut me, and instead of running for the hills, my body is quivering for more.
“Kayden, I really fucking need you,” I manage to say as I pull away slightly. Kayden growls and sinks to his knees between my legs, hooking a thumb into each side of my shorts.
“Is this where you need me, Dani?” He doesn’t wait for a response as he rips my shorts and thong down my legs, leaving me in just my black lacy bra on the couch.
The cool air touches my inner thighs and I instinctively push my legs together, but Kayden stops me. The hunger in his gaze makes me tremble as he pushes my legs apart, soaking up the image of my wet pussy fully on display for him.
He looks at me and smirks. “This pussy is mine.”