Chapter 21 #2
I squeeze my eyes shut because no matter what he says next, it’ll hurt. I can tell by the inflection in his voice. Chris doesn’t care. He would do anything to stop me from seeing Kane, even if it hurt me. The breakdown of our family has made us into open wounds.
“He offered to buy you.” The words hit like a slap, and I can’t stop the tremble in my chin anymore. Why would he tell me this? Everything was finally good again.
Behind me, Kane kisses my shoulder, but I shy away from his touch.
No…
“That’s what you are to him. A fucking item to buy,” Chris continues.
The words feel distant, muted, and muffled, like I’m hearing my brother underwater.
“You’re lying,” I answer weakly. The truth feels too ugly to face.
“Ask him yourself if you don’t believe me.”
The phone is suddenly snatched away, and Kane pins me in place with his stormy eyes as he presses it to his ear. “You crossed a line, Holt.”
My brother responds, but I can only hear the rumble of his voice and can’t make out what he’s saying.
Kane listens intently, a small curve to his mouth as he plays with the ends of my hair. He tugs a little too hard, and the possessive warning in his touch whispers of consequences if I try to bolt, but I can’t stay here. Not now.
Is it true that he tried to buy me? No, it can’t be. Why would he do something so ugly?
“You should have pulled the trigger,” he tells Chris before hanging up.
He sets the phone down with deliberate calm, like a predator expecting its prey to run. I should leave, but my body stays frozen. What am I waiting for? I should run for the hills.
“Is it true?” The words leave my lips in a broken whisper. I already know the truth, but I want to hear it from him.
Outside, the sun slips behind the clouds and darkens the room. The words hang heavy between us as he slowly begins to slip his belt from his pants.
“He was getting in my way,” he says without apology.
“So you offered to pay my brother to stay away?”
Chris would never agree to a deal like that. He’s way too proud to accept money from someone like Kane Ravencourt.
The belt slips from the last hoop, and I watch as Kane slowly wraps each end around his knuckles and drawls, “What do you want, Jessica? An apology? Is that it?”
Each word drips with something dark and nefarious, but I can’t focus on that right now, not when I can barely see him through the tears.
“You can’t buy me, Kane.”
“You’re right. I can’t buy what already belongs to me.”
My heart throbs as I desperately fight the wobble in my lip. I hate that he’s right, that I’m already his and there’s nothing I can do to change it.
This is it. I’m at a crossroads, facing a choice. I can either walk out now and never look back, or let him carve himself on my heart. The scary part is that I don’t think I have a choice, and whether I’m ready to accept it or not, it’s already too late to walk away.
I’ll only end up back here.
Kane loops the belt around the back of my neck, pulls me in close, and sucks my lip between his teeth.
After it slips free, he murmurs, “Do you want me to say sorry?”
The leather presses into my neck as he nibbles my lip. Tears stream down my cheeks, wet against my skin, and Kane kisses them away with trembling breaths. “I’m sorry, baby.”
And like a wall crumbling before my eyes, my resolve shatters in quiet fractures, each piece slipping loose until I’m no longer sure why I’m fighting this pull.
“I’m so fucking sorry if I hurt you.”
“Kane, I need to leave.”
If I don’t get out of here and guard myself, he’ll break the last pieces of me, and I’m not strong enough. I can already feel myself splintering.
“You’re not going anywhere.” He kisses me hard. “Listen, baby. I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry that I’m so in love with you that there’s nothing I won’t do to keep you.” His mouth moves to my jaw, trailing wet kisses down to my ear before pressing his lips against it. “You drive me crazy.”
The words escape in a breathy confession that makes my breath catch. Why is it always so hard to breathe around him? I feel helpless.
Kane touches his lips to mine before flicking his warm tongue out, and my heart pounds in my ear as I let him taste me slowly while I explore every ridge of his abs with trembling fingers.
His rippling muscles contract, and he pulls on the belt again.
I could exist forever here in this precious moment, with my eyes closed and our hearts racing down a hill like a stampede of horses.
“Stay.”
One word, whispered between kisses.
“Kane.”
“Stay!”
He brushes away a tear with his gentle touch, and I keep my eyes closed as he moves closer until he’s barely a hairsbreadth away. The moment lingers until I can’t take it anymore. He makes me weak.
“Please.” The tremble in his breath mingles with mine, and I slowly open my eyes, only to get caught in his gaze. “I’ll beg if I have to.”
The fight drains out of me and everything feels quieter afterward. The world narrows to just this: his breath, mine, the space between us… and the fragile truth hanging there.
“You were right before,” I admit, placing my hand over his racing heart and guiding his over mine.
He lets go of the belt and flattens his palm over my throbbing organ. My pulse is stuttering under his hand, betraying everything I’ve tried to hide.
“You can’t buy what is already yours.”
The words settle between us, heavier than anything I’ve ever said.
There’s no taking them back now, and no pretending I didn’t just hand him every fragile piece of myself.
He doesn’t just have my heart. He’s had it longer than I ever wanted to admit.
There’s no room for lies now. No distance. No armor.
Kane’s throat jumps before he slowly leans in, giving me the chance to change my mind. But instead of pulling back, I let myself have him, drawing him closer and deepening the kiss, craving more.
He tastes like quiet confessions and the kind of trouble I won’t walk away from. I chase it without thinking, that slow, addictive taste of him on my lips.
There’s a sweetness to him that lingers long after I pull away. For a moment, everything feels paused. The world waits to see what we do with this moment. And I do too.
“I love you.” There’s a tremor in his voice that he doesn’t try to hide. “You know that, right?”
He trails his fingers down my arm in a gentle caress before sliding a strand of hair away from my brow. The sweet touch lingers on my skin long after he cups my chin.
“I’m in love with you and nothing will change that. Your brother… no, the world, can throw everything it’s got and I still won’t walk away. I don’t care what it takes—blood, money, my legacy—there’s no price too high. You’re worth it.”