Chapter 47 All Lies
All Lies
Raven
They knew.
The realization tangles with all of my emotions. Comfort and anger clash together, making me feel all sorts of things. Why didn’t they ever tell me? Why keep something like this a secret?
The questions press against my ribs, as thick as the steam now curling around me.
I’m so distracted in my thoughts, the little lavender bottle falls into the bathtub.
Well, guess I’m using the rest of the lavender haze tonight.
I slip into the hot water, and the heat licks up my skin, chasing away the lingering chill in my bones.
My muscles loosen instantly, but my mind is a different story.
I take in long, deep breaths, forcing myself to sink into the feeling of the water.
I slip under the surface, letting the water drown out the noise, quieting my mind. I hold my breath, trying to calm the war in my head. Once I feel it start to creep in, I sit back up, resting my head on the rim of the tub.
My eyelids grow heavy as my body melts into the heat. My thoughts begin to blur.
I wake up in a bed that’s not mine.
The sheets are warm, tangled around my legs. The air smells like cedarwood and something darker.
My breath stills, realizing I'm not alone.
The room is still cloaked in shadows, but the warmth of another body beside me is unmistakable. I turn my head, and there he is.
Kane's laying next to me with an arm draped lazily over his very naked stomach. His chest rises and falls in an easy rhythm, making shadows trace the ridges of muscle, making him impossible to ignore.
My pulse stumbles because I apparently do not do his body justice.
Asleep, the sharp lines of his jaw ease, and his whole face is left unguarded. It shouldn't make him hotter, but of course it does. No mask. No armor. Just peace he clearly never lets himself have when he's awake.
I can’t look away, and I can feel heat pooling between my legs.
“You’re staring.”
His voice is thick with sleep, but it sounds deeper than it usually does. The rasp in his tone slides over my skin like gravel and smoke. I try to swallow, but my throat is too dry. That's the only thing that is. Everything else is wet.
“Hi,” I whisper, hating the way my voice betrays me, making me sound breathless and wrecked before he’s even touched me.
Kane shifts, rolling to his side, and when his hand slides over my hip, my entire body reacts.
Heat spreads through me, deep and consuming. His thumb traces slow, lazy circles against my skin—a touch so simple, yet so intimate it sends a chill racing through me.
“How does it feel?”
It feels like I’m already falling apart.
“How does what feel?” I whisper, but my voice comes out uneven, betraying me again.
His fingers still, lingering just long enough to drive me insane. And I’m caught between melting into him and catching fire.
His eyes drag down my body, taking his time. Because he has all the power right now, and he fucking knows it.
Fucking unfair.
His smirk deepens like he can hear that thought, too. “I’d sleep better if you were closer.”
His hand slides up my waist, taking his time making me fall apart.
The moment his hand cups my breast, a shiver rips through me and my body arches into his touch before I can stop myself.
His thumb drags over my nipple, slow and teasing. My fingers curl around the sheets like they’re the only thing keeping me here.
His touch doesn’t just burn, it consumes me.
And right now, I'm more than willing to burn for him.
“Kane,” I whisper.
I don’t wait. I crash into him, kissing him like it's a fight neither of us plans to lose. It's reckless and nothing short of a goddam war.
I slide my hands over his chest, and I swear to God, this man feels bigger than he did last time.
A moan slips free, muffled against his lips, and his response is immediate.
His arm wraps around my back, pulling me on top of him in one fluid motion, never breaking the kiss.
Our bare skin is pressed together, and a jolt of electricity rips through me as soon as I feel the hard length of his cock pressing into me. I have so much built up tension, I swear I might just get off like this.
I start grinding against him, desperate, chasing the friction I need like a woman starved.
His growl is low and rough. Then his hands are everywhere.
They side down my back, dragging me exactly where he wants me.
His grip tightens and his fingers dig into my ass, holding me in place, and this time I’m the one groaning. The need shoots straight through me, turning my bones liquid, making me ache in ways I can’t even describe.
His mouth drops to my throat and I feel his teeth graze my neck, teasing me. I'm so needy right now, I wouldn't even care if he sunk his teeth in me.
I need more. I need him to ruin me.
He drags his lips down my neck and the only thing I can focus on is his hot breath against my skin.
I can feel his control unraveling, and fuck, I want him undone.
Then I hear his voice in my ear. “Eyes on me.”
I barely have a second to obey before his fingers are exactly where I need them.
They're slow at first, dragging through my pussy, tormenting me. But he doesn't keep me waiting long before he’s pushing them deeper.
My breath shatters, and my back arches. My nails dig into his skin, but I don’t care. I can’t think, can’t breathe.
His touch is fucking devastating. I didn't realize how much I needed this.
I choke on a gasp as my entire body shatters beneath him, coming apart in his hands.
“Fuck, Princess,” he growls. “If you only knew what you did to me.”
Oh, I know.
Because I can feel it. Everywhere. The heat rolling off him, the hunger in his touch, the way his cock presses against me.
I grind against him again, more deliberately, needing more of him. His grip tightens and he chuckles.
“Always so demanding,” he teases, and fuck if that doesn’t make me want to break him.
His hand slides into my hair, fisting at the roots, tugging just hard enough to send a sharp exquisite shock of pleasure straight through me.
My breath stutters as he pulls my head back, exposing me to him.
His teeth graze my neck and my pulse thunders beneath his lips, and when I whisper his name again, he groans.
“Kane, please.”
His lips trail along my throat, leaving heat and devastation in their wake. Then his breath is at my ear, wrecking me from the inside out.
“Come again for me, pretty girl, and I’ll give you what you want.”
A shudder rolls through me so violently it might break me.
His hands grip my thighs, parting them further, while his fingers keep working me, knowing exactly how close I am.
His fingers are pumping in and out, while he starts rubbing my clit with his other hand.
Another strangled moan tears out of me, and my entire body tightens. I’m seconds away from falling apart, again, but he’s not done, not even fucking close.
The pressure builds so tight, it’s almost unbearable. It coils inside me so violently it’s too much and not enough all at once.
I gasp his name, begging, and he swallows every sound I make, his lips claiming mine, drinking me in.
“Good girl,” he murmurs against my lips.
My body trembles, at those two fucking words and my muscles lock up tight as I hover on the edge. His pace doesn’t falter, and his fingers don’t stop.
“Come for me.”
His words are my undoing.
Pleasure detonates, tearing me apart at the seams. My back arches, and I swear I see stars as my entire body shatters above him.
But he’s not done.
His lips find mine again, swallowing my moans, kissing me through the aftershocks, like he’s savoring every last tremor. His hands keep me right where he wants me.
And just when he’s about to push inside me—
A knock. Then full-on banging.
No.
The world fractures.
I jolt, opening my eyes. Only, I’m not in his bed.
It takes me a second to take in my surroundings. I'm in the bathtub and the water has cooled. My breath is ragged and uneven and it's clear my body still hasn’t realized we aren’t about to get any dick. My pussy is still throbbing.
The scent of cedarwood clings to me. It clings to my senses, wrapping around me, teasing me with a vividness that leaves me breathless.
There's another knock at the door, only louder this time.
Then the door bursts open and Elle stands in the doorway, eyes wide, with panic written all over her face.
“Raven?”
She stops dead, blinking at me still half-dazed in the tub, wrapped in nothing but the remnants of my dream.
“Oh.” Her shoulders relax as she presses a hand to her chest. “Shit. Sorry. You didn’t answer, and I thought—” She exhales sharply. “I dunno, maybe you drowned or something.”
I blink at her, still fighting to separate my dream from reality. My skin still feels hypersensitive, and I’m still reeling from Kane’s touch. Except it wasn’t real.
She wrinkles her nose and sniffs at the air. “What’s that smell?”
I freeze.
“What smell?”
Her eyes narrow suspiciously, flaring as she sniffs again, this time more deliberately. I swear the entire room tilts as she levels me with a sharp stare. “Whatever bath salt you used, maybe don’t use it again.”
She stares at me, then her brows pull together and she really looks at me. “Did you use the oil I gave you or a different one?”
“No, I didn't use the wrong one.” I force my face into something neutral, even while my body sells me out.
I can tell she's not buying it. Not for a second.
She gives me another once-over, and her eyes linger like she's trying to figure out what box to shove me in. Then she shrugs, waving a hand in front of her nose. “Well, whatever you used, it’s strong.”
I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, relieved when she drops it and turns to the mirror, already distracted with her hair. Thank God.
“Anyway.” She tosses me a towel. “I just wanted to check on you. You missed dinner.”
I missed dinner? Was I in the bath that long?
I step out of the tub with the towel wrapped around me, doing my best to hang on to the scraps of my sanity. What's left of it, anyway.