Chapter 40
CHAPTER 40
KIARA
“What do we do with him now?” I ask Zyran quietly, referring to the corpse lying next to us. He smokes a cigarette while my fingers trace the tattoos on his chest and stomach lightly, my head on his chest and ear perched right over his racing heart.
He exhales and threads his fingers through my curls, then buries his face in my hair, deeply inhaling the scent of my milk-and-honey shampoo.
“Don’t worry about it, baby. I’ll handle it.”
I shiver against him, and I don’t know if it’s from his words or the AC cooling our sweaty bodies.
“Can I ask you something?”
He nods. “Of course.”
“Have you…?” I start, but I trail off uncertainly.
Zyran hooks a finger underneath my chin and tilts my head up to look at him. “I haven’t been with anyone since I met you.”
The conviction of his words brings tears to my eyes. I’ve been on dates with so many men in the past year, and even though he and I weren’t technically exclusive, I feel like I’ve been cheating on him. I never had sex with any of the men I dated, but I seriously considered it a few times just so I could have some kind of release. Clearly, I never went through with it, but I still feel horrible about seeing other people.
I grip him harder and bury my face in his chest. “I’m sorry,” I whisper on a cry.
He’s silent a moment, and for a second, I don’t think he’ll say anything, but then he says, “You don’t have to apologize for any of the things you’ve done, Kiara. I know why you did it, and I was okay with it.” His tone implies that he actually wasn’t. “The only consolation was knowing it was me you were thinking about every day and not those assholes you dated. I knew you needed the space, and I was willing to give it to you, but don’t apologize for it. What’s done is done, and now we can move on.”
I sniffle and nod against his chest. “I just don’t want you to be mad at me.”
Zyran sits us both up and pulls my legs around him, so I’m straddling him. “I could never be mad at you, Kiara. For anything.”
He presses a soft, sweet kiss to my lips, and I cringe from the taste of blood mixed with both of our cum and the smell of the smoke.
Scrunching my nose, I take the cigarette from him and snuff it out on John’s arm. “I wish you’d stop smoking.”
Chuckling, Zyran manages to get us both off the floor in one swift movement and carries me upstairs to the bathroom.
“Let’s get cleaned up, butterfly.”