Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Kain
That kiss in the parking lot destroyed a part of me. Shattered almost all the control I’d been clinging to.
Two days. It’s been two days since I tasted her lips, since I felt her body against mine and wanted nothing more than never to let go. And in those two days, I haven’t thought about anything but her.
I tell myself it’s wrong. That I don’t deserve her. How could I, when I’m lying to her about everything? I’m plotting against her best friend, and every moment I spend with her is built on a foundation of deception.
But knowing I don’t deserve her doesn’t stop me from wanting her, doesn’t stop my wolf from howling for her, and certainly doesn’t stop me from thinking about that kiss every waking moment and dreaming about it when I finally manage to sleep.
Even if I abandon the mission and become the man she loves, I will only cause her pain in the end when the consequence of my disobedience to the organization comes. So, I should leave her alone. I should stay away and give her space to move on with that David guy the way she clearly wants to.
Instead, I find myself sitting in a rental car I picked up this afternoon, parked across the street from Bellissimo’s—an upscale Italian restaurant with white linens and candles on every table—watching through the wide front windows as Anne has dinner with him.
The rental was a last-minute decision. Anne would recognize my car instantly, and I can’t risk her seeing me here. Can’t risk her knowing how pathetic I’ve become, reduced to being a stalker in a borrowed vehicle, wrapped up in this desperate need to be near her, even if she is with someone else.
Through the window, I can see them at a corner table. David is animated, gesturing as he tells some story that makes Anne smile. It’s not the bright, genuine smile she used to give me, but there is a softness to it, nonetheless.
She’s trying. I can tell. She is really trying to make things work between them.
The way she leans in when he talks, like she’s genuinely interested.
The way she laughs at something he says, covering her mouth with her hand the way she always does when she finds something funny.
The small gestures that are so quintessentially Anne—considerate, warm, giving him her full attention when he talks.
My chest aches hollowly. My wolf is agitated, pacing beneath my skin with possessive rage, but it’s more than that.
It’s me. The man beneath the conditioning, the mission, the lies.
I’m the one who can’t look away. This is what’s killing me: watching her be herself with someone else.
Seeing her give that kindness, that warmth, to a man who actually deserves it.
I sit through the torture of watching them together until they finish dinner. A waiter brings the check, and I watch as Anne reaches for her purse. David touches her hand gently, stopping her, and pulls out his own card with an easy smile.
She says something—probably protesting, knowing her—but he shakes his head insistently.
The simple intimacy of it makes my jaw clench.
They walk out together, and I sink lower in my seat until they get in David’s car and drive away.
I should leave. Go home and stop this madness before it gets worse.
But I can’t.
I follow them, keeping my distance as David drives toward Anne’s apartment building. My knuckles are white on the steering wheel, my jaw clenched so tight, I can feel the muscles jumping.
When they stop, I park several spaces away and watch as he gets out, comes around to open her door—of course he does—and helps her out.
They stand at the front door together for a moment, and I can tell they’re deliberating whether he should come up.
Please don’t. Please don’t let him up there.
She puts her fingers on his arm, shaking her head, and he hands her purse back to her, saying what I’m assuming is goodbye.
Just as I’m about to relax, he steps forward, infuriatingly close. My vision tunnels as he puts one arm around her waist, fingers splayed at the base of her spine.
Then, he kisses her.
I can hear my pulse pounding in my head as my heartbeat picks up speed. My wolf screams and strains. I silently will Anne to stop this, to push him away and prove that she’s still mine, but she doesn’t. Even worse, after a moment of hesitation, she kisses him back.
My rational sense shatters. Red floods my vision. Pure, undiluted rage makes my wolf surge forward with such violence that I nearly shift right here in the driver’s seat. It takes everything in me to stay in human form and not tear out of this car and rip him away from her.
The kiss doesn’t last very long, and Anne doesn’t respond to him the way she did with me, but still—he kissed her. He put his mouth on what’s mine, and she let him.
Mine!
David pulls back and says a few words. Anne nods. He touches her cheek once, gently and reverently, then heads back to his car.
I watch him drive away like a predator stalking prey, but he is not the object of my thoughts. Anne, who has just disappeared into her building, is.
There is no rational plan in my head when I’m out of my car and crossing the street, following her scent to the entrance.
Third floor. Her apartment is 3C according to the directory I memorized weeks ago without meaning to.
I find her door and knock harder than I mean to. Footsteps approach. From inside, I hear Anne’s slightly concerned voice.
“David? Did you forget something?” She opens the door, and her eyes go wide when she sees me. “What—”
She tries to slam the door, but I jam my foot in the gap, pushing forward with enough force that she has to back up.
“What are you doing here, Kain?” she demands, moving further into her apartment as I step inside and close the door behind me. “Why—”
“He kissed you.” The words come out sounding rough and accusatory. “How could you let him kiss you?”
Her shock transforms into confusion and then fury so fast, it’s almost impressive. “Excuse me? How could I—Were you watching me?”
“Answer the question.”
“I don’t owe you anything, Kain! I can kiss whomever I want! You made it very clear that you don’t remember me, that the mate bond is dead, that I should move on. So, that’s what I’m doing!”
She is making perfect sense, but I can’t convince myself to care about logic right now. Can’t think past the image of his mouth on hers, burned into my brain.
I close the distance between us in two strides and kiss her.
It’s not gentle. Not careful. It’s possessive and demanding and everything I’ve been holding back since that night in the office parking lot.
Anne makes a sound of outrage against my mouth and bites my lip hard enough to draw blood.
The sharp pain should make me pull back. Instead, it ignites the feral part of me. My hands wrap around her body like I’m trying to overwrite his touch.
Anne isn’t pushing me away anymore. She’s attacking me with a kiss of her own, her fingers tangling in my hair and pulling hard, her teeth scraping against my bottom lip like she wants to devour me.
I match her energy, my hands sliding down to her hips and pulling her roughly against me. She responds by dragging her nails down my back hard enough that I feel them through my shirt, hard enough that they will definitely leave marks.
The pain only makes me want her more. Patience has abandoned me entirely. Calm is a distant memory.
She yanks at my shirt, gets frustrated with the buttons, and then tears it open. Buttons scatter across her floor with soft, pinging sounds, but neither of us pays any attention.
I return the favor, gripping the neckline of her dress and ripping downward. The fabric gives way with a satisfying sound. She wore this dress for him; I don’t want her ever to wear it again.
The sound of her sharp intake of breath sends blood rushing south. My lips claim hers again, tongue thrusting deep into the slick heat of her mouth as my fingers roam the smooth expanse of her back, tracing the delicate ridge of her spine.
The thin strap of her bra aggravates me beyond reason, so I don’t bother fumbling with the clasp. With a sharp tug, I rip it free.
She gasps into my mouth, a low, shocked sound that vibrates through my chest and settles deep inside me.
I peel my lips from hers just long enough to drink in the sight of her.
My hand cups one breast, then the other, savoring their perfect warmth as their weight spills softly into my palm.
For a single, suspended breath, I simply stare at her nipples—perky, dusky, already taut and pointing toward me like an invitation I can no longer refuse.
I lose myself in them. My mouth descends, ravishing first one peak then the other with greedy kisses.
I swirl my tongue around the sensitive tip, draw it between my lips, suck hard enough to pull a sweet, soft cry from her throat.
That sound, that delicate yet raw noise…
It makes my wolf yip in delight, a sharp, joyful burst that sends fresh heat surging straight to my groin.
My cock pulses painfully against the confines of my pants, thick and insistent, urging me onward, fueling me.
I lick faster, suck harder, my teeth grazing just enough to make her arch and whimper beneath me.
Only when I hear the soft creak of her bedroom door do I register that we’ve moved.
She’s been taking steps backward, guiding me with deliberate intent, while I’ve followed her blindly, lips locked to her skin, hands insatiable, mind narrowed to nothing but her.
Her fingers thread into my hair, forcing my face deeper into the soft valley of her chest as if she can’t bear even an inch of separation.
We collapse onto the bed in a tangle of limbs, the mattress dipping under our combined weight.