Chapter 16 Kage
Kage
THE EXECUTIONER
The door clicks shut behind us, shutting out the chaos of what just went down a few minutes ago. I step past her, turning the shower knobs until hot water begins to stream from the shower head. Steam fills the air between us, thick and suffocating, like the words we haven’t spoken yet.
Wren leans back against the counter, but she doesn’t look like she needs it to steady herself anymore. What just happened out there probably sobered her mind pretty quickly. Her arms are crossed, makeup smudged, her bottom lip between her teeth, but there’s something in her eyes.
Fear.
She’s not afraid of me, though. She’s afraid of what the three of us did. Of what it all means. I decide to play it cool, like what happened is a normal everyday occurrence. Because some day, it will be. I’ll make sure of it.
I strip off my shirt first, then unbutton my pants all while keeping my eyes on hers. Each movement is deliberate, slow. Not to tease her, though. I just need to keep my hands busy so I don’t walk over there, pin her against the wall, and show her exactly what she’s missing out on.
“I’m not sorry.” I say, my voice low, more gravel than sound. She flinches just a little, as if the truth has a sharper edge than anything we did out there.
“You don't have to be. I knew what I was doing and what I was asking for, and I’m not sorry either.” she says, but her voice betrays her. It’s too soft, too tight. She’s unraveling before me and I can’t tell if it’s because she feels guilty, or because she liked it.
“I am sorry about your shirt though,” she says, blushing as she tries to hold back her smile.
I can’t help the laugh that comes from deep in my chest. Only Wren seems to be able to bring out any real emotions. I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of her. “Don't worry about it, really. Is that the first time that’s happened to you?”
Wren’s cheeks flare red immediately, embarrassed that I’m talking so openly about this. “Yeah, definitely the first time.” she says shyly. “I was starting to think it wasn’t possible.”
“Oh, baby, with me anything is possible. You don’t have to worry about immature boys like Dick, only worrying about himself. With Nox and I, you’ll always come first. Hard, and multiple times.”
Her cheeks flush a deep shade of pink as she lifts her hand, sinking her teeth into her nails hoping it might stop the words she’s choking on. She opens her mouth then closes it again, hesitating. That just won’t do. I need communication.
“What's swirling around in that pretty little head of yours, baby?”
She grins, a wicked little smirk. “Is that the first time you and Nox…”
“Fucked around? No.” Her eyes grow a little at that, and I can tell her mind is racing. I can’t help the smirk that paints my face. She’s intrigued, and I fucking like it. “We better hurry before Nox leaves without us.”
Finally dropping my pants and boxers to the floor, I back up into the awaiting shower. Wren’s gaze drops to my dick, her eyes widening when she sees that I am, in fact, hard as a fucking rock again. Thick and flushed, and unmistakably textured.
Nine small beads are embedded beneath the skin along my shaft, spaced in rows of three, just enough to drive someone out of their goddamn mind. I watch her mouth part in stunned silence, her gaze fixed in place like she’s trying to make sense of what she’s seeing.
That’s always their reaction.
“Surprised, little bird?” I ask, my voice teasing.
She swallows, her eyes still glued to my cock. “You have…things…in it.”
I grin, stepping under the water, stroking myself twice just for shock value.
“Beads. Subdermal implants. For extra pleasure. Yours, mostly. And these,” I run my fingers across the implants directly above my dick on the lower pubic area, “think of me as your own personal grinder pad.” I give her a quick wink. She’ll enjoy that.
Her thighs press together, and fuck if that doesn’t make my cock twitch.
“Are you going to join me, sweetheart, or are you already imagining how it’s gonna feel dragging that pretty little pussy of yours all over me?
” I throw her a half smirk so she knows I’m just messing with her, but she’s already trying to hold back a smile.
“I promise I won’t try anything. I just want to take care of you. ”
And I mean that. Of course I want to fuck her. Who wouldn’t want to fuck Wren? They would have to be a fucking lunatic to not want to touch her. But she needs to know that I can have control over my sexual desires, no matter how bad I don’t want to.
There’s a beat of silence before she nods and pushes off the counter.
She pulls her dress up and over her head, her perfect tits bouncing free, begging to be touched.
Every thought I had before now dissipates as my jaw tightens from seeing Wren in nothing but that sinful red laced thong, soaked and completely ruined.
Fuck, now I’m the one staring.
She pulls her lace down her soft legs and slowly makes her way to me.
One step…
Two…
Into the water.
Into me.
The heat from the water is nothing compared to the heat coming off of her body. I won't touch her again, not yet. But damn if she doesn’t make that promise hard to keep.
Her skin glows in the low light, flushed, wet, and beautifully bare.
She doesn’t speak, just watches me with those wide eyes.
But I see the way her breath hitches. The way her hands twitch at her sides because she doesn’t know what to do with them.
She finally sinks into the water, her body brushing against mine.
I don't move. Not even when her breath ghosts across my collarbone.
A flicker of something shifts in her expression, like curiosity laced with disbelief as her gaze lingers on my neck. She lifts her hand, her fingertips grazing the fresh ink that wasn’t there before. Her mark, inked into my skin. Her own brand; a perfect replica of her bite.
“You did this,” I say, as I lean into her, my lips now by her ear. “So I kept it.”
I pull away as she watches me, her expression completely stunned in silence as her eyes fill with tears.
I wasn’t expecting Wren to cry when she saw the tattoo, but the deepest part of me felt like she would love it.
When I look at Wren, a glimmer of darkness lies beneath the surface.
I don’t know what kind of demons claw at her insides, but somehow I feel as if they’re similar to mine.
Broken knows broken, like calls to like.
“What do you think, little bird? Do you think I’m crazy?”
“Yes,” she whispers, her voice soft and trembling.
“Are you scared?”
She shakes her head, taking in a deep breath before answering, “No.”
Smiling, I let her stand there in the tension. Let her feel the pull of gravity that’s slowly dragging her into my orbit.
“No one has ever cared about me enough to do something like this. Something so permanent. I’ve always been the throw away girl, just used to be discarded. And after everything with Rich—”
“Hey, listen to me,” I grab her chin between my thumb and forefinger, forcing her to keep her eyes on mine. “You are not just the throw away girl. Not for me. Not for Nox. That bastard never deserved to breathe the same air as you, let alone ever fucking touch you.
“I don’t know what he did, and you don’t have to tell me if you’re not ready for that, but you don’t need to carry the weight of it alone anymore. Not ever. We’ll be here to remind you who the fuck you are. Every. Single. Day. You’ll never be the throw away girl again.”
Her exhale is shaky, like she’s trying to hold herself back, waiting for me to give her permission to fall apart.
And Lucifer help me, I want her to ask for it.
I want her to beg for me. Lifting my hand slowly, I brush a wet strand of hair away from her cheek.
My fingers linger at her jaw, barely grazing her skin.
“You don’t have to mask your demons with me, Wren. Not when it’s just us.” She’s trembling, but she doesn’t pull away. “If you want me…all you have to do is say it. Say those three words, and I’ll show you what it means to be wanted without being used. Touched without being broken.”
I lean my forehead against hers and whisper, “But if you don’t, I’ll hold you anyway. I’ll still be right here.”
The city rolls by in silence, just streetlights and shadows stretching across the windshield for miles.
Wren’s dead to the world in the backseat.
Out cold as if none of tonight ever happened, leaving me and Nox alone in the aftermath.
This wouldn’t be an issue if he would just accept this for what it is, but he’s too stubborn.
Still stuck in his head with what he thinks we should be.
He’s got one hand on the wheel, the other resting on his thigh like he doesn’t trust it anywhere near me. His knuckles are white, a vein pulsed at his temple, and his eyes are on the road like the lines might spell out some kind of answers to questions he hasn’t figured out how to ask yet.
“She’s gonna hate us in the morning,” he says finally, voice hoarse and rough as if he’s been tossing the thought around for too long. “But we’ll still do it again, won’t we?”
I don’t answer right away and he doesn’t look at me, but I could feel the weight of his question. Everything he isn’t saying. He’s holding so much back, and for what? What is he so damn afraid of?
“She hated us before tonight,” I murmur, staring out the window. “Still came back.”
His grip on the wheel tightens. “That’s not the same and you know it.”
“No?” I lean my head back, eyes closing for a second. “Because it felt the same. The way she looked at us. The way you looked at me.”
His silence cuts deeper than anything else. He doesn’t deny it. Doesn’t tell me I’m wrong. I glance over, catching the twitch in his jaw. “You kissed me, Nox.”
“And you touched me,” he fires back, his nostrils flaring. “That doesn’t mean I know what the fuck I’m doing.”
“I do.” I turn to him fully, my voice dropping lower and softer. “I know exactly what I want. I’ve always known.”
His eyes flick over to me just once, then back to the road. But that one look tells me everything he isn’t saying. He’s confused and scared, but he wants me. So I say the one thing I should have told him a long time ago. Something he damn well already knows.
“I’m in love with you,” I say, more as a challenge, not a confession. Like I’m daring him to flinch. “I don’t care if it ruins everything. I’ve been in love with you for years. But you already know that, don’t you?”
“Don’t,” he whispers, and it’s the weakest word I’ve ever heard spill from his mouth.
“Don’t what?” I press, not backing down. “Don’t say it out loud? Don’t make it real? You think this is something we can keep pretending didn’t happen?”
He slams on the breaks harder than he needs to at the next red light, and I throw my arm back, protecting Wren from flying forward.
Is he fucking insane?! She could have flown through the damn window!
I look back at Nox with rage in my eyes, both of his hands are gripping the steering wheel and I think he might break it.
“What the fuck, bro. Are you trying to fucking kill her?!”
He shakes his head, trying to find the right words to say what’s on his mind. “I don’t know what I am, Kage,” he breathes. “I’ve never touched a man the way I touch you. I never wanted to. Not until—” He cuts himself off.
“Until me.”
He nods, almost imperceptibly.
“You don’t have to have all the answers right now,” I tell him, voice calmer, giving him a lifeline.
“But don’t lie to yourself about what this is.
” I gesture between us with my hand. He looks over at my hand but doesn’t answer.
Just shifts in his seat as if the truth is searing through his flesh and he doesn’t know how to live in it.
The light turns green, but he doesn’t move.
“Lennox.”
“I’m trying,” he says, voice cracking like it physically hurts to admit. “I’m trying to understand how the fuck I got here.”
“You didn’t get here, Nox. You’ve been here. You’re just finally letting yourself feel it.”
He drags a hand over his mouth, leaning back in his seat knowing my words hit too close to home. “I don’t even know what I’m allowed to want.”
My voice drops lower, sharp with conviction. “You’re allowed to want me.” He flinches, but he doesn’t deny it or pull away. I wish I could fight the demons in his head for him, or at least show him that he doesn’t have to fight them alone anymore.
“You think I haven’t seen it?” I keep going. “The way you look at me when you think I’m not paying attention? The way you fucking shake when I touch you?”
His breath hitches, and I feel it, that crack in the wall. The truth he’s been burying under years of expectation and fear, maybe even shame. But it’s me. It’s always been me, and I’ll rip every scrap of truth out of him if that’s what it takes. We don’t need to fucking hide anymore.
“You can’t keep doing this,” I whisper. “Not to me and not to yourself.”
“I know.”
We sit in that silence for another long moment before he finally eases his foot onto the gas. The car glides forward slowly.
“Do you think she’d be okay with it?” he asks after a beat. I look over at him like he’s fucking crazy. He has to be if he really thinks she’d have a problem with us after everything we just did. She enjoyed it.
“Why not? She watched us fall apart in front of her tonight. But she didn’t run. She stayed. She chose to.”
He nods slowly, his grip loosening from the wheel, that tension he had draining inch by inch. But I can still see the war behind his eyes. He wants to reach for me. I can feel it in the air between us, but he’s not ready. Not yet. So I give him what I can.
“I don’t need you to call it anything,” I say. “I don’t need a label or some kind of fancy title. I just need you.”
He exhales shakily. “You make it sound so easy.”
“It’s not. It’s fucking terrifying.” I smirk faintly. “But I’ve already walked through hell. I’ll walk through you too if I have to.” That earns a rough breath of a laugh. “You’re worth it, Nox.”
We pull up to Wren’s place and the world stills.
There’s a faint glimmer in his eyes. I don’t think anyone has ever fought so hard for him before, but I’ll do it every day of my life if I have to.
There’s a reason we were brought together, and it wasn’t to become brothers. That’s just how it started.
“I’ll carry her,” I say, already opening the door before he can argue. “Stay here and think about it. Or don’t. But don’t let this be the part where you run.”
He doesn’t stop me. Doesn’t say anything at all. But when I lift Wren out of the backseat, his eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror. And for the first time tonight, I see hope staring back.