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The confusion was overwhelming. I didn’t have a plan after this. I wasn’t Kate. I didn’t even feel like Kayli anymore.
My non-answer took too long. He winced, dropping his tank shirt and letting it fall to the floor in a wet clump. He marched forward, a wicked spark striking into those golden flecks.
“Blake,” I said, taking a step back. My eyes went wide, caught off-guard by his aggressive approach. “I didn’t mean...”
His smile turned sly. “I’ve shown you my secrets, Kate,” he said. He reached out and caught me by the waist.
I tried to take a step back again, but he was faster. He drew me in until I was pressed up against his chest and he lowered his head.
“I want yours,” he whispered against my mouth. His head dipped and he kissed me.
His lips melted against mine. His palms claimed my face, fingertips brushing away wet strands of hair against my cheek until he could hold me. His grasp was unrelenting as his kiss deepened, claiming me by opening his mouth and loosening his jaw. He breathed out a half moan.
I tried to retreat, overwhelmed. He took a step into me, and then another, forcing me back. I felt the bed at the back of my knees. His hands lowered, finding my hips and he lifted me off the ground. It forced me to find his shoulders to hang on to.
He paused and put me on my feet again. He slid his hands up, catching the hem of the tank top, still soaked to the touch. He lifted slowly, exposing my skin to the air. I trembled from the coolness in the air against my wet flesh, but didn’t stop him.
When he lifted the shirt up over my breasts, my arms rose out of instinct, and he broke the kiss only a moment to pull the shirt away. The moment it was off my face, he claimed me again with his lips. He wasn’t going to give me a moment to reconsider.
When his hands went to my waist and he tugged at the shorts, that’s when I pushed his hand away. I had enough sense not to go further. The bra and shorts needed to stay. I wasn’t ready to be completely naked in front of him. Not tonight.
He seemed to understand me. He clutched my hips again, and with a jerk, I was up in the air for a moment. I crashed down on the bed, on top of the comforter. Blake followed, hovering over me. He planted a knee on either side of my hips. His bare, rippled stomach lowered over mine. His chest brushed against my breasts.
His lips crushed against mine.
The heat between us I couldn’t define. I hated that this kiss, his touch, I’d been craving since the moment we met. During the time we’d spent together, especially today, he wasn’t just handsome. He had a regal charm, but none of the snobbery I expected. He was smart, concerned, exciting, willing to risk everything to help people he didn’t even know.
He kept things slow, but his lips demanded a lot. His mouth parted, deepening and I responded. When he lifted his lips, he suckled my lower lip once quickly before sinking again into me for another kiss.
His tongue darted between his lips, tasting at my teeth, willing me to open up more. I did, and his tongue darted in, searching out mine, tasting every corner. His head twisted so he could deepen. His stomach leaned against mine, brushing against my skin.
My heart was flurrying. My mind couldn’t keep up. Part of me was simply overwhelmed. I’d felt like I’d spent so much time with him. I wanted this to be real. I wanted it so much it hurt. It felt like he knew me and wanted me to be his. Like I belonged to him.
After a few moments though, the truth finally settled in. It’d only been a day. Maybe I felt like I knew him, but there was little he knew about me. And if that was true, how could he care about me enough to kiss me? Most of what he thought he knew was a lie.
I started pushing at his chest.
He stopped the kiss, his eyes wide, wild. “Kate,” he breathed against my face.
I swallowed, trying to get my body to stop shaking from the chill and excitement and the fear. This was just like every other boyfriend I’d ever lied to. Suddenly, I was ashamed. If he only knew the real me. If he knew I lived in a hotel with a drunk father, and stole money from people to feed and house my brother and I, he probably wouldn’t like that. After all the nonsense I put him through to get to the answers I needed, he’d see me as a hypocrite. I was also in danger. If I got my hopes too high with him, and he left because of my lies ... I didn’t want that pain.
No. The truth was, he was melting through the wall I kept around myself. I’d do anything to stop it. Avoiding heartbreak by never giving out my heart was the best solution.
“I can’t stay,” I breathed. I needed to run. I needed to get away from this place. If I disappeared into the night, knowing he’d never be able to find me, I wouldn’t have to tell him the truth. “I should go.”
“Kate,” he said. “No...”
“I can’t,” I said. I pushed at his bare chest, trying to ignore the pounding heart inside me, and feeling his own under my fingertips. I felt the fine smoothness of his skin, and every desire inside of me screaming that I enjoy and give in, but my brain wouldn’t shut up. I couldn’t enjoy it knowing it was all a lie. “I need to go.”
At first, he looked indecisive. His face lowered.
Suddenly, the gold flecks glinted in the light and something appeared there that I’d not seen before. A driving force. A low growl emerged from his throat. His fingers clutched at my hips. He pushed me down against the bed and his lips fell hard against mine. Stronger this time. His mouth sought out to devour every corner. His tongue split between his teeth, seeking mine and slid along it.
He broke his hold only to clutch at my chin, tilting my head to the side. His lips claimed my jaw and then the skin just below my ear.
“Not tonight,” he said, his tone octaves deeper than before, and that hint of a growl rumbling through every word. His hands roughly massaged my chin. “Kate, you’re not leaving tonight. If you’re going to leave me, if you’re going to walk out on me, fine. Do it in the morning. I may even chase you down if you tried. Tonight, though, you’re staying right here with me.”
“Blake...” I said, pushing lightly at his chest but unable to find the strength like before, or I didn’t really have the heart. “I’m not going to have sex with you,” I said, trying to make it clear.
He nipped at my ear. He didn’t challenge my request. He sunk down, until he could claim a bit of my neck between his lips. He suckled at the skin and released it from his mouth with a pop.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“The real Kate,” he said. He backed his head up, gazing down at me. “I want to know what makes those eyes look so lost whenever you’re not angry, which is almost all the time. I want to know how you learned to pickpocket. I want to know why those bruises are on your body. I want to know how a beautiful, maddening girl ended up crashing into my life and why I can’t stop myself when nothing good could possibly come of this.” He dipped his head, kissed my lips briefly and then backed up again, but only a little, to whisper against my mouth. “And if you think you’re going to try to fight me on this and run away, I’ll kiss the shit out of you until you give up and stay with me.”
Why did he have to be so perfect? Even when I tried to fight him, he stepped up to the challenge. A worthy opponent in every sense. The devil inside me made me push back against his chest, with a coy, eyebrow lift and a playful smirk, feigning resistance. “I shouldn’t,” I whispered, with no real energy to my words. I didn’t want to tell him the truth, but I didn’t want to leave, either. I’d let him kiss me. I’d even kiss him back. I thought that was a pretty good compromise.
But in the next moment, my body jerked with an uncontrollable shiver. I was exhausted and cold, despite his warmth. The wetness of the shorts and the underwear and then the coolness of his bedroom racked me until I was trembling.
Blake didn’t miss a beat. He jumped off of me for a moment, diving into his closet. He pulled out a soft cotton button up shirt with long sleeves. He tossed it at me and pointed to the bathroom. “I’m going to walk in there and put on some shorts to slee
p in,” he said. “If you’re not here when I get back out again, I swear...” He wagged a finger at me and his eyes locked on mine, a curious look on his face.
My eyebrows popped up. “What?”
“You’re not going anywhere.” He turned with a satisfied smirk and snatched a pair of boxers out of his closet, marched to the bathroom and closed the door.
By the time he got out of the bedroom, I’d put on the shirt he gave me and kept my underwear. My underwear was wet but I opted to get into bed and stay there instead. I thought I could stand them as long as I got warm. The long sleeved shirt covered my butt for the most part.
I was underneath the blanket, by the time he got out. He ripped the comforter and sheet aside, planting himself beside me.
I didn’t want to talk. My eyelids drooped. The warmth of the bed had me ready to sink into oblivion.
I think it was affecting him, too. When he was beside me, he reached for me, finding my waist and pulling me close. He stuffed an arm under my neck, and another around until he could warm the small of my back with his palm. He held on to me close, warming the coolness of his exposed stomach and chest against me. His leg hooked over one of my thighs, locking into place.
He traced kisses along my face, along my forehead, by my ear. He kissed, soft and slow, until I passed out.
THE REAL BLAKE
Sometime in the middle of the night, I felt him shift and move away. Half asleep and disoriented, my heart broke over his leaving me. Then I realized he’d probably just gone to the bathroom and turned over on the bed, wrapping all the covers around me so when he got back, he wouldn’t have any.
Voices drifted to me. I turned over. It took my brain a while to realize that the bathroom door was open and the light was on, shining into the room. Blake wasn’t in the bathroom. Where did he go?
I rose, checking the time on a clock. It was about two in the morning. I went to his closet, found another pair of boxer shorts and stepped into them. I didn’t want to walk around the house half naked. At least my panties had moderately dried.
I padded out into the hallway, following the length of carpet runner. The voices were louder now. I don’t know why it bothered me, but it did. I willed my heart to stop pounding, trying to give myself some sort of explanation for what was going on. It didn’t sound like a television. I hadn’t seen a maid or servant here, but the house was spotless and the bed was made when we’d returned. I assumed someone did that. Was he talking to one of them now? Since I never saw anyone but him in the house, it was hard to conceive someone else might be here. I imagined invisible servants wandering around, doing his bidding. If you’re rich enough, you can afford invisibility.
