I shrug and the arrow of pain through my shoulder pierces my mouth into a grimace, too quick to hide.
“Thanks for trying,” I say when it passes. I offer my hand to shake, and he takes it without hesitation.
It’s amazing the effect a little moment like that has when it becomes an act of trust.
“You have an untapped well of possibility at your side now. So many rumors circulate about Checkmate, it’s hard to know what to believe. But when the very nature of your ability ispower.”
He’s asking without asking. I’ve always been greedy with my knowledge and history of my nemesis, loathe to give something away that would make her vulnerable to someone else. I called it respect, but maybe in my own twisted way it was always protection.
“They say she heals herself.” He looks at me from under a fan of dark lashes. “Cuts. Bruises. Even broken bones, all disappear in a matter of hours.”
I wonder whotheyare to be so well-informed. “They say a lot of things. That I’m a demon, and I got my powers through an underhanded deal with the devil. That doesn’t make it true.”
“All I’m saying is power like that could be put to good use.” He rubs his palm across his cheeks, scratching along the dotted lines of stubble growing in across his jaw line. “I’ve got to get back. Just think about it, okay? There are a lot of people here who could use help like that, if self-preservation isn’t enough to inspire you.”
This truce between us too new to bend without breaking. I can’t risk the endgame for this. I won’t. But the ache is a persistent gnawing of my bones and I know I’ll have to give in soon. Tonight. In the back of my mind, alarm bells ring. Am I becoming unstable?
What if I lose control?
“Are you going to tell me what all that was about?”
Kaye looks haunting walking next to me under the glow of moonlight as we make our way toward the house. It kisses her skin, lighting her in stark contrasts like so many nights before. I don’t need to close my eyes to picture Checkmate next to me, beautiful and stubborn. She is a dream I never wish to wake from. My scarred and puckered skin pricks, ever insistent, and I’d love nothing more than to lose myself in her, if only to feel human again.
“What part, exactly?” I want to run my tongue from her clavicle to her ear if only to hear the whimper she’ll release when I nip the skin there.
Kaye knows nothing of the danger brewing beneath my skin. Her hands rest on the curve of her hips, her stance wide as she turns to face me, and the sight of it alone makes my traitorous heart thud. My dick twitches as I imagine placing my hands over hers and pulling those delicious curves against me.
“Kaye’s not a hugger?” She imitates.
“You’re not.”
“That’s not the point.” God, she looks cute when she’s irritated, her cheeks flush that’s visible even in this dim light. “You’ve been acting weird all day, but I didn’t expect you to go all alpha-hole on me.”
Oh, if she wants an alpha-hole, I’ll give her one. I turn to her fully, my gaze trailing down her body and back up, cataloging every place I want to mark her. She can’t see my eyes with my mask on, but I’d be willing to bet she can feel it with how the flush spreads down her neck, quickly covering her chest.
The triumphant look falls from her face, her arms dropping to her sides as I stalk into her space. To her credit, she doesn’t budge an inch andfuckthat does something to me. I love that I don’t intimidate her anymore, even with my mask on, but hell if I don’t want to rile her up again. To see how much I can push before she falters. I slip behind her and her scent, her warmth, envelopes me. My fingers trail up her arms and goose bumps rise in their wake.
“I think the word you’re looking for is ‘protective,’” I rasp in her ear.
“Jealous.”
She gasps as I pull her back and the soft curve of her backside hits the hard wall of muscle on my torso and legs. I wrap around her, the fingers of my left hand splaying across her stomachwhile my right claims her neck and I use two fingers to guide her face to the side, her mouth inches from mine.
“Yes.” The word is half a prayer, half a groan as I feel her softness in my arms. Her heart beats a steady, if elevated tempo, the pulse in her throat jumping against my palm. “You’re mine, Kaye. I’m a greedy—and yes—jealousbastard. After all these years, I don’t want to share. I want to kiss you until your lips are bruised, until the taste of any other man is washed from your skin.”
I ghost my mouth so lightly against hers that we barely touch and it’s such a sharp contrast that she follows me hungrily until I tighten my grip and hold her in place once more.
“I want to devour your sweet pussy until your juices cover my face and my sins are washed clean. Until all I taste is your pleasure.”
She moans as the hand on her stomach slowly dips lower. I cup her sex, but it’s not where she wants me. Not enough friction, not by half, even as her hips rock against me, her pert ass rubbing down the length of my cock. I growl and use my leverage to drag her back against me, with me, until I hit something solid, then pivot us and pin her front to the bark of a maple tree. I grind myself against her, deliriously and torturously slow.Fuck.
“I want to possess you in every way I’ve imagined after every fight we’ve had. To bring you to the brink over and over, speared on my cock until you beg for release.”
Both our chests are heaving as she trembles below me. The outline of her pebbled nipples is visible under her shirt, her perfect body responding to me so quickly, wound up like my favorite toy. She whimpers as I nip the shell of her ear.
“I want your voice to be hoarse from screaming my name.” It hangs in the air between us, a secret and a promise. “I wantto bring you tea in bed and soothe your aches the following morning, then ruin you all over again.”
“Fuck, Zane. Yes,” she begs. It might be the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard. “Please, yes.”
