She raised an eyebrow and twisted off the cap with two fingers before chugging the whole thing. Not once did she take her eyes off me, even as she set the empty bottle on the counter. “When did the club come around?”
Throwing the empty one away, I walked back to the fridge and set a new one down in front of her, just because I could. “I was a kid raising kids. I found an outlet that eventually turned into a hobby. When my dad died, I inherited our family money and invested into a few companies. One came to be mine, and the other two went to my brothers when they were old enough.”
I could tell that she was processing everything. She wanted to understand, and the best thing was, there was no sympathy in her expression, which I appreciated. She briefly looked down and then back up at me. “How do the masks fit in?”
I straightened, stretching through the restraint my body was trying to give. “A lot of my childhood was being who others needed me to be. I spent a large portion being my mother’s protector and then my brother's guardian. My face became one people looked at with remorse.” I took a moment to swallowand collected the rest of my thoughts. “I just wanted to create a space where I could be who I was, make my own choices, without anyone judging me.” The words seemed simple as they left me, but that was all it really boiled down to. “Trauma affects everyone differently, and mine just manifested as masks.”
“It all makes sense now. Why you want control”—a light shade of pink flooded her cheeks, and she tried to hide her smile—“and why you play a certain way. Is that why you shared me with Kyrin that first night?”
“Let’s be crystal clear about something..” I couldn’t help the look that settled on my face, the expression was one of pure objection. “I did notshareyou with my brother.Youneeded to learn a lesson, andIneeded to touch you.Kyrinwas just there.” I knew that night would eventually come back to bite me. “I am not the type thatshares.”
She shook me off with a simple hand gesture. “I don’t want that. I already have a hard time keeping up with all your dueling personalities—I’d be stupid to add anyone else to the mix.”
Grabbing an empty envelope, I threw it at her, and she flashed me one of her amazing smiles. We sat in silence for a few minutes until she began to pick the skin on the sides of her fingers.
“I didn’t go through the same thing you did, but my parents weren’t the best either. They were never home, and when they were, they were on drugs. My grandmother raised me, which is where I learned to never back down. I had to move out when she passed away because I couldn’t afford things on myown—that’s when I found Kinsley.”
With a small laugh, she lifted the towel and pointed down the hallway for direction.
I answered by motioning to her where to go. “Second door on the right.” As she stepped away, I couldn’t help myself. I lightly grabbed her jaw and pulled her into me. She instantly relaxed into my hold and looked up at me with those eyes, the eyes that I pictured every time I closed my own. I almost said everything then, almost told her the complete truth of what we found and why she was with me. In order to stop myself, I let my eyes drift to her lips. Lowering my head, I rested my forehead on hers. It was only a moment later that her mouth crashed to mine.
Every time I felt her lips, I knew our kiss wasn’t simple or average, becauseweweren’t. I let her lead, and at first it stayed soft. Then she ran her tongue along my bottom lip and let out a sound, one that I had to push myself away from before I literally threw her on the counter.
I didn’t say anything as I kept my face down to control my breathing. She giggled and rubbed my dick once before heading down the hall toward the bathroom.
32
Ember
Steam filled the bathroom as I slowly stepped out of my clothes.
The bathroom itself was massive and so was the shower directly in front of me. Tall glass walls surrounded the area with dark tile, and a rainfall showerhead poured warm water down in a steady curtain.
I stepped under it and let the hot water hit my shoulders. God, I didn’t realize how tense my body was until now. Well, Idid, seeing how that kiss almost pushed me off the deep end.
To be fair, I’d already jumped into those shark-infested waters all by myself, and now I was just trying to stay above water and not drown.
As I showered, the muscles in my shoulders loosened one by one as the heat spread down my back. I tilted my head forward, letting the water soak through my hair, pushing everything down the drain—sweat, bodily fluids, and the weird emotional whiplash I had experienced lately. If someone were to ask me to sum up the last twenty-four hours of my life, I’d have a lot to explain. I was introduced to a world where someone could be kidnapped, have the best sex of their life, eat delicious fries, and then forgive the kidnapper,all because he had emotionaltrauma.
I reached for the bottle of shampoo on the shelf, squeezing some into my palm before working it into my hair. The scent was clean, something close to laundry detergent, and it immediately reminded me of Silas. I didn’t mind the fact that the scent was now filling the entire bathroom.
I closed my eyes as I massaged it through my scalp, thinking about everything that was going on. I knew Silas was quiet and controlling, intense in such a way the air changed when he walked into a room. Noweverypiece of him made sense. His mom. His dad. His brothers.
He was sixteen years old, raising kids.
My hands slowed in my hair as my heart broke for him. No one should have to carry that kind of weight that young, which was why he was made into this type of person. Craving that type of control over everyone...It's because he never had any.The way he studied everything around him like he was calculating every outcome...He had to do that for his brothers.A life like that would shape anyone into the same kind of mold. I rinsed the shampoo out, watching white foam spiral down the drain as I replayed our conversation.
He said he never felt seen, but the weird thing was I felt like Ionlysaw him. Despite the fact he stalked me and then forced me here, I wanted to know more. I wanted to know everything about his family, his brothers, about what kind of kid he was before the world broke him open.
After a few more minutes of washing my body, I shut thewater off and stepped out of the shower. Swirls of steam radiated around me as I dried off. Once I was no longer dripping, I picked up the clothes on the counter and spread them out. A black tank top and dark sweatpants, obviously Silas’s.
Pulling the top over my head, it hung loose on me. I didn’t mind the comfort, and I appreciated the fact it was not ridiculously oversized. The sweatpants, however, were a different story. The waistband slid halfway down my hips the second I let go of it. I laughed quietly to myself and rolled the waistband twice until they stayed up.
Barefoot, with my hair still damp, I opened the bathroom door and stepped into the hallway. When I entered the kitchen, Silas was exactly where I left him. Sitting at the counter, he was now looking down with his head buried in his hands. I walked up behind him and ran my hands over his back and across his shoulders. Something about the way he looked now was heavy, like something was weighing on him that I just couldn’t see.
“Silas.” The moment I spoke he jumped.
Standing abruptly, he gave me a small kiss on my cheek. “I’m going to shower. When I get out, I want to talk more. I have something to say.”
