Page 794 of Lessons in Cruelty

But I have to leave, because it’s that or risk my bladder exploding.

The parking area of The Railyard butts up against the railway tracks, and because there’s a bridge nearby, there’s plenty of scree and shrubbery covering the ground here. I get as close to the concrete wall as I can before ducking behind a scraggly bush and squatting to pee.

I moan in relief.

Why the hell didn’t I use the restroom before we left?

Oh, right. Because we were all out of our fucking minds.

Bladder finally empty, I stand and rearrange my dress around my legs.

Movement catches my eye. I glance toward the bridge, blinking to focus my bleary eyes.

It’s hard to make out much in the darkness, but I swear I see something moving in the underpass. I shiver in the cold, retreating a quick step.

That sense of familiarity hits me like a freight train.

The railway tracks.

The bridge.

The underpass.

Dear God, don’t let it be the same underpass.

But the more my bleary eyes scan the dark structures up ahead, the more that sense of knowing grows inside me.

“Fuck,” I pant out, my heart jumping into my throat. “Fuck!”

I spin around, losing my footing on the loose soil, and skid⁠—

—landing on my ass, dress hiked up to my hips, at the feet of a man who smells like he just left his single-wide meth lab for a quick stroll down memory lane.

“Well, fuck,” he drawls, tilting his head as he stares down at my shock-frozen body with an incredulous smile. “If it isn’t Haven fucking Lee. Thought you’d skipped town, bitch.”

Chapter 36

Bastian

“Remember this?” I murmur against Kai’s ear.

I grab his cock, wrapping my fingers around both our shafts. He’s propped up against the inside of the back passenger door, exactly where I shoved him a minute or two ago.

He groans at the friction when I buck into my hand, his fingers tightening in my hair, kissing me instead of answering.

I don’t push for a reply. What happened in the alley isn’t a good memory for either of us, and I instantly wish I hadn’t spoken.

Instead of spiraling about it, I kiss him.

I kiss him so thoroughly, so passionately, that our dicks harden even more in my grip. I kiss him until he’s panting—until I’m fucking panting too—and then I kiss him some more.

I’m seconds away from coming before I realize it. It takes monumental effort to stop rutting into my hand, even when Kai makes a desperate sound against my mouth and bucks harder into my grip.

I grab his throat, but when I push him away, it’s gently. “Wait,” I breathe. “Just…wait.”

“Jesus, you and your fucking waiting,” Kai growls against my lips. “Why do you always have to drag things out?”

“Because it’s better that way.”