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His smirk vanished. “Fuck, you keep throwing me for such loops. Who would answer that question like that?”

“Someone who wants to be honest ... because she wants the other person to tell the same truths.” I tugged at my hand on his cheek; he held it firmly where it was. “Your family is royalty. It makes no sense. How are there even royal families anymore?” Laughing without humor, I looked away. “I know so little about you, Kain. So why do I feel like I alreadygetyou?”

My knees burned with the cuts from my fall. My stomach was a pile of snakes that wanted to escape. I probably needed to get checked out for a concussion.

And then he kissed me ... and none of that mattered.

- CHAPTER FOURTEEN -

KAIN

She’d asked me a question, but I didn’t want to answer with words.

How could I even try?

I wasn’t a poet—I didn’t know how to phrase the colliding emotions inside of me that rose to the surface when Sammy was near. Besides, the way she’d been touching me had made me acutely aware of how soft she was.

Howwarm.

Could I be blamed for wanting to taste that sweet mouth of hers? Especially when her lips were glowing in the sun, her hair tossed by the wind and her fall?

There was a grass stain on her cheek; I kissed that next. Sammy threw her arms around my neck, holding me close as her whole body shivered. We came together, my weight pushing her down into the field.

I’d barely had a taste when she gripped my ears, forcing me back so roughly that I winced. Her pupils sucked me up like black holes. “Wait. Before we do this, I need to know more.”

“More?” I asked, nuzzling her throat. “That’s a nice word. Say that again.” Her knee dug into my side; I gave up, leaning away. “We’re rolling around in a field with no one to stop us, and you want to talk?”

Lying there with her hair swirling around her, she’d never been more beautiful. It made her demand slice even sharper. “Iwantto mess around with you—”

“Okay, then let’s do that.”

“But I’m not going to do anything with someone who’s keeping secrets.”

Groaning, I sat on my heels. The position exaggerated the shape of my hard-on. “This isn’t exactly a secret, babe.”

“Stop,” she said, her eyes fixated on me.

“I don’t think I can.” Palming my erection, I hissed, “This is all you. It’s not in my control.”

Propping herself on her elbows, she threw a handful of grass at me. “Back at the jail, the detective warned me away from you and your family. Why? And don’t say jealousy.”

It was clear she wasn’t going to give up. “Probably because we’re known to dabble in gray areas of the law.”

“Like?”

“Blackmail. Gambling. Weapons.” I looked her in the eye. “Strip clubs.”

It was amazing that she didn’t flinch. “Do you hurt people?”

“Define ‘people.’”

“Innocentpeople.”

My head was starting to pound. “No one is innocent, but the folks we deal with definitely aren’t.” Sizing her up, I weighed the outcome of telling her what she wanted to hear versus what she needed to hear. With a great shrug, I went for the latter. “I’m not going to try and spin you some tale about how my family and I are heroes. We aren’t. Never were, never will be.”

“Then what are you?”

“Greedy.” I bit the word off. “Determined. Power crazy.” Sweat had collected under my throat; it fell down my collarbone when I leaned toward her. “We control this whole damn state, and it’s better than it’s ever been. Are we always kind? No. We couldn’t be. But we aren’t peddling drugs, and we aren’t letting girls get pulled into the clubs when they don’t wanna be there.”