Page 171 of Conquered

He has dark circles under his eyes, his hair in its usual disarray, and my eyebrows draw together with concern.

“Merry Christmas, Kai,” I say back, a catch in my throat as he stops in front of me, holding a thin, long deep red box in his hands.

“I’m—” he starts.

“Kai—” I say at the same time, then we both chuckle ruefully. “You go first,” I offer, desperate to reach out to him, to wrap myself around him, but a little nervous given his reaction last night on the boat.

“Lilly, darling, I’m so sorry about last night. I—” he cuts himself off, one hand running through his hair and mussing it more as he sighs. “Going back home…it brings up bad memories for me. It takes me to a dark place, and well, I guess I was still there, even though I was with you.”

He looks up at me, his eyes full of torment, and I know that I’m not getting the full story. I know that things were bad with his uncle, his training horrific and brutal. I’m starting to think that it is worse than we all thought, and my stomach churns at the idea of him suffering even more at the hands of that evil man.

“Kai, there’s nothing to apologise for. You can’t help instincts, love,” I tell him, not able to help taking a step forward, my hand reaching out to cup his cheek automatically. I pause in the movement, and he huffs, closing the distance.

The relief that floods my body when my palm makes contact is so strong that tears sting my eyes. I blink them away, seeinghis whole body relax as he steps closer, our bodies flush. A deep exhale comes rushing out of me. I can feel his warmth through our clothes, and my soul sings as his hand alights on my own cheek, his thumb rubbing it.

“Fuck, Lilly,” he whispers, leaning in further until his lips hover over mine. I can taste his breath, a mixture of mint and the green tea he favours, and I breathe him in until he’s once again a part of my very being. “Don’t give up on me,” he pleads, and his words make the breath catch in my lungs.

“I will never give up on you, Kai. On any of you,” I assure him, my own fingers moving into his hair and gripping tightly, pulling him closer until I no longer know whose breath is whose. “We are bound together, you and I, Kai. And nothing in this world, or the next will be able to keep us apart.”

His lips slam down on mine, swallowing my moan as he kisses me with such desperation I can barely keep up. It’s as if I am all that lies between him and the darkness, a darkness that is threatening to overwhelm him completely.

He breaks away panting, his eyes a little wild. Clearing his throat, he holds out the box in trembling hands.

“This is from all of us,” he tells me, a slight tremble in his voice.

I take it, a small smile on my lips, my heart still thudding from our kiss. Looking down, I see it’s wine red velvet, beautifully soft under my fingertips, and tied with a black ribbon in a bow. I pull one of the ends, the knot unravelling, and the ribbon falls free. Opening the box, I gasp as a platinum silver charm bracelet winks back at me. It’s already got several silver charms, which I take to represent the guys and me; a lily, a sugar skull for Ash, a koi for Kai, an angel for Loki, and a Norse style wolf for Jax. There’s also some more; a silver Big Ben to show my birth city, a fairy to represent my favourite Shakespeare play, and a silver American flag for my senior year.

I swallow hard, the lump in my throat making it hard to say anything.

“Do you like it, Princess?” Ash asks, his low voice sending a shiver across my skin like the caress of a night-time breeze. I look up with a watery gaze seeing that the others are all standing in front of me, all four of them waiting to hear my answer.

“I love it, thank you,” I manage to whisper out, kissing Kai on the cheek, then stepping to Ash and Jax, doing the same. Loki, my wonderful Loki, breaks the serious moment by polishing his cheek and presenting it to me, making all of us laugh.

“Can I give you guys your gifts?” I ask, excited anticipation running through me as we all go to sit down on the sofas, picking up drinks from the side tables as we pass. They’re all soft drinks or juice, as Jax’s doctor said to lay off alcohol for a bit too, just to clean out his entire system, and make sure that he doesn’t slip from one addiction to another.

“I thought you'd never ask, Pretty Girl!” Loki exclaims, his arms along the back of one of the sofas.

I get up, walk over to the palm tree that has been decorated like a Christmas tree including twinkling lights, and grab the four black gift bags, bringing them over and handing one to each of the guys. They are specific, so I wrote gift tags to make sure they each got the right one—See! Not just a pretty face!

They all look up, and when I nod in encouragement, they tear into them, and for a split second, I wonder if they’ve ever received a real gift before. One with no expectations or strings attached. The thought makes me frown until I hear Loki roar with laughter as he pulls out a bright pink fluffy bunny onesie.

A grin splits my lips as Jax holds up a huge Incredible Hulk onesie, his lip twitching. Kai takes out a stormtrooper one, a boyish grin on his handsome face, and all traces of darkness gone for the moment. Finally, Ash takes out a red devil one, and they all look at me with adorable confusion.

“Are we going dogging?” Loki asks, and all eyes swing to him.

“What the fuck is ‘dogging,’ dude?” Jax grumbles, throwing a cushion at him, which Loki dodges like a wanker.

“‘Dogging is a British English euphemism for engaging in sexual acts in a public or semi-public place, or watching others doing so,’” Kai interjects, reading off his tablet.

“For fuck’s sake, Loki!” I exclaim, my jaw dropping at his suggestion. “How did you even come to that…No, we’re not going dogging, Jesus. Just keep going.”

They do as I say, pulling out the large black boxes, and I watch as they each open them up and take the top layer of black tissue paper out.

“Fuck yeah!” Loki shouts, pulling out the paintball gun, aiming at Ash, and pulling the trigger.What a cuntcake!

Ash just raises a black brow, not even flinching as nothing happens. Loki looks down, pouting at the gun.

“You need to get the ammo at the centre, fucking imbecile,” Ash says, rolling his eyes and setting his bag and box aside on the floor.