Page 89 of Saving the Rain

Just . . . don’t leave.

Please.

My chest squeezes, seeing that word come through. I really, really should be hardening myself against this. There are a million other places I could be right now, and I absolutely shouldn’t be trying to force some sort of admission out of Kayce. But then again, when he’s sweet and gives me this side of him, it tugs on something that has no right to exist in my stomach.

You didn’t go, did you?

I’m still here.

The text has barely been sent when I hear a corresponding ping. Kayce hits me like a whirlwind, bursting through the night, grabbing hold of the front of my collar.

He’s got a wildness about him, a glimmer in his eyes that looks even more feral than the creature beneath my ribs. Shoving at me, he lets out a little growl. A frustrated, gritty noise in the back of his throat.

“Fuck you.”

Before I can say anything in reply, he slams our mouths together.

Kayce’s fists tighten, holding me in place as our tongues slide against each other’s, a hot, wet, desperate chasing of that connection. Everything seems to crackle in the air around us. I don’t know what the fuck it is about kissing him, but there’s a special sort of electricity to it, the kind that makes my pulse spike as high as these mountains and blood thrum like thunder.

Spinning us around, my bulk slams him against the wall. Shoving one hand into the back of his hair, I use the other to hold his jaw. There’s nothing but a sloppy, hungry urgency to take his mouth and meet his frenzy with my own.

“Gonna be a reckless little slut?” My voice is raspy, heavy with need. “Right here, out in the open, pushed up against the wall?” I bite his bottom lip to the point it’ll definitely sting. Tasting that cherry sweetness on his tongue and a slight tang, the chalkiness of face paint, as I suck on that spot.

“If that’s what it takes.” He breathes choppily. Still clinging to my shirt.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about, pretty boy.” I lick at the pouty curve of his bottom lip. “Thought there wasn’t anything... that we weren't gonna be anything.”

“Well, maybe I changed my mind.” His face is hidden in the shadow, but I see the way his eyes are heavily lidded. There’s a certain kind of resilience in his voice. A far cry from the wavering I’ve noticed there in the past.

“How do I know you’re not gonna flip on me again.” My fingers descend to flex against the front of his throat. As I shift my hold, a delicious vibration comes through beneath my touch.

In that split second, he hums out a noise. Part demand, part relief at the feel of my mouth covering his, then I feel him start to slide down the wall. I’m dumbstruck for a second. Kayce wants to blow me out here?

“What are you doing, snowflake?” I study him, letting my hand cup his jaw. Watching as he lowers himself and slides his hands down until they hit the top of my belt.

“I want to—to prove to you. I’m not ashamed of being with you.”His throat sounds thick with lust, and there’s something more meaningful behind those words.

He’s prepared to get down on the hard gravel and give this to me, and that in itself means more than any endless weakness I might have for his lips to be wrapped around my cock. “Your knee,” I warn.

The cowboy he is, Kayce’s jaw tightens with determination. “It’s fine.”

Oh, my sweet boy. I see it, and feel it in his energy, just how sincere he is in wanting to demonstrate his willingness, once and for all.

I follow him down, crouching in front of his face, hooking his bottom lip with my thumb as I do so. He makes one of those tiny whimpering noises of frustration at me, and I’m about fucking ready to get this over with.

“You want me to take this throat whereanyonecould see? Want me to use you like my personal little fuck toy? Thirsty for a belly full of my cum?”

His breathing grows ragged.

After a few seconds of panting breaths echoing in the darkness, the momentary battle Kayce wages behind those blue eyes finally calms. He nods against my hold.

“I know I’m fucked up for saying this out loud... punch me in the face if you want, but... I wantthis, not in a way that’s hidden. I want us. And I want what we have to be more than just a random hook-up.”

Hauling him back up to his feet, I have him pinned against the wall with a knee shoved between his thighs in a heartbeat and absolutely fucking devour him. Every single one of those words feels like they burst into crackling, soaring flames, and I slant our mouths together so I can taste each moan and savage noise my boy gives in return.

Kayce brings his hands up to tangle in my hair and lets me have every ounce of that confession as it bursts onto my tongue.

Behind us, I hear some high-pitched giggling “Shhhhh. Oh, shit. I think this spot is taken.”