Page 42

Kai

I stare out at the city skyline, the neon glow bleeding into the glass. My own reflection watches me, hollow-eyed and restless, the tension winding tighter with every second.

I gave Vin a week to find the killer, but it seems neither Nicole or I can wait that long before unraveling.

Two fucking days and she figured it out. She’s come right back into the eye of the storm.

How the fuck can I resist a woman so desperate for me that she secretly collected photos, articles, fragments of my life while living a seemingly normal life? Perfect fucking thief. Something dark stirs inside me.

Because even as a stalker, she was flawless. Like a little witch, she fucking knew what counted.

That polaroid of the first junior meet I got to use my new name. Those ridiculous pink goggles Sara begged me to wear for her. The note I wrote to Jessie Smith, my first crush at twelve. Fragments of my life I can never forget.

The suite is dimly lit, but I can still see the exact spot where she knelt the last time. Where she trembled under my hands and let me break her apart.

Here, where she showed me exactly who she was. Even if she didn’t understand it then.

The soft click of the door handle turns behind me.

My body reacts before I do—muscles coiling, breath slowing.

She’s here.

"Well?” My voice cuts through the silence. I don't turn from the window.

The rustle of movement behind me, then silence. I know without looking, she's on her knees. The thought sends heat straight to my groin.

"Closer."

She crawls forward. I hear the soft shuffle, picture the graceful way she moves. Always so fucking perfect in her submission, even now.

When I finally turn, the sight of her hits me like a physical blow. Head bowed, hands resting on her thighs, that slight tremor in her shoulders that tells me she's terrified but won't run.

My thumb traces her bottom lip before I can stop myself. Her breath hitches, but she doesn't move. Doesn't pull away.

"Look at me."

Her eyes meet mine, and everything I've planned to say evaporates. Because there's no calculation there. No manipulation. Just raw need and something that looks terrifyingly like love.

"Talk to me,” I order, my voice rougher than I intend. "When did it start?"

She tries to bow her head, but I catch her chin. "Eyes on me, bad girl."

She licks her lips, and I fight the urge to crush my mouth to hers. "Eight years ago, after Cass died. It just didn't make sense to me and dad wouldn’t question it. The report said she’d started a fire. But then she drowned in the pool. No one questioned it because she was bipolar and was assumed to be manic.”

I keep stroking her jaw, as if coaxing the rest of it out.

“When you left the country for Europe, I was so angry. I hated that you got away and Cass was forgotten.”

“Is that when it started?”

“No. I shoved it deep in my heart where it couldn't hurt and moved on. Or so I thought.”

“And?”

“Then, five years ago, I stumbled on some random video advertising outrageously expensive knickknacks for sale. I thought it was stupid until I saw your pink swim goggles. I just couldn't . . . I couldn't not have them."

My eyebrows furrow. "How did you know they were mine?"

"Olympics. 200m men’s freestyle final.” Her voice breaks. “You threw that race, Kai."

Ice slides through my veins. "What did you just say?"

She doesn’t flinch. “They said it was a shoulder injury, but it wasn’t, was it? It was a different kind of pain. You were falling apart.”

My pulse thunders in my ears. "You saw all that—how? Was it a vlogger’s commentary? Archive footage?"

She shakes her head slowly. "I was there, Kai. Right in that stadium, fifty yards away from you."

My stomach drops.

She was there. Watching me. Seeing me.

“That was fifteen years ago, Nicole. You couldn’t have been more than—”

“I was nine. But I couldn’t forget. Every time I looked at my scars, Kai, I saw you.”

I try to breathe, but there isn’t enough air. “How?”

“I’ve never known pain like I did that night.” Her eyes glaze with tears as if remembering what it felt like. “When you threw that race, it messed up Jake Aldridge’s bet. He needed to vent. Do you know what he did to me?”

My hands clench into fists because I already know I’ll fucking hate it.

"He kicked my crutches out and made me walk across the stadium on my newly grafted leg.”

Rage slams through me so fast I see red.

I force myself to inhale slowly, to not break something. To not find Jake Aldridge right this second and beat him into a coma.

Nicole presses on, oblivious to the violence screaming through my veins.

“It was a swollen, bloody mess. I needed three surgeries to correct the failed graft. I still get phantom pain from it,” she whispers. “So you know why I could never forget you?”

Her words hit harder than a fucking bullet.

I can’t breathe. My heart is breaking for the little girl who had no other place in the world except with her loving abusers, and I realize something.

I was hers first.

I sink to my knees before her, pressing my forehead to hers. Her tears start to fall fast and hard.

"The goggles took me back to that night. When I held it in my hand, I just needed more . . . of you,” she whispers, her voice breaking.

I can't stand it. I kiss her tears, her trembling mouth, overwhelmed by how perfectly broken she is. How she's carried this piece of my darkness all these years.

"I don't deserve you,” I murmur against her lips.

She makes a soft sound of protest as I lay her back on the floor, stretching over her, my forehead touching hers again. "You're right, love. I didn't hurt my shoulder."

"What happened?” Her whisper ghosts across my face.

I brace my weight on my forearms, but I can't move away from her. Her hips cradle mine, ankles locked high over my waist, holding me to her like she's afraid I'll disappear.

"What happened, Kai?"

“Sara—my girlfriend—drowned that night. Just before the race.” The confession rips from somewhere deep, somewhere I don’t let myself go. "I couldn't look at water for months after that."

Her breath hitches. "Did you report it?"

"That I got feathers weeks before she drowned?” My laugh is bitter, humorless. "She'd been drinking, using drugs. Fell into the pool. It was ruled an accident.” I press my forehead against hers, anchoring myself in the feel of her. "Until Cass."

"Kai—"

"Shh, love.” I brush my lips against hers, breathing her in. "You wanted me. This is me."

Her voice shakes. "What happened?"

"Same crow feathers. Dipped in ink.” The memory rises like bile. "Right before she turned on the gas and walked into the pool."

Nicole stiffens beneath me. Then, to my utter fucking disbelief, her legs tighten around my waist, arms winding around my back, holding me closer. Even now—even knowing this—she’s choosing to keep me.

Her next whisper flattens my lungs. "The fire that scarred Lana. Was that Cass?"

I close my eyes and nod.

The weight of it, of all of it, presses down, but her fingers slip into my hair, cradling my head like I’m something precious instead of cursed.

“And then there was Elena. The day we broke up. She had a freak accident. And a river that swallowed her whole.

Nicole’s breath stutters. "Oh my God, Kai."

"And the feathers came again.” My voice is stripped, raw. "This time, I know what it means. I should let you go."

My fingers trace her face, memorizing her.

“That’s why you made me leave,” she whispers.

I swallow hard. "I need to protect you. Not just you. Everyone around you."

Tears well in her eyes—but they’re not for her. They’re for me. For the weight I’ve carried alone all these years.

"Don’t ever try to make me leave you again, Kai,” she swears, her grip tightening.

Something inside me breaks.

I crush my mouth to hers, desperate and claiming. Her tears mingle with the kiss, salt and surrender on my tongue as she arches up into me, gripping my shoulders like she’s afraid I’ll vanish.

Every touch feels like confession, like absolution. She knows my darkness now—all of it—and she still chooses to stay.

I drag my hands down her body, shaking, needing to feel her, mark her, ruin her. This isn’t like our other times. There’s no power play, no dominance. Just raw fucking need.

I tear at her clothes. Her tank top rips down the middle. I shove it off her shoulders, stripping her bare.

I drink her in.

Flushed skin, hard nipples, thighs slick with need.

"Tell me you’re mine.” My voice is dark, guttural.

Her lips part. Her breath hitches. "Kai—"

"Say it.” I grip her jaw, tilting her face up. "Let me hear you."

Her eyes flash, her chest rising and falling too fast.

"Yours,” she whispers. "I’m yours, Kai. I’ve always been yours—"

My cock drags over her slit, teasing, coating myself in how fucking wet she already is.

My stomach clenches.

I press in, slow at first, letting her feel every inch of me stretching her open. Fuck. It’s so much. So tight. So wet. So fucking perfect.

"Oh my God,” she gasps, trembling as she clings to me.

Her body clenches around me, pulling me in deeper. I grit my teeth, my vision going dark at the edges as I fight not to fuck her through the floor.

"Christ,” I rasp, dropping my forehead against hers. "You’re gripping me so damn tight—like you never want to let me go."

"I don’t,” she whimpers.

That’s all it takes. I snap my hips forward, sinking into her to the hilt, burying myself as deep as she’ll take me.

Her back arches off the floor, mouth parting in a scream. "Kai!"

My fingers dig into her thighs, holding her open, holding her down.

Her nails sink into my back, her body writhing beneath me, helpless to do anything but take it.

"Deeper,” she chokes out. "Don’t hold back."

I snap, pounding into her, hard and fast, pushing her open, dragging her to the edge with me. Her moans turn into gasps, then cries, then desperate, shameless sounds that make my cock throb inside her.

I need to hear her break.

I pin her wrists above her head, slam my hips into hers, driving her into the floor. "You’re going to come,” I growl, dragging my teeth down her throat. "Let me feel you."

Nicole whimpers, writhing, her muscles clenching around me.

"Say my name,” I command, grinding deeper.

"Kai."

"Louder."

"Kai!"

She shatters. Her body tenses, locking up beneath me, then breaks apart, convulsing, trembling as she drenches my cock.

She sobs my name, her entire body shaking, trembling. Her moans turn into keening cries, gasping as the pleasure overtakes her.

But I’m not done.

Not even close.

Before she can catch her breath, I flip her onto her stomach. She barely has time to react before I yank her hips up, arching her back.

Nicole moans, offering herself up completely.

"Greedy girl,” I murmur, sinking my cock into her heat. "You’ll take everything I give you, won’t you?"

Nicole wails.

Her fingers claw at the floor, her body arching, meeting every thrust. I yank her head back by her hair, my lips at her ear, voice dark and rough.

"You feel that?” My hips snap against hers, dragging another moan from her throat. "This is what you do to me."

Nicole sobs, her breath hitching, body quivering.

"Stay just like that,” I murmur, smoothing a hand up her spine before twisting my fingers into her hair and pulling her head back. "I want you to feel this. Feel me. Every fucking inch."

She moans, back arching as I slam into her from behind, her body shaking with overstimulation.

"You take me so fucking well, baby. You know that?” My voice is a dark rasp in her ear. "I should be furious at you, but all I can think about is fucking you so hard you can’t leave this room."

I lean down, biting the back of her shoulder, one hand tangled in her hair, the other drifting lower.

Lower.

Nicole sucks in a sharp breath.

Her entire body tenses—not in fear—but in something else. Something hotter.

"Kai—"

"Relax,” I murmur, licking up the shell of her ear. "Not now. But soon. You’re going to let me have you everywhere."

Her whimper is the sexiest thing I’ve ever fucking heard.

I drag my finger over the tight ring of muscle again, slicking her with her own arousal, just enough to make her squirm. Her legs shake.

"Oh, my God—"

"That’s it, baby. Feel it.” I keep fucking into her, slow and deep, my fingers continuing their lazy circles. "Think about it. About how good it’ll feel when I take you here, too. Stretch you open, while you beg for more."

Nicole’s breath shatters. Her body goes tight, locked, trembling—and then she fucking squirts, crying out my name.

"Holy fuck, Nic!” I slam into her one last time, grinding her into the floor as I explode inside her, filling her up so deep it feels like I’ll never get out.

She collapses, panting, shaking, completely undone.

I fall beside her, pressing my lips to her temple, my breath ragged. "I won’t survive losing you."