Page 24 of Within Shadows

Maeve

My stomach is still twisted in knots as I hold nails out in my palm for Knox.

He lifts another board, lining it up beneath the first and driving it home with easy swings.

Watching him work and make it look so easy is doing funny things to my body, and I’m doing my best to ignore it, but he doesn’t make it easy.

Especially when he lays the hammer down on the couch and steps back, reaching behind his head to pull his shirt off.

The sheen across his back only draws more attention to his shoulders as they flex, and I almost choke on my drool. The nails drop from my hand and Knox turns, raising a brow at me as I glare at him.

“Can I help you?” I huff, forcing my eyes to the ground as I kneel to pick them up.

“Asking that while kneeling in front of me is a little forward, don’t you think?

” He runs his hand through my hair and tugs gently.

I clench my fists, hissing in a breath when the nails dig into my palm.

Knox has his heated gaze burning into me, slowly taking me in.

Neither of us moves for a few breaths until something inside of him snaps.

He throws the hammer to the floor and slams into me, tackling me to the ground as he crushes his mouth to mine.

This kiss is so much more than we’ve shared before, his tongue forces past my parted lips as he pins both of my hands to the floor above my head.

Heat crawls through my veins, stealing what little oxygen I have left as my mouth molds to his.

The sweet taste of him has my body arching against his as I wrap one leg around his hips.

Our fingers are threaded together, and I squeeze back as he grinds against me, consuming any logical thought I had.

Far too quickly, Knox pulls away and presses his forehead to mine as we catch our breath. “Your kiss is fucking divine, muse.” His voice is low as he speaks, pressing a gentle kiss to my forehead. Knox stands, holding his hand out for me to help me to my feet.

“Why did you stop?” I can’t keep the disappointment from my voice as he takes a nail from my hand and gives me a cocky smirk.

“Because you haven’t forgiven me. When I finally earn your trust and forgiveness, I’ll take your body to its limit.

There is nothing in this world I want more than to have you scream my name while bouncing on my cock.

But don’t worry, I’m a patient man when it comes to you.

” He winks, turning back towards the window while I slowly blink, my body damn near overheating from his words alone.

“That should be good until morning when I can get somebody out here to fix it.” While he goes about picking up the spare boards and nails, I wander into the kitchen until I find a broom and dustpan.

Starting with the couch, I pick out every piece I can see until a large hand closes over mine as Knox presses close and startles me.

“Are you trying to get hurt? I have a vacuum, you know.” He shakes his head at me while I roll my eyes.

“Keep that up and I’ll have to show you other ways I can make your eyes roll back.

” He grabs my hips, burying his face in my neck, and I lean my head to the side to give him more access.

A sharp sting makes me suck in a breath as he clamps his teeth on the soft skin below my jaw, and I clench my thighs together, desperate to relieve some of the ache he’s creating.

Knox slides his hands down my hips until he grips my thighs, wrenching them apart and forcing me to bend forward.

I stop myself from face-planting on the back of the couch and turn to see him smiling down at me.

There’s a dark gleam in his eye and I wait, watching his every move until he just steps back and winks.

“The only one that’s going to end this torture is me, muse.” Knox stares pointedly between my legs before he turns and walks away.

“Sadistic prick,” I mutter while carefully stepping around the couch. Knox brings out the vacuum, and I almost go back to using my bare hands at his satisfied smirk.

“Who busted out your window? And what the hell did they use?” I ask as we finish cleaning up the broken glass.

Knox doesn’t meet my eyes right away, and I know he’s hesitant to tell me something.

“Please, I need to know.” I reach out and gently cup his jaw; finally, he turns to look at me and leans into my touch.

“It was Oliver.” Those three words made my stomach drop, but part of me already knew. “He threw a brick through the window.” My hands fall, but he catches them and leans forward, his forehead bumping mine as my body trembles.

“Let me make this very fucking clear. You are safe with me, he’s the only one in danger in this situation. His daddy can’t protect him this time.” Knox is softly running his hand through my hair, but his voice is filled with the promise of something dark.

“How much do you know?” I pull back and stare down at where he cradles my hands in one of his. Knox slowly stands and rubs the back of his neck, glancing at the mess of glass still waiting for us.

“This can wait until tomorrow.” He waves a hand and leans down, sliding one arm behind my knees and the other wrapping around my back. I frown but clasp my hands behind his neck as he confidently struts towards his bedroom.

“I can walk just fine.” My words are only acknowledged with one raised brow, and he nudges the door open with his foot.

“Yes, and the sky is blue.” He mutters.

“What?”

“I thought we were just pointing out random, obvious facts.” He pulls back the covers before laying me down and tucking the blanket around me.

“I carry you because I know you’re safest in my arms, plus I’m a greedy prick who will take any excuse to touch you.

” He lies next to me, on top of the blankets, and tugs me close into his side.

“Oliver hurt you. I saw the police reports, the statements you and Jess made, and your medical records. But his detective daddy made everything go away. He left you alone, for a little while, which is all you ever wanted from that coward. Now he’s got his eye on you again and doesn’t like that another man has your attention.

That’s what I know.” His grip on me tightened the more he spoke, and that was almost enough to drown out the first of what he said.

“My medical records?” I push myself up onto an elbow and glare down at him in the mostly dark room. Knox holds my stare without an ounce of shame or remorse on his face. I sigh, laying back down but with my head on his chest instead of the pillow.

“The broken arm when you first started dating?” Knox asks.

“We were drinking, and Oliver thought I was flirting with one of his friends. It was loud and we were standing at the top of the stairs, leaning close to hear each other over the music. Somebody bumped into Oliver, which shoved him into me, and I lost my footing.” At the time, that’s exactly what I thought had happened, but looking back now, I feel stupid.

“The black eye?” His voice is tense, and I blow out a breath.

“The first time I actually left him, but it was my fault. He was blocking the door, I shoved him and his elbow caught me in the face as I tried to leave.” My stomach is in knots, and I’m trying desperately to remind myself that I’m safe, lying in my stalker's bed with my head on his chest.

“Look at me.” Knox’s voice is tense, but I can’t. There were a hundred signs, and I missed every one of them. The shame of that is like a punch to the gut each time. “Thalia, I said look at me.” His commanding voice finally has me turning my head to catch his intense gaze.

“Not a fucking moment of anything you endured from him was your fault. Don’t shift the blame to yourself.

He hurt you because he wanted to break you.

That coward knew you were too good for him and only wanted to tear you down to make himself feel better.

For every little mark he left on you, I’m going to return it to him tenfold.

” His hold on me is tight, and I realize that I’m ignoring more red flags, but damn, his words are doing things to me that they shouldn’t.

“I’m sorry you’re caught in the middle of this,” I say, resting my chin on him. Knox lets out a laugh, dropping a kiss to my head before settling back into the bed.

“I put myself in the middle, and I’ll happily stand between you and anyone else.

Now go to sleep.” He turns, wrapping me in his embrace.

I’ve never felt safer than I do at this moment.

The only issue right now is the fact that I can’t sleep in pants.

I carefully shift, trying to make it seem like I’m stretching, and I carefully start tugging my pants down.

Knox’s hand shoots out, snatching my wrist through the blanket.

“What do you think you’re doing, little muse?” I swallow hard, somehow nervous at being caught stripping under the blankets.

“I can’t sleep with pants on.” My cheeks are warm as Knox groans, “Plus it’s really warm under this blanket.

” I say honestly. He drags himself from the bed and turns on the ceiling fan, while I quickly strip my pants off under the blankets, tossing them to the floor.

His back is to me, and I watch every little movement as he slides his pants off, standing only in a pair of boxers that grip every curve of his perfect ass.

Once he turns to face me, I almost hide under the blankets from the very obvious, and enticing, bulge in the front.

“It’s not polite to stare.” His voice is low and gravelly as he crawls onto the bed next to me. I lift the corner of the blankets. Knox hesitates until I whisper, “Please, I want to be closer to you.”

“Just a few hours ago, you were enraged with me for lying to you. Now you wanna get naked in my bed?” He raises a brow.

“What I felt for you was real, but now it’s all confusing.

I was falling for you, but you lied to me, and yet I somehow still want to be close to you.

You can stand there and question my sanity all night, or you can get under the covers.

What’s it gonna be?” I pull the blankets back even further, and he groans.

“You’re going to be the death of me,” he teases but slides in and pulls the blanket over him. Knox turns towards me, wrapping my leg around his waist until he freezes.

“Maeve,”

“What?” I ask.

“Are you naked?” His voice is strained, and I have to bite my lip to keep from laughing. I shrug, because I do still have a shirt on. So, technically, I’m not naked.

“Fuck,” he breathes, whipping the blankets off of us as he stares at the way I’m wrapped around him.

His fingers trail over my bare hip where the shirt has ridden up and grips my ass.

I hold my breath as he continues exploring, sliding his hand around my thigh until he brushes the edge of my pussy.

I arch my back, all but begging him to keep going.

“You’re so wet for me,” he pants but doesn’t go any further. Instead, he jerks his hand away, yanking the blanket back over us as he flops flat on his back and grips a fistful of his hair.

“Your trust, Maeve. I need to earn your trust.” Even if he addresses me, I still get the feeling that he’s reminding himself.

I almost consider lying, telling him that I do trust him, but I can’t do that.

He wraps his arm around me, hitching my leg higher over his hip to grind against me.

The friction against my clit draws a whimper from me, and he chuckles.

“Neither of us is going to get a good night's rest, and you only have yourself and this perfect pussy of yours to blame,” he tsks, kissing me and biting my lip. Yeah, I may have royally screwed up. This is torture.