Page 17 of Keeping Kaitlyn

That I won’t want to.

Reaching for her on a low groan, I pull her up so that she’s standing in front of me. Reaching down, I pull the button loose on her jeans. “Shower and sleep, Sunshine,” I tell her while I peel them off, over her hips and down her legs. “No sex.”

I can’t figure out who I’m trying to tell—Kait or myself.

“Shower, sleep. No sex,” she repeats while stepping out of her pants before kicking them aside. Lifting herself on her tiptoes, Kait tilts her head to press her lips against the underside of my jaw, her stiff nipples brushing against my T-shirt, nearly enough to drive me crazy. Letting herself drop back to the flats of her feet, she gives me a sweet smile. “Got it,” she says before skirting her way around me on her away to the bathroom.

Turning to watch her walk away, I know I’m doomed when she stops in the open doorway, just long enough to pull her panties down. Letting them drop to the floor, Kait steps out of them before disappearing into the bathroom.

Kaitlyn Barrett is going to be the goddamned death of me.

That’s the last thing I remember thinking before I follow after her.

NINE

KAITLYN

I wake up with a start,my entire body jerking against the warm, hard slab pressed against my back and the heavy weight anchoring me to it.

Went.

Like I said his name out loud, he tightens the arm he has hooked around my waist and buries his face in the back of my neck. “Time is it?” he mumbles, his mouth brushing against my nape with every word. Hearing him ask it reminds me of that first morning when I found him asleep on the couch at Northpoint in his underwear. Looking at him, all I could think about was how beautiful he is. How much I wanted to touch him. Trace every swoop and swirl of ink tattooed into his skin with my fingertips. Feel them move and shift beneath my hands.

“I don’t know.” It was close to sunrise before we finally tumbled into bed, naked and exhausted. Looking around the room for a clue, I come up empty. It could be noon or midnight for all I know.

The best part is, I don’t even care.

Well, you should, shouldn’t you? You left, Kaitlyn. You just left. Ditched your mother’s car on the side of the road and ran away without even saying goodbye.

It’s not Luke’s voice in my head, berating me for my selfishness. It’s my own.

They’ve read your letters by now. They know that you ran away. When your father finds out, he’s going to be furious. More than furious. He’ll come looking for you. Abbey knows who Went is. Where to look for him. Do you really think she’ll keep it to herself? It’s just a matter of time before your father hunts you down and when he comes, Went is going to decide you’re more trouble than you’re worth. He’s going to decide you’re not worth rescuing, and he’s going to send you away because he doesn’t love you.

“Hey...” Went’s arm tightens around my waist for a moment before he uses his grip to turn me toward him. Suddenly, we’re face to face, straight, dark brows lowered over his pitch-black gaze. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” I shake my head, trying to lend credence to the lie we both hear in my tone. “I just…” Shifting my gaze away from his, I stare at the swirls of ink stretched across his shoulder while my brain fumbles around for an answer. “I don’t have anything. I don’t have any clothes or?—”

“There’s a about a dozen boutiques in the lobby,” he tells me, still frowning because I’m lying. He knows I’m lying. “You can go down there and charge whatever you want to my account.”

“How?” It comes out high-pitched and panicked. “Neither one of us is even supposed to be here. If I charge things to your account, not only will people know you’re here, they’ll knowI’mhere with you and?—”

Pulling his hand off my hip, Went crooks his index finger and tucks it under my chin, lifting it until I have no choice but to look him in the eye. “I’ll figure it out.” Leaning into the space betweenus, he brushes his mouth against mine before pulling back with a smirk. “I’m smarter than I look.” When I don’t laugh at his joke, Went’s face falls into another frown. “Sunshine, I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s going on.”

Rescue me.

You mean rescue me.

“I left my birth control pills. At home.” It tumbles out before I have a chance to stop it. “If I’d known I was leaving, I would’ve brought them, but?—”

“Shit.” The arm anchored around my waist loosens a moment before he pulls away to sit up. Scrambling up after him, I kneel on the bed beside him, suddenly panicked for an entirely different reason.

“I take them every day. I took one yesterday morning, I promise,” I say, frantically trying to reassure him. “I’d never try to?—”

“Stop.” Turning toward me again, Went drops huge, heavy hands on my shoulders, using his grip to give me a short, gentle shake that snaps my mouth closed. “I already asked you to marry me, Sunshine. It’s a little late to try to trap me with a baby, don’t you think?” Even though I know he’s trying to make a joke, I can tell he doesn’t find it funny.

“You’re angry.” Something cold and slimy rolls over in my belly at the thought. “I’m?—”

“Don’t youfuckingdare apologize,” he growls at me, his hands tightening around my shoulders for a brief moment before he loosens his grip completely. “I’m not angry at you. I’m angry at myself for not…” Whatever he’s about to say gets swallowed. Instead of finishing his sentence, Went sighs. “You didn’t do anything to be sorry about. Fuck, you’ve been the only responsible person between the two of us…” His gaze drops away from mine to graze against my belly before he looks away from me completely. “I don’t make a habit out of having unprotectedsex, Sunshine.” Lifting his gaze again, he finds mine and holds it. “You’re the only woman I’ve ever been inside of without a condom. I should’ve been using them all along. That’s on me.” Went’s forehead crumples like it’s made of paper. “I’m the one who should be sorry. Iamsorry—I’m the one who fucked up. I’d never intentionally put you at risk?—”

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