Page 53 of King of Ruin

It’s hard to ignore what he said. The confession of sorts that I mean something to him. It makes me feel sane. Like this constant tug of war in my heart and brain isn’t exclusive to only me.

When my words come out, they’re broken and strained. “Why wouldn’t they do the same to you? Kill you and take over?”

His annoyingly smug grin tells me he didn’t hear anything I’ve said and instead is focusing on the very real show of emotions I let slip.

I take a step back, holding a hand lazily in front of me. “I am not a weak woman. I will not succumb to pretty words and an equally pretty face. Focus on what I’m asking, Kane.”

His head tics to the side, his dark brows furrowing. “How does knowing how I feel about you make you weak?” He steps forward and I take another step back. “Or is it because you feel something for me?”

“My cunt feels something for you,” I snap, not liking the direction the conversation is going.

“Because she’s already admitted she belongs to me.”

“I belong to no–”

“Yes, I know what you think.” He waves me off. “But why do you have this misconception that caring for me makes you any less of the insanely strong woman you are?”

My lip finds its way between my teeth. My mother loved my father with the power of the sun, and it was true, never once did I consider her weaker for it. She commanded an army of men, including Dad, and she never backed down from a heated discussion.

But it was also the love they shared that made them weaker as a unit.

“Why did you bring me the cat?”

Kane stops his advance. “I didn’t want you to be lonely up here.”

This makes a bubble of laughter escape my mouth. “Who’s the liar now?”

“It’s true,” he protests, and the hint of a blush coasts over the bridge of his nose giving me pause. “And when you told me the story about her, I kind of felt like she could symbolize hope.”

“Hope?”

He nods. “Maybe the idea that things between us could go back to then. To when you trusted me. To when you were standing on the edge of falling off the deep end.”

“What?” My heart squeezes in my chest. “I don’t love you, Kane.”

“No, but look at me and tell me what we had wasn’t something skirting the line. Something so close, we would have fallen in so deep there was no way either of us would have gotten out.”

I close my eyes against the ache, shuffling backward until my back hits the wall. “I didn’t–don’tfeel anything for you.”

“Look at me when you lie to me, Onyx.”

My lids snap open, but my voice displays how unsure I am of anything. “We were using each other. I was a job, and you were only there to make me come. Nothing more.”

“Bullshit,” he bites, eliminating the space between us. The heat from his body envelopes mine, relaxing every tight muscle. “You would have killed me the second you started to have doubts about me, but you didn’t. And I know for a fucking fact, it’s not just because of this.”

He cups my pussy under the towel and I nearly buckle from the sudden contact. My nerves are already tingling, the tension and confessions poisoning my blood with desperate want.

When Kane withdraws his hand, I bite into my lip to keep from groaning my objection. “Yes, it was.”

“Well, it wasn’t for me,” he breathes, his nose brushing against my cheek. There’s a desperation to his voice singing to my inherent desire to experience what he’s talking about. The very thing I’ve rejected time and time again, too scared to grab in fear of having it ripped away.

I try to steady my voice, to make it sound convincing, but for the first time, I hope he can hear the lie marring my words. “Kane, when this is over, there is no us. You will be the leader of a family I’m at war with. You will be nothing more than competition.”

“Then if I can’t change your mind, let me have you until it’s done. Until Phineas and Sam are dead and all that’s left is the original line which separated our sides.” He pulls back and sears me with a hooded gaze. One of trepidation and anger. Of hunger. “Be mine.”

A gaggle of goosebumps spread across my exposed flesh. I want to give in. I want to allow him to reign over everything until I can no longer think, obsess, or debate on what’s right and what’s wrong.

To lose myself in the euphoria and bliss Kane has always taken me to when we’re together, tangled in each other and using the other’s air as our own.

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