Page 55 of Ours

Wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand, she sniffled before giving her reflection another once over. Since Kade’s death, her alter had softened somewhat. Perhaps because she knew how fragile she had become. It was probably self-preservation on Nikki’s part, but she was grateful, nonetheless. Her world would be a hell of a lot lonelier without the bitch in her head.

Letting out a sigh, she moved to leave the bathroom. Crossing the threshold into the modern bedroom, she halted her steps as she heard a knock on her door. Instantly feeling the gnawing pain of hunger growing in her stomach, she raced towards the door. She would feel better after having her dinner of spaghetti and meatballs.

Not bothering to look through the peephole, she reached for the handle. Opening the wooden door without a second thought, she froze in place as her eyes registered the handsome man beforeher. Dropping her mouth open in shock, she shook her head in disbelief.No,she thought to herself. He couldn’t be there.There was no way.What kind of horrible trick was Nikki playing on her?

“Kade?” she whispered, terrified that he would disappear at any moment.

Giving the love of his life a warm grin, Kade reached to cup the side of her surprised face. Nodding an answer, he leaned in close to drink in her beauty.Oh,how he had missed her. Now that he had her again, nothing would come between them. He would keep his word this time.

“Did you miss me, Sweetheart?”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Dazed and confused, Lexi stammered in disbelief. Raking her gaze across his handsome face, her mind spun as she tried to make sense of the situation. She didn’t understand how he was there. Was she going insane? She must be. There was no other explanation.

“Kade?” she asked. “But...but...you’re dead...how...how? I’m going crazy. I...I... this isn’t real!”

Leaning in close, Kade met her wide eyes. Getting lost in the surreal moment; he brushed his lips against hers in a chaste kiss. He had practiced this moment for days, knowing he needed to ease her into the fact that Bloodbayne had failed to assassinate him. However, now that he was face to face with her, all of plans were thrown by the wayside.

“It’s real, Sweetheart. I promise that this is real,” he said, unable to stop himself from kissing her again.

Circling his arms around her, he pulled her flush against his body. Lifting her from the floor, he stepped into the hotel room. Moving to allow the door to shut behind them, he memorized the weight of her in his arms. It had been too long since he had felt her, and even longer since he had tasted her. He needed to make up for lost time.

Wrapping her legs around his waist, she softened into his needy embrace. Returning his hungry kiss, she lifted her hands to play with his dark locks. Twisting her fingers into his hair, she eagerly slid her tongue across his. Within the span of a handful of heartbeats, a myriad of emotions bubbled to the surface, causing a heady desperation to take over. She wanted to soak up as much of him as she could before the hallucination broke.

Moaning against her parted lips, he matched her passion measure for measure. Nipping her with his sharp teeth, he held her tightly against him. Losing all sense of time, he allowed himself the physical pleasure he had long been denied.

Teasing him with her tongue, she whimpered as her head began to spin. Afraid that he would disappear at any moment, she reluctantly pulled away from his sinful mouth. Opening her eyes, she stared at him in complete awe. Fully expecting him to vaporize before her, she was shocked to realize that this wasn’t a dream or a hallucination.

“How...how are you here? They...they told me you were dead!” she said breathlessly.

Taking in much needed air, he gave her a small grin. Studying her beautiful face, he reminded himself to make everything as easy for her to digest as possible.

“I would be dead if Cyris wasn’t such a lousy shot,” he began, his mind trying to replay the fateful event. “Honestly, I don’t remember much, Lexi. I remember Toku and Jinx holding me back. I remember trying to fight them off. I remember Cyris pointing his gun at me and then...then it goes black. When I came to, Lilly was hovering over me, trying to stop the bleeding. She and Justin must’ve gotten there right after everything had happened. I guess I was lucky that she’s a nurse, huh?”

Scrunching her fine features in thought, she tried to piece his broken story with the one Cyris had hammered into her head. They didn’t match, she didn’t know why she was surprised.

“He told me he shot you in the head and in the heart. That you were dead before you even hit the ground!”

“I’m sure he thought that. I don’t know why he didn’t bother to check to see if he had actually killed me. All I can say is he’s a fucking incompetent moron. They all are. The bullet grazed the side of my temple. It only took a few stitches to fix,” he said, trying to downplay the severity.

Noticing a pronounced, red line on his right temple, Lexi moved her hand to trace it with her fingertips. Now he had scars on either side of his handsome face. She couldn’t help but feel guilty. They were both there ultimately because of her.

“What about your chest?” she asked, the look of worry painting her face.

Letting out a sigh, he softened his features. He hated seeing her getting so upset. Things had worked out. There was no reason for her to know all the gory details concerning the infection that followed his third surgery.

“He missed my heart, Lexi. I’m fine now! That’s all you need to know, ok?” he said, his voice deep and warm.

Nodding slightly, she furrowed her brow. She understood that he didn’t want her to worry, but she couldn’t stop herself from pressing on. There were too many unanswered questions swirling around in her head.

“But what about the police? Why didn’t they get involved? And how the hell did none of this get back to Bloodbayne?” she asked.

Adjusting her weight in his arms, Kade gave a tiny shrug of his shoulders. “I told Lilly and Justin that you and Loey were in danger, and that if they told the cops then you two would be killed. They didn’t like it, but they agreed not to say anything. They took me to the hospital and gave the doctors a fake name. Told them they didn’t know much, just that I was their new neighbor. When I was finally able to speak to the cops, I pretended like I didn’t remember anything. They really didn’t give a shit, gotta love small town police, right? They just wrote it off as a home invasion gone wrong...and that was it. I recovered and now I’m here.”

Taking in everything, Lexi’s eyes welled with tears. She was so thankful that Cyris was an inept moron. It was no wonder why Bloodbayne was having so many issues keeping his Organization in check. Without Kade, the Skulls were nothing but a group of bumbling imbeciles.

Wanting to comfort her, he quickly walked towards the queen-sized bed. Gently setting her down on the edge of the mattress, he kneeled onto the floor next to her. Raising his hand, he wiped the tears from her reddened cheeks. He knew it was a lot for her to process.

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