Page 36 of Blood Ties
“I’m sorry,” he says. His voice is ragged with want, his cheeks flushed. I’m surprised to see him so affected by something as simple as a kiss. “You don’t have to do this.”
“I want to,” I whisper. I lean in again, chasing his lips and that rush of power I felt for a moment, but he holds me at arm’s length. “Kai...”
He shakes his head, releases me and pulls back. Color flares hotter across his face as he adjusts his pants. “I can’t do this.” He stands and heads for the door.
Desperation surges in my chest at the thought of him leaving me here alone in the dark. “Kai!”
He pauses with one foot on the stairs, but doesn’t turn.
“Please don’t go,” I beg. “Please. I don’t want to be alone down here.”
He pauses. I can’t read anything in the tense set of his shoulders.
I sink down on the mattress, my own shoulders slumping. “Please,” I whisper again, surprised by how much I mean it. “We don’t have to do anything, I just... please stay with me.”
?Chapter Eighteen
Kai
Iturn slowly to faceher. Riley is on her knees on the mattress, tears staining her cheeks, her blue eyes glimmering in the dim lighting of the single bulb. One look at her and I know I can’t possibly walk away. Still, uncertainty churns in my gut as I cross the room.
Being around her scares me sometimes. Because it feels wrong to touch her when she’s chained up without a choice, but — God, I want to. She’s crying right now and I’m so hard it hurts; maybe I am a monster like the rest of my family.
But I can’t leave her. So after a moment’s hesitation, I tug on the string to shut off the light, and sit on the edge of the mattress. It’s awkward; I’m too big. I try to make myself as small as possible and press my back against the wall.
Riley curls up on her side, clutching the blanket, her shoulders racked by shivers.
But not just shivers. After a few minutes of sitting there, I hear her quiet sobbing in the darkness. A pang goes through my chest. At least my shameful boner is finally receding.
I lower myself onto the mattress beside her, a barrier between her and the hard wall. She leans into me without hesitation, and I loop an arm around her waist and hold her, her back flush against my chest. Her body is so warm, and so small, against mine.
She doesn’t say anything, and neither do I. But after a few minutes, her soft sobs recede, and her breathing eases. She falls asleep in my arms. I stay awake for a long time, holding her, queasy with the knowledge of how much I’m starting to care for her, and how very dangerous that is.
*
WHEN I WAKE AGAIN,I’m warmer and more comfortable than I can remember being in a long time... except for the throbbing erection tenting my pants. I try to shift away before Riley wakes and notices, but my arm is trapped beneath her. When I move, she murmurs in her sleep and presses back against me. I bite my lip to hold back a groan.Fuck, I’m so hard, and the soft warmth of her ass rubbing against me is nearly enough to destroy my resolve not to touch her.
