Page 47 of Blood Ties
He’s breathing hard, shiny with sweat. I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand and blink away the tears gathering in my eyes.
He pushes himself up on his elbows. “Are you... crying?”
“No, no. I’m fine.” I laugh, lower myself on the mattress beside him. He turns onto his side to look at me. “You’re just, um,big,to tell the truth.”
Guys normally love to hear that kind of thing, but he still looks worried. I smile, reach over to stroke my thumb over his cheek. “You didn’t hurt me,” I assure him. “I... liked it. I needed that.”
He leans into my touch, ventures a small smile. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” I whisper. My stomach in knots, because I’m terrified to realize that I mean it.
?Chapter Twenty-Four
Kai
Ishut the door tothe basement, and turn to see Knox leaning against the wall beside it, looking at me.
I flush guiltily. Resist the urge to adjust my pants or check for any sign of what I just did with Riley. “What?”
Judging from the way he smirks, my guilt is written all over my skin. But there’s no reason to feel guilty, I tell myself. It’s not like I’ve done anything wrong.
Aside from keeping a woman chained up in the fucking basement. I keep pushing that little detail aside.
“Look at you, kiddo,” he says, stepping closer. I square my shoulders, refusing to back away as he crowds my space. “I’m proud of you.”
He reaches up to pat my face. I brush his hand away, scowling, and his smirk only widens.
“Thought we agreed to share, though,” he says. “Can’t exactly do that if you’re down there every night.”
The wordsburnas they sink in. A heat that floods my chest and crawls up the back of my throat. I know it’s better not to react to Knox. Any sign of weakness and he’ll dig the knife in and twist. But I think of those bruises he left on her and—
“Stay away from her.”
The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them.
Knox’s eyes narrow. He’s still very close to me, nearly toe-to-toe. “That’s not what we agreed on.”
