Page 123 of Fragile Facade
“He wants to know you aren’t going to kill each other with your love. He’s worried about you,” Psych says. “Especially if you consider how your relationship started. You chased death, didn’t you? You’re… harsh together.”
I glance at Killian to find him already looking at me. Because yeah, we did chase death. More accurately, I did, and he helped me get there. But as much as it pains me to admit, he gave me a gift I’ll never forget. Killian granted me that one-or-two-second precipice between life and death, and when I was there, staring Death straight in her evil eyes, he didn’t pull me back. He let me do that on my own, and that’s all I’ve ever craved.
Looking at Killian, I say, “I’m not chasing death anymore.”
“Because he ended the Sauder curse by murdering your cousin?” Director asks.
My fists clench, not liking that he gets all the credit for that. Killian grins, but he keeps watching me. “Because I’m chasing him instead.”
The moment is charged with a million ways Killian can turn this on me, but he doesn’t. He leans forward, embarrassing me more by pressing his lips to mine with an audience, and asks, “Still a yes, sweetheart?”
I think it’ll always be a yes. Because I live by the ‘just in case’ mentality now. He trained me to, but I’ll never admit it. I kiss him because I own him. My kiss is my version of yes.
Director is smiling when I look at him, my cheeks red because this is so awkward. “There. Was that so hard?”
We both look at him, confused.
“That’s your love. Volatile. Vulnerable. And trust me, I don’t want you to be like everyone else. This is your thing, your way of acting on it and feeling it, so don’t let anyone tell you it’s wrong.” He leans forward. “As long as you’re both still Vile Boys.”
Well, if I’ve learned anything about possession, it’s that I feel it strongly. Killian might be mine, but Vile House has been mine longer. I grin at Director, all warped and sick, and he smirks back. “Fucking try and take my mask from me, I dare you.”
Director’s grin widens, enjoying my twisted mind. He looks at Killian next. “Riot?”
“Only mask I need, Director. You ain’t getting it back.”
Turning his smirk into a proud smile, he stands. “That’s all I needed to know. And boys?” He looks at us as he starts to leave. “I’m proud of you.”
* * *
Volatile and vulnerable.I feel both inside me. The turbulence of feeling so offended by the town turning on me is soothed only by how good it feels to be vulnerable for Killian.
“Don’t hide from me,” Killian says, busted knuckles under my jaw to lift my eyes to his. “Don’t fucking hide from me. I can’t take it right now.”
Because something big is coming, putting all our lives at risk, and for the first time, the risk is hitting me differently than it normally does. I don’t want to lose this, whatever it is. I don’t want to be taken from him or have him taken from me. I don’t want this budding relationship to be stomped on by Reaper Corp and whatever they have planned as retaliation.
For right now, I want to hide away with Killian in my room at Vile House. I want to forget that the town lost their trust in me, that my mom is in a patient room at the asylum, and that Moros is in danger.
I look into his grey eyes and see the storms I build within them. Admiring the way I turn him into something he never thought he could be—maskless. I did that. I brought him this comfort level. I stripped him bare and made him expose himself to me.
His other hand slides down my spine, tilting my body as I rock on his cock. I’m mixed up somewhere between slow-building pleasure and a fear I won’t admit to. Because his eyes are as vulnerable as I feel, and I’m picturing them swollen shut, his mouth missing teeth, and his body burned and bloody in that torture chamber in Reaper City.
I’m afraid. Of something ripping him away from me. And maybe he is, too. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t want me to hide from him.
Staring straight into his eyes, grey on blue, I lift onto my knees and feel my lips part at the drag of his cock. I moan when I slide back down, Killian’s fingers digging into my hips. It’s all so slow and intimate, and I’ve never had sex like this before. It’s as hot as that night we fucked over Brady’s body, and it’s hotter than the night we fucked with masks on. He’s fucking my ass, but I’m on top, and whatever skewed logic our brains work on lets this be a level playing field. He’s not dominating me and I’m not dominating him. No one is inferior because we’re both superior when we work together.
I press my forehead to his, riding him as his hands hold onto me tighter than anyone or anything ever has. Tilting my hips is the only way he attempts to control me, and a part of me craves more. I want him to take control so I don’t have to think so hard or put forth any effort.
“I got you, sweetheart.” He smirks against my lips, kissing me swiftly before he flips me onto my back and settles between my legs.
I sink into the bed and wrap my calves around his hips, digging my heels into his ass. I run my hands down the marred flesh of his back burns, panting through each thrust and swivel of his hips.
“You know,” he starts, voice authoritative yet more playful than usual, “there’s something I’ve been wanting to try.”
“Finally gonna let me fuck your ass?” I tease.
He grins, eyes glinting. “You haven’t earned that yet.” He pulls out and kisses me at the same time. My fingers end up in his hair and then move down with his head as he kisses my jaw where the carved words heal, my neck where he’s choked me so many times, and my chest where my heart beats out of tune for him.
“What have I earned?” I look down at him, so sexy and dark as he looks up at me. Fucking hell, he’s sinister and hot, and I like not knowing what he’s going to do at any given moment. Killian doesn’t need masks because he only needs to wear the Riot mask with me. “Wasn’t there a time when you jerked off with my blood on your cock? Hmm? Didn’t you say you were gonna coat yourself in my blood?”
