Page 39 of Hopeless Kingdom
That false happiness.
The sharp stubble of his beard meets my fingertips as I hold his jaw in my palms. I force him to look up at me.
“Tell me what you feel.” I search his shining eyes.
A humming noise rumbles through his chest as he pretends to think about it. The strong feel of his hands on my hips sends a shiver through my body and I push my fingers through his soft hair.
“A steady spike of adrenaline.”
“And?”
The simple shake of his head hurts me like he’s slicing open my heart to steal what little love I possess.
“Nothing. It’s hard to explain, really. It takes a lot to push back the numbness. I find my mind wandering to that feeling a lot lately. It’s hard to tear away from it. At night it’s … suffocating.”
“Tell me what it takes.” My lips purse as I stare at him, trying to drown the grief that’s clawing up my throat.
His thumbs drift along my hip and several seconds pass without his reply. His attention slowly drifts to my lips and then to my eyes before coming back to my lips again.
The way he’s looking at me causes a thousand emotions to drill into me at once and I can’t tell if they’re my own or his.
He leans up, his head tilting toward mine hesitantly. The heat in his eyes mirrors my own wants and desires. My thighs clench around his hips just as his lips brush mine. The way his mouth skims mine sends a tingling feeling all through my body.
My breath catches and he pulls back too quickly. Soft hair presses to my temple as he leans into me, our warm breaths mingling.
“That. That wakes me up inside,” he whispers in a heavy breath.
It’s a statement that could destroy me from the inside out. My heart pounds so hard against my chest, it might break.
Daxdyn Riles is a man who causes nothing but heartbreak.
But it doesn’t stop me from slamming my mouth back against his.
A low growl falls from his lips as they open and his tongue slips against mine in a frantic feel of pleasure and pain and lust and desire and a mixture of emotions I can’t even begin to understand.
Cold fingers skim across my bare hips and up my abdomen. Without warning he pulls at the thin night gown, breaking our kiss just long enough to pull the material off. But it isn’t enough. I shove at his wrinkled shirt. Our lips part once more while he pulls the shirt over his head.
When the hard muscle of his chest skims over the peaks of my nipples, I moan into his mouth. At the same time, he shoves down on my hips until my wet center is against the hard bulge of his jeans.
“Fuck, Kara,” he says in a shaking breath.
His hips rock against mine as my eyes flutter closed with a building feeling swirling through me.
“Daxdyn,” I whisper.
“Fuck, say that again.”
His mouth nips at the soft skin at the base of my neck. I feel his fingers skim low across my stomach as he unsnaps his jeans.
“Daxdyn,” I repeat quietly and all the racing emotions in me tumble down into guilt that lies heavily at the pit of my stomach.
“Daxdyn,” I say one more time and the lust in my voice is entirely gone, replaced with hard realization. He stops, his head tipping toward mine. “I … ” My teeth roll over my lip as pain strikes through my chest. “I’m such a fuck up.”
I just asked Darrio if he loved me less than twelve hours ago and now I’m sitting naked in his brother’s lap.
Of course, he doesn’t love me. I make it impossible for anyone to love me.
“I’m sorry,” I say and my eyes sting as tears threaten to push down my cheeks.
