Page 26 of Explode
“Kai,” she whispered, her cheeks soaked with tears. Her hands foundmy face and she cupped my cheeks, running her hands all over my beard as if not believing I was there.
And then her mouth was on mine.
Kissing her for the first time in six months was like coming up for airafter years of being held underwater, powerless to do anything but drown in the darkness. Riley was my everything, she was the reason my heart refused to give up, and now she was back where she was meant to be, I was never going to let her go.
I wrapped my arms around her, holding her tight against my chest,and spun us around before slamming her against the stack of boxes which swayed unsteadily. Riley kissed me as if she had been just as starved of oxygen as I was. Her hands stroked over my cheeks and my jaw, but it wasn’t enough, I wanted her hands all over me. Ineededher to touch every inch of my skin like I planned to do to her.
Needing a minute to get my breath, I pulled my mouth away fromhers, and as I did, a pained sob left her throat, hitting me in the very core of my heart.
“I thought you were dead,” she whispered against my lips, hertears soaking both our faces.
“You should have known I’d never leave you, Star. I told you, it’s youand me for eternity.” I slammed my mouth down on hers again, craving another taste.
For the first time in six long months, my cock stirred, and I wasdesperate to bury myself in my wife. And with the way she was grinding against me, I would have said she felt the same way.
“Baby, I’ve missed you so fucking much,” I moaned against her lipsas my cock strained painfully against my zipper. It didn’t fucking matter that Alex Barnes’ unconscious body was laying mere feet away. It didn’t matter that the sound of gunfight was dying down above us. It didn’t matter that there were so many unspoken questions she had. I needed her now, everything else would have to wait. “Six months has felt like a fucking lifetime, Star. I’ve thought about you every damn day we’ve been apart, resisting the need to come back to you.”
But like a bucket of ice had been poured over me, Riley froze in myarms, before tearing her mouth away, her eyes hardening.
“Put me down,” she mumbled before dropping her legs and becominga dead weight in my arms. I had no choice but to let her go, and as soon as her feet hit the floor, she twisted out of my grasp, her eyes now filled with something far from lust.
Hate.
Taking two steps away from me, her face contorted into a sneer. “Youwere dead,” she hissed, her voice full of choked emotion. “You died. How the hell can you be standing there?”
My wife stared back at me with such despair in her eyes, that myheart broke for her. I raised my hands to placate the little ball of fury that was growing bigger the longer she stared at me.
I knew at some point the anger would hit her, and I couldn’t say Iblamed her. When I found out Miles told her I had died, I was fucking apoplectic with rage, to the point I had to be sedated for another week. When the doctors brought me around again, I was ready to fly out of my hospital bed so I could find my girl, but Miles begged me to hear him out.
That’s when things changed.
“Baby, there’s so much to talk about, and we will, but right now, I justwant to fucking hold you.” I reached for her, but my little firecracker slapped my hand away. A spike of anger swept through me, and I had to remind myself that every day for the last six months, she believed I was dead. Of course it was going to take her some time to come to terms with it all being a lie, even if it was for her own good.
“Do not fucking touch me. How fucking dare you,” she bellowed, hervoice wavering as more tears slid down her cheeks. “Do you have any idea what I’ve been through, Kai? Any fucking clue how much pain I’ve been in every single minute of every single day thinking you were dead?”
“Star, it’s not been easy for me either,” I growled, beginning to losemy temper in frustration at not having her close to me. “Do you think I’ve enjoyed being away from you for this time? Do you think I haven’t worried about you every goddamn minute, knowing how much you would be suffering? Wishing every night that I could hold you in my arms? I’ve suffered too, Star.”
I knew I sounded like a selfish prick, and I knew it was the wrongthing to say, but I wasn’t thinking straight. Now that I had her firmly back in my sights, the only thing I could think of was my next fix of my wife.
I was a fucking addict for her.
I should have predicted her fist coming towards me. It wasn’t likeI didn’t deserve it. It was a credit to how far she had come from the time she’d slapped me all those months ago when she first found out I had taken Angel. Instead of a slap now though, Riley punched me in the jaw, hard enough for my head to whip to one side, and hard enough for me to know there would be a bruise tomorrow.
Miles had taught her well, and despite the fact I was at the receivingend of her wrath, I couldn’t help but be proud of my Star.
“Fuck you, Kai,” she roared, her eyes wild with rage. “Don’t you dareplay the innocent victim here.”
She launched herself at me again, but much like before, I would onlyever give her one free shot. I grabbed her wrists, spun her around so her back was to my chest, and held her hands in front of her.
But Miles had taught her a little too well, or maybe I hadunderestimated my wife. Either way, I didn’t anticipate her foot coming up to kick my knee backward, making my leg buckle. Or the elbow to my gut, catching me in the scar from where I had my spleen removed thanks to one of Hendrix’s bullets. And I didn’t anticipate the shove once she had broken free from my grasp, making me stumble back a step.
“I told you not to fucking touch me,” she snarled.
“Fuck, Riley,” I hissed, rubbing the dull ache in my side. I was mostlyhealed, but if I overdid it in training, or I received an unexpected jab to the side, the old wound would kindly remind me that I wasn’t quite recovered.
Her eyes dropped to where my hand moved over my scar, and a briefflash of worry crossed her face, but it was gone in an instant.
Before either of us could speak again, the door leading from the barto the cellar crashed open, and heavy footsteps pounded down the wooden stairs.
