Page 81 of Kane's Awakening
“No shit. Lesson learned.” He lifted his head and rubbed at his eyes. “Fuck. If I acted like that with fake guns, how in the fuck am I ever going to hold a real one again? Maybe the department should never give me my gun and badge back, and I should just fucking quit and work somewhere else. If I ever froze like that on the job, it would kill someone. Maybe kill me. Or some innocent mother fucker who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
My heart broke for him.
“Hey, don’t think like that.” I lay my hand over his, moving my thumb in circles on his skin. “Not everyone can recover from an incident like that and go on living life like nothing is wrong, Kane. Sometimes we need help and time to heal.”
He studied me a moment before exhaling heavily and running a hand through the top of his hair. “Can we leave?”
I nodded and slid out of the booth, sticking out a hand to him. “Come on.”
He slipped his hand into mine, and his grip tightened as he stood and walked with me outside. Certain he was in no mood to drive, I asked him for the keys. He didn’t argue and retrieved them from his pocket before getting into the passenger’s seat.
Kane rested his head on the window as I drove. His eyes stayed open, though, and I feared he was becoming lost in his head again.
There was no way I was leaving him alone that night.
When we arrived at my place, I parked, but kept the truck running, and turned to him. “Give me just a few minutes.”
“I can drive myself home, Ryker,” he said with a huff. “You don’t have to stay with me. I’m not a damn child, and I don’t need a fucking babysitter.”
His tone was biting, but his eyes told a different story.
“I’m not leaving you, Kane, so cut the tough guy shit and deal with it.”
Without waiting for an answer, I got out and shut the door before jogging up my porch and going inside the house. After finding my overnight bag, I shoved my toothbrush, deodorant, and some other necessities inside before zipping it closed. I grabbed one of my work suits from the closet—keeping it on the hanger—and then walked back outside, locking the door behind me.
Kane was in the same spot I’d left him, but he had a sly grin in place.
“What?” I asked, sliding into the driver’s seat and setting my things in the back.
“You’re just kinda amazing,” he answered before reaching and taking my hand.
And he didn’t let go for the rest of the ride to his house.
***
Waking up next to Kane was incredible. We’d spent the night together many times, but every time I opened my eyes and saw him lying beside me—his hair messy from sleep and his big body entwined with mine—I fell a little more under his spell. Fell a bit more in love with him.
Love was way too soon. I knew that. And yet, the way my heart sang when he was with me and how it ached in his absence told me otherwise.
I hardly knew anything about his past, but that didn’t seem to matter. I knew his likes and dislikes, how he preferred his coffee, and how he loved being kissed right beneath his ear. I’d memorized the sound of his moans and the actions that drew them from him.
When I fell, I fell hard, and time was of no consequence. Being relationship oriented and such a romantic at heart probably didn’t help either.
However, I wouldn’t tell Kane. Not yet. Not when he was just now opening up to me.
The smell of him surrounded me, and I leaned down to press a kiss on his bare shoulder. He gave a sleepy sigh and pushed his back into my chest, cuddling closer. His warmth seeped into me, and I stayed pressed against him for a while, breathing him in and taking advantage of the early morning that allowed for extra time with him.
Soon, we’d have to start the work day, but for that moment, it was just us and nothing else.
I kissed his shoulder again before trailing more kisses down his back.
He felt great in my arms. I preferred it whenIwas wrapped inhisarms, but there was something endearing about holding him, as if a protective side of me I didn’t know I had surfaced around him.
“Morning,” he croaked in a sleepy voice, looking at me over his shoulder. “I’m saying that to youandyour dick. He’s poking my ass.”
I laughed against his skin and nuzzled my nose up his back and to his nape, nibbling the sensitive skin beneath his ear. Right where he liked it.
He moaned and pushed more into me.
