The sheet pooled at my waist, leaving my abdomen and chest naked except for my black lace bra. I held my breath as his rough hand caressed over my ribs then up toward the underside of my breast where his thumb stoked back and forth.
I arched. Wanting him to touch my breasts. God, I wanted his hands to touch me everywhere.
I never knew it could be like this. I’d always hated anyone touching me, because I feared my ability, but mostly because any touching was for Anton’s experiments. But this…this was nothing like that.
“Beautiful.” His voice was ragged and sexy as he whispered in my ear, his warm breath tickling my skin. “So, fuckin’ beautiful.” His hand slid back down my ribs to my abdomen and settled on my hip and squeezed. “Better. I like meat on you, babe. I like it a lot.” He lifted his head to look at me, eyes smoldering. “Something for me to grab.”
My heart leapt. I liked that he liked me with weight on. “Yeah?” I said.
He moved so his palms were flat on the bed on either side of me, and he held his weight above me.
I reached up to cup his cheek. The scowl was gone and there was gentleness in his expression. It was breathtaking. God, he was breathtaking with that hint of a smile playing at his mouth and the lightness in him.
“Going to kiss you again.”
Oh. “Okay.”
“Open your legs.”
I hesitated and he shifted to the side, his hand reaching between us and moving my right leg over. Then he settled between my legs. He quirked a grin and his elbows bent and he lowered.
His hard cock pressed into my thigh and I reached around him, palm on his back while my other slid down his bicep. “Kiss me, Kilter.”
He groaned before his mouth slammed into mine. It was raw and fierce, as if he was afraid this was the last time. It was us discovering one another. It was us finding what we’d missed for months. And it was us becoming something together.
I didn’t know what yet, and I could no longer think as our lips melded and heat burned. The strange sensations sifting through my body were uncontrollable and I couldn’t get enough of him.
When he drew back to look at me, I was breathing harsh and my lips tingled from his bruising kiss. “I don’t know who you are right now.”
“You do, baby. It’s just a different side,” he said. “An older one.”
What did he mean by that? “I like you the other way, too, you know.”
He chuckled and my heart leapt. Wow, I’d never heard him chuckle. It was deep and graveled, and there was a spark in his eyes as he did it. And I knew it was something precious and rare.
He shifted to the side of me as his finger traced my swollen, red lips, his eyes following the feathered touch. Then he moved down over my chin, my neck, between my breasts to my belly button.
I held my breath, closing my eyes. No man had ever touched me with such care. It had always been clinical. He slowly pushed the sheet out of the way and his fingers stopped at the edge of my panties.
My eyes opened. “Kilter?” I wasn’t ready for this. I mean, my body certainly was, but emotionally I wasn’t. “I don’t think I’m ready to have sex.”
His fingers stilled on the lace edge of my panties. “We aren’t going to.”
“We aren’t?”
“Babe, no. Fuck. I’m a bastard, but you were shot and I haven’t seen you in six months. So no, we’re not fucking.”
“Oh, okay.” I bit my lip and smiled. “But the shot thing doesn’t really count because I’m healed.”
“Mmm.” He traced the edge of my panties with the tip of his finger and I arched into the touch. Maybe I was ready. God, I liked him touching me. No, I loved his touch.
“Don’t know where your head is at yet, Rayne. Hours ago, you were willing to walk away. You did walk away.” I opened my mouth to tell him I was wrong, but he gently squeezed my thigh. “Let me say this, babe.” He didn’t wait for my agreement as he continued. “I came back because I shouldn’t have driven off in the first place. I get that you’re scared. I was fuckin’ scared today too when I nearly lost you.” He was? It was hard to imagine Kilter scared of anything. “You need time to sort your shit out. I’m here until you do.” His hand moved away from my panties to cup my chin. “But don’t think for a second this between us can end. Because it can’t.”
Leaning in to me, he briefly kissed me before rolling from the bed and grabbing the soup bowl off the nightstand. “I’ll make you a sandwich. Chicken and tomato good?”
I nodded, still a little shocked at what just happened.
“Mayo and mustard?”
I nodded again.
“Okay.” Then he walked out.
I flopped my arm over my eyes. “Holy shit.”
“WITH TONIGHT’S INCIDENT, WE have to act now.” I stood in the foyer with Keir and Anstice. Keir contacted me as soon as Kilter showed up with Rayne. “We need to know why a vampire went after Rayne. She has to tell us everything that went down in that compound.”
“Is she ready?” Anstice asked as she stroked the top of Finn’s massive black head. “She’s gone through a horrendous experience, and even though she’s gained weight and is stronger, we’re digging into her past.”
Delara had said the same thing in the dressing room two days ago. Anstice was a Healer and compassion was her forte. Not mine. I did everything in my power to protect the Scars, and if it meant using someone, I’d do it.