Where the Snow Falls (Seasons of Betrayal #2)(9)

“I’ll do what I have to.”

“Kaz—”

“I love you, Violet. Don’t ever forget that. I’m sorry you had to see what happened with Tony, and I’ll probably be apologizing for many things in the near future, but when you took my hand tonight, you made your choice. And when I took his life, I made mine.”

She was quiet for so long that he was afraid of what she would say next …

“Is there a bed on this thing?”

Kaz glanced back at the door he already knew was there. “Yeah. What of it?”

“Let’s go to bed, Kaz—at least for a few hours.”

As she led the way, he knew he would follow her anywhere.





Kaz’s body, as his kiss had been, was still so familiar to Violet. Despite the short time they had spent together before their small, private world was ripped to hell, it didn’t make Kaz feel in any way unknown to her. Not to her hands, her kiss, or her eyes.

All of his sharp lines and hard ridges had imprinted their way onto her memories and refused to let go. She had often dreamed of him when he was gone, waking up from dreams just before she had gotten what she needed from it.

She always woke up cold.

God.

So f*cking cold.

But right then, as Kaz pulled the clothes from her body without so much as a word while lust burned brightly in his gaze, she burned red hot. All of the times they had f*cked before flooded her memories, and one thing stood out above the others.

Kaz had never shed his own clothes before he had taken his fill of her with either his fingers, his mouth, or both and couldn’t hold himself back any longer from taking the rest of her.

This time, he’d started yanking his clothes off the second he had the cabin door shut to the private bedroom at the back of the plane until he was naked and reaching for her, demanding the same in that silent, harsh way of his.

She still loved it.

Loved how he pulled on her shirt a little too roughly, making the fabric bite against her skin as he yanked it over her head. Loved that he tugged her jeans down to her ankles and shoved her to the edge of the bed to sit so he could pull them the rest of the way off.

Kaz stood back from her, straightening to his full height as he watched her silently.

Clenched fists.

Tight jaw.

Steel gray eyes on only her.

It unsettled her. How he watched her like he did, a mixture of adoration and want churning behind his gaze; it put her on edge.

And she didn’t even know why.

Any flaws she had, he’d already seen. Any imperfections to be found already were. He knew exactly what he was looking at, yet it was like he was drinking her in all over again.

For the first time, even.

Except it wasn’t.

Violet took the moment he gave her to reach out and run the tips of her fingers down the railroad path of his abdominal muscles, letting her hand slow to a stop just above the spot where she really wanted to feel.

He was hard under the only piece of clothing he still wore—his boxer-briefs.

Hard, hot, and aching, she knew.

Like she was.

She traveled the expanse of his body with her gaze, over his intricate tattoos and down to where her fingers hooked around the waistline of his boxer-briefs. Something caught her eye on his side—something new.

Slightly raised and pink, the scar couldn’t have been very old.

Violet reached out to touch the mark, only to have her fingers caught by Kaz. She cut her gaze to his instantly, questioning without ever saying a word.

“Caught the wrong end of a shank,” Kaz explained quietly.

Her heart stopped as her chest clenched painfully. Kaz seemed to notice her silent reaction and caught the side of her face with his other hand. He tipped her chin upward, making her look away from the scar again and focus on him.

“It’s fine, Violet.”

“It isn’t fine. It’s—”

Kaz’s hand slid from her cheek to her chin, where he pressed the pad of his thumb against her lips, quieting her instantly. Violet sucked in a harsh breath when he tipped her head up again, and his palm grazed lower on her throat until his fingers tightened just enough to make her blood run hot.

“It’s fine,” he repeated. “I’m perfectly fine.”

Swallowing under his hold, she nodded. “We’re revisiting this, Kaz.”

“Not right now.”

“No, but later.”

“Later,” Kaz agreed.

“It’s been a while,” she whispered.

Kaz smirked. “Worried?”

“About what?”

“I don’t know—stamina, no?”

Violet laughed. “No.”

“Then what?”

“I don’t need soft.”

Kaz lifted a brow. “Oh?”

“And I really don’t want easy.”

“Ah,” he said, stretching the word out in what felt like approval and anticipation to her.

Then again, everything he did felt like that in one way or another. It shouldn’t be surprising to her, but it was just the same.

“Just wanted to make that clear,” Violet said, grinning up at him.

Kaz matched the expression. “I said I loved you, yes?”

“Yeah, but one more time isn’t going to hurt.”