Effortless (Thoughtless, #2)(30)

His expression deadly serious, he held my eye; I could feel mine stinging as my fears bubbled up to the surface. “I am not doing anything with anyone who is not you. Whatever she said was a lie, Kiera.” I lifted my chin, but I could feel the tear building, swelling until it rolled down my cheek. “She knew about the tattoo, Kellan.” He cupped my cheek, brushing the moisture off my skin. “Then she saw it somewhere else or someone told her about it, because I’m not fooling around with anyone.” Unbuckling his seatbelt and scooting closer to me, he rested his head against mine. “I’m only fooling around with you.

I’m only getting naked with you. I’m only having sex with you, Kiera.” Pulling back, he met my eye. “I chose you. I love you. I’m not interested in anyone else, okay?”





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I nodded, feeling more tears slide down my cheeks. I felt the truth in his words, words that were similar to the words of comfort and reassurance that I often gave to him. I hated that one conniving, jealous bitch had made me doubt him. If she hadn’t had such a good point I wouldn’t have, but Kellan had a long, sordid history of poor decisions when it came to women. I didn’t always feel special enough to stop that cycle of behavior.

He leaned in to tenderly kiss me and I felt myself relaxing as he poured his heart into his soft touch. Tasting the salt of my tears between us, I tried to let the doubt go. We’d gone through so much. I’d seen a side of him, a vulnerability, that I was positive no other girl had seen before. I was certain that I had his heart, and surely he wouldn’t risk losing his heart over some stupid ache his body might be feeling. Not when he could satisfy that ache with me. Not when I would take him into my bed every night, and the brand new bed that he’d just purchased for me the other day, too.

As our kiss picked up heat, our bodies inching closer as our breaths increased, I wanted to remind him what I could be to him, and I wanted him to remind me exactly what we had together—a bond that no eager fan could break. Knowing that I had a couple of hours before work, and an empty apartment, I dragged my lips up to his ear. “Show me that you want me, Kellan. Take me home.”

He had the car back in drive and flying down the road a microsecond later.





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5


Chapter


A Dream


It never failed to surprise me how quickly Kellan Kyle could turn my mood around. One minute I could be positive that I’d made a mistake and we would never work out, and the next I’d be languidly rising out of bed with him, a dopey, satisfied smile on my face and thoughts that everything in the world was right and good.

I felt that way now as I gave him one last peck before heading to my bathroom to get ready for work. Pulling out my curling iron, I made room for it on the small counter that my sister’s beauty products seemed to multiply on. I listened to Kellan humming in my bedroom. It was a comforting sound and my dopey smile widened in the mirror.

Shaking my head at my frazzled I-just-had-sex hair, I yanked a brush through my waves. Kellan just had a way about him. He could ruin everything, or he could make everything perfect. Candy was just trying to interfere with that because she was the jealousy harpy that I was trying not to be. I’d heard her brag to students about being with a rock star before. While I sometimes wished he wasn’t, she adored the fact that he was sort of famous around here. She wanted more of that fame. I was pretty sure she’d date him just to attach her name to him. It made me sick that some people were so obsessed with their fifteen minutes. For me, his fame only complicated things. It’d be so much simpler if no one knew who he was.

Finished with freshening up my makeup and taming my locks into a functional-but-cute ponytail, I headed back to my room. Kellan had made himself comfortable on the Queen-sized mattress that took up most of my tiny bedroom. Propped up on my pillows, he was happily rubbing his sock-covered feet together. Once again fully dressed, he was reading one of my romance novels with a small, amused grin on his face.





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Glancing at the cover, which featured some bronze, buff man holding a scantily clad woman to his bare chest, I shook my head at Kellan.

“What are you doing?”

Not looking up at me, his smile widened. “I’m reading your porn.” Smacking his foot as I walked by, I scoffed, “That’s not porn…it’s romance.”

Snorting, Kellan looked up at me. “Really?” Glancing down at the book, he started reading a passage from it. “She gasped in his mouth when his erection slid against her. He groaned when her desire coated him. They were both so ready to be together, guilt and remorse free…finally. Her legs wrapped around him as her hips rocked him into place. As he felt the tip of himself press against her entrance, he heard her groan, ‘I want you buried in me, I want to be consumed by you.’"

I flushed red all over, remembering the part that he was reading. It was a pretty hot scene, and usually did turn me on a bit. And the way he read it was so sensual… Embarrassed that he was sort of right, I snatched the book away from him, tucking it into a dresser drawer. I was pretty certain the next time I read it I would hear Kellan’s sultry voice in my head. It made me ache just thinking about it.

Kellan gave me a sly smile. “See…porn.” He leaned forward. “And hot porn too.” He pointed to where I’d tucked the book away. “I wouldn’t mind trying that thing on page—”