Perfect Ruin (Unyielding #2)(14)

And I loved my loft. It was close to school in a small, six-story, quaint building with security guards, and was quiet so I could study.

Not wanting to go back to sleep and slip into another Kai dream, I slid my legs over the side of the bed to get up and that was when it hit me. His cologne. The scent I’d never forget. Never. It lived inside me, whether I wanted it to or not. Now that it was connected to Kai, it made it that much more powerful.

And it lingered in the air.

I quickly flicked on the bedside light then stood, letting the sheet drop. I wore my usual boxer shorts and a spaghetti-strap pink nightshirt, but suddenly I felt… exposed.

Numerous emotions flooded me all at once. Fear took the lead, but a close second was the fact that my body was hyperaware of him. After three nights of dreaming about him, thinking about him, the heightened awareness amplified.

I stepped off the platform my bed was perched on and the hardwood creaked beneath my bare feet. The sound echoed in the silence and I shivered as my eyes scanned my loft.

Had he been here and left? But how could he get into my place?

I listened for movement, while my gaze searched the shadows. My pulse throbbed beneath the thin layers of skin on my wrists and throat as I waited for the moment I saw him.

But there was no sign of him and the only sound was the streetcar squealing on the tracks outside my open window.

I walked into the kitchen, my heart finally settling back to a quiet rhythm. I reached into the cupboard and took out a glass then set it on the counter. Maybe the stress was making me imagine things. I was on the sixth floor, and we had security. There was no chance he could get into my loft without me knowing.

I laughed to myself as I opened the fridge and the blaring light flickered once before it turned on. I leaned over and shuffled containers around until I found the orange juice. I pulled it out, stepped back and went to close the fridge with my foot when hands settled on my hips.

I screamed, the juice carton slipping from my grasp and landing on the floor. The orange liquid splattered the stainless steel fridge and pooled at my feet.

My pulse raced and nerves sparked. His scent was magnified a hundred times stronger as he stood directly behind me, his breath a warm caress against the back of my neck. Goose bumps were having a field party.

“Kai.”

“Mmm,” he murmured next to my ear. “Were you expecting someone else?”

The fridge suctioned closed and with it, the light it offered. “No.”

“Good to hear.” His grip tightened on my hips and my breath hitched when one of his fingers slipped beneath the elastic of my boxers and made contact with my skin.

Holy shit. I stopped breathing. Why did I feel something? No, it wasn’t just something. It was my body reacting to his touch, liking his touch.

I swallowed. “My father? You’ll give him the time he needs?”

“Yes.”

“And you won’t hurt him even after he hands over whatever he is working on for you.”

“He won’t be harmed.”

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” Because the reality was, Kai could tell me anything he wanted and it could all be a lie.

“I told you, I’d never lie. At least not to you.” His finger stroked back and forth over the tiny inch of skin that was exposed to his touch.

“I think you’d say whatever you needed to in order to get what you wanted.”

His chest vibrated against my back as he chuckled and the sound trickled through me like a heated waterfall. “True. But with you… just the truth.” His voice lowered. “Unfortunately, you won’t always like what you hear, braveheart.”

I tensed, heated waterfall gone. “And why am I the lucky one to be honored by your honesty? You don’t know me.” But maybe he did? I had no idea how much Kai knew about me, and he’d saved my life. He’d been at the house that night. He’d somehow made it to the second floor of a burning house and carried me out. No matter how dangerous he was, this man risked his own life to save mine. And it made me feel… secure in his arms. It made me feel protected.

It was such a contradiction. He was a contradiction.

He pushed me forward so my palms lay flat on the cool, smooth surface of the humming fridge. Chilled orange juice pooled between my toes and there was a mild stickiness on my legs where the splatters landed.

“Oh, but I do.”

“You’ve spoken to me once.”

“Perhaps. Yet, I’ve known you for years.”

I tried to turn around, but his hands locked down on my hips hard and he used the fridge and his body to keep me from moving. “Kai?” My voice trembled when I said his name and I knew he had to have heard it.

“Shh.” He ran his hands down my naked arms until his hands curled around my wrists. Then he slid my arms to either side and above my head.

“Kai….”

He pressed his body into mine so I was between the humming fridge and the heat of his body. It was a weird sensation of the vibrating fridge against my front and his hard warm body against my back.

Holy shit. I could barely breathe and every time I did, my breasts pressed painfully into the hard surface. My head to the side, cheek against the fridge and all I saw of him was the sleeve of his white dress shirt, cuff unbuttoned and rolled once.

“Do you want this?” he asked.