Page 24 of Masked Darling
His dark eyes narrowed as he whispered, “I’m not the one pretending,sweetheart.”
Madison dragged her lower lip between her teeth, cursing her body’s reaction to the threat in his voice, the closeness of their bodies. He watched her mouth with a flicker of awareness passing behind his eyes. But then his cock twitched against her stomach as it hardened and she glared at him.
“Now, who’s pretending?” She challenged. “You’re not the bad boy everyone thinks you are. You’re not even close.”
He leaned forward and tugged a fistful of her hair. “Never said I was.”
They were toe to toe, breathing each other’s air. Their bodies were still glistening in sweat and their releases made it hard to think straight. Madison swallowed hard, her pulse thrumming between her legs at the raw need in his eyes.
Kade dropped his forehead against hers as he gripped her hips tighter, his thumbs brushing the sensitive skin. “You can keep pushing me, Maddie. But we both know the truth.” Her body reacted to his husky tone.
“Which is?” She prompted, unable to form a coherent thought as he pressed against her.
The line between them was blurring by the second; the floodgates were opening, and the game they’d been playing was about to become very personal indeed. Kade lowered his head as if to take her mouth, then seemed to change his mind. He straightened, his eyes searching hers for a long moment. Madison’s breath hitched as she waited for his verdict.
Instead, he laughed. “You know what? You’re right. This needs to stop.”
Shocked, she reared back as if she’d been burned, and her head hit the wall behind her.
“What?”
His hands dropped from her hips as he moved to the pile of clothes he’d dropped on the floor when he approached Madison. “Here, put these on.” Madison opened her mouth to argue, but he cut her off with a raised hand. “There’s nothing else for you to wear. It’s just a shirt and a pair of shorts.”
Madison started to put the clothing on as if in a trance. This whole evening had fallen apart right before her eyes, and she was stunned. Kade watched her for a moment before throwing on a pair of black sweatpants.
“I’m going to sleep in Jesse’s room. It’s clear you’re not welcome back at your apartment tonight, so just sleep in my room. I can take you home in the morning. I think we’ve done enough damage for tonight.” And then he turned away from her and walked to the room furthest down the hallway, leaving her standing there.
Madison took a shaky breath and glanced around at the mess they’d made on the strewn pages and floor. Her body was still tingling. She could still feel him on every part of her skin. But the inside of her body and especially her mind felt anything but superb.
She felt...used.
She took in the discarded cups on the floor and tried to enjoy them for what they were: a distraction, an escape, a mistake. She straightened her shoulders and started collecting the garbage from the room. If she kept her body busy, then her mind might follow.
He hadn’t pulled a dick move at all. She was the one who started this, and he was simply ending it. He owed her absolutely nothing. They weren’t as close as she’d thought if she didn’t even know about his plans after college. Alison tried to warn her that his personal life was complicated and now she knew.
It took her only minutes to realize he wasn’t coming back to make up or make her feel better; she had pushed him too far, and he walked away. But the longer she sat with the echo of his words in her head, the more she saw the double meaning behind them. The giant neon sign flashing in her face was as clear as The Serpent Pit’s.
“I’m so fucked.”
CHAPTER SIX
Kade slammed a beer down on the sticky bartop, foam erupting over the edge. “You’re inviting them back already?”
Jagger shrugged, unfazed by his brother’s anger. “Yup. Big weekend planned.”
“And how do you plan on taking care of them this time? Since you’re nowhere near as prepared as you should be, as we saw this past weekend.” Kade gestured vaguely with his beer bottle towards the street outside. “Those girls are still—”
“Shut it, Kade.” Jagger’s voice was sharp, silencing him quickly.
Sadie, who’d been calmly filling out inventory sheets at the bar, looked up and gave them both an annoyed glance. “Real mature here, guys.”
Kade ignored her, his anger directed solely at his brother. “How can you even consider this? Aren’t you done doing gang shit? And you’re pretty unfazed for someone who just let a bunch of predators party at his bar, pretending like this shit is okay.”
“I’m trying to help because of those girls, Kade,” Jagger countered, leaning closer and planting his own hands on the bar across from Kade. “Dad is coming. He’s bringing backup, retired Renegades, the whole damn pack. We will use this weekend and them to get the girls out.”
“Get the girls out?” Kade scoffed. “How? With drugs? Because that worked so well last time.”
“Look, I know you’re upset about what happened,” Jagger conceded. “But Warren has a plan. He’s going to dismantle them from the inside out. And we’re part of that.” He pushed a strand of hair back from his forehead, his gaze meeting Kade’s. “Think about it, Kade. It’s what we’ve been doing our whole lives, except this time, we’re actually taking people out who truly deserve it.”
