“Just what, Regi? You locked yourself in that bedroom—avoided me and Deck, like we’re the fucking plague. And now you want to talk to me—hell you can’t even look me in the eyes.” He was so close, I could feel the heat from his body, his breath fanning across my face. Still, I couldn’t look at him. “Talk to me,” he rasped out in desperation.
I automatically stepped back from the ire lacing his words. I tried to ignore the sickening sensation rising in my stomach and the panic choking the breath out of me, but I was losing control of this situation.
He’s not Teke. He’s not Teke. I kept reminding myself of this fact over and over again.
“Regi.” Krew’s voice dropped to a low timbre, commanding, and I quickly dropped my eyes down to the floor. He didn’t need to see the pain I used as a Teflon shield. “Look at me, damn it.”
I couldn’t deny him any longer. As my eyes traveled back to his handsome face, I silently appreciated his body. Even back then, Krew was tall and had muscles from the hard work his father made him do at the feed store after school. I used to love touching them whenever he flexed his arm. The way his body was now molded to utter perfection, and the power it held within scared me.
This is Krew—not that asshole.
When my eyes met his, I homed in first on the amber hue of his left eye, then on the hazel of his right, and finally on the tiny patch of brown in that same eye, like a fleck of earth in a storm. How had I forgotten about Krew’s heterochromia? I’d been so focused on the amber?—
“Why are you looking at me like that?” He cupped my face gently.
My body went liquid against him. This was one of the men who had my heart, and I shouldn’t be afraid of him. Krew might be the one who deserved to be held right now, but it was me who needed his touch.
“Krew, kiss me,” I whispered. I was desperate to drown in his warmth—fill myself up with only him.
Eager to erase the apprehension that was slicing into my conscious mind, I didn’t give him time to debate, or myself a moment to get mired in the past. I leaned in and kissed his lips, taking the initiative before I chickened out.
Krew was a solid presence, like a brick wall. Sturdy, reliable, but also comforting. When I pulled back, a fleeting look of concern raced across his face, and I wanted to relieve him of it. “Krew.”
“Are you sure?” he questioned, more insistent than before.
“Yes.” I didn’t falter. The verifiable truth was that I still loved him—even after all this time—even after my past trauma. I wanted Krew—I was hard up for his love, and his giving, gentle nature.
Krew didn’t waver, he picked me up and slammed his mouth on mine with ravenous hunger. My legs instinctively wrapped around his waist and my arms around his neck.
“I missed you so much,” I admitted against his kiss, not regretting my declaration.
He tightened his hold, as his talented tongue delved deeper into my mouth like he was claiming ownership.
The solid rod grinding against my pussy sent a jolt of need straight to my core. I was giddy—no, drunk on the idea that Krew was as desperate as I was.
I kept my eyes closed, moaned his name, and ground myself against his steely length. “I need you, Krew.” Desperation filtered in as I rocked my pelvis, craving the friction.
“Regi.” Krew’s voice shook, and I snapped my eyes open. My brain spun out of control the second I saw his pupils—blown wide. It wasn’t the black that held my focus. It was the speck of brown, almost swallowed whole, and my attention was forced back to the amber.
All the air left my lungs, Krew’s face melted right in front of me like someone had cast a spell and poof, Teke was the one holding me. Giant. Abrasive. Assaulting. A monster.
I wanted to scream, but a boulder sized knot was lodged in my throat and my voice was blocked, and so was the oxygen I needed in my lungs.
I closed my eyes again, thrashed out of his arms, and wished Teke back to the pits of hell, where he and the memory belonged.
My feet landed on the cold floor, and I knew I had to escape, but firm hands gripped my arms before I had a chance to run away.
“Breathe, Regi—damn it, breathe for me,” Krew’s frantic words penetrated my sheer panic and I opened my eyes.
This is Krew. This is Krew, I repeated to myself as I looked for the hazel in that one eye, but Teke’s face kept getting in the way and driving my burgeoning terror into an utter frenzy.
Krew cupped the back of my neck and drew me in to his chest like he was my safe harbor in this storm of emotions. I shivered at the solid reassurance his touch brought me.
“What the hell is going on?” Another voice boomed, startling me into stillness.
I slowly swiveled my head and saw Decker standing at the other end of the hallway. Then my eyes lasered in on the blood and dirt on his clothes, on his hands. Swiftly, the world spun around me and I was falling again.
My mind spiraled back to Teke dragging me by the hair into the denser part of the woods. I’d screamed from the pain and fear. He had punched me in the face a couple of times to shut me up but I had fought back. With my fists, my nails, and my teeth. Yet, nothing had stopped him from taking what he had wanted. From shredding that sacred part of me—that part I’d been saving for Decker and Krew.
