He laughs. “Don’t worry. I am not telling Kane a thing. We aren’t really on speaking terms right now. I think he is a complete idiot for what he did and I’m mad at him about it. I mean, if I didn’t think he would kick my ass, I totally would have asked you out, but it looks like Logan swooped in. He is a good guy. Really.”
“I know, it’s just…” Before I could finish my sentence, Logan comes and wraps his arm around my waist, bringing me closer to his side.
“Leslie, you and Dylan know each other?” Logan gives me a flute of sparkling champagne. The bubbles cascade down my throat and it’s refreshing. Or it’s a deterrent to not answer him.
“Ms. Benton and I go way back, Logan. If I wanted to steal your girl, you know I would,” Dylan jokes.
“Yeah, right.” Logan doesn’t sound at all like he believes Dylan. While I know Dylan would never do that, I wonder if something similar happened to Logan.
My phone vibrating in my clutch brings me out of their conversation. “Excuse me, it’s the clinic. I routed the number to my cell for emergencies.”
“Of course, take it,” Logan encourages.
“Thank you,” I mouth to him and he shoots me a wink. I don’t know if it’s the champagne or what, but that wink has my body smoldering. It’s more of a slow steady burn that stays hot for a long period of time, but with Kane it was a wildfire burning me to a crisp every time I was around him. That just can’t be healthy.
“Leslie Benton of—” I didn’t get to finish my sentence before a familiar voice interrupts me.
“Leslie? Hello? I am so happy you answered. I…I…I don’t know what to do. He came out of nowhere. I was just driving, but it was raining, and I couldn’t see. Please you are the only one that can help. The only one.”
Kane’s voice sounds tortured, but the last words he said sounded like a whisper. It pangs my heart to talk to him, and to hear his sultry voice that I dream about every night, but if an animal is in need then I have to go.
“Kane, I’ll be right there. Don’t touch him, okay? I’ll be right there.”
“What do you mean don’t touch him? I picked him up and carried him inside the clinic. Should I have not done that? Did I do more damage?”
“Kane, you have to calm down. They can pick up on your senses, okay? Breathe. I’ll be right there.”
“Thank you, thank you!”
I hang up the phone and take a moment to gather myself. I haven’t seen Kane in weeks. It’s like the tattoo shop is abandoned because his car is never there, and the lights are never on.
“Is everything okay?” Logan silently walks behind me to put his hand on my shoulder.
Do I lie?
“I need to get to the clinic. Someone hit a dog and it’s in pretty bad shape. I have to call Sampson and see if there is anything we can do.” My eyes start to burn with tears because every time a dog comes in from being hit by a car, I think of Flamingo.
Disappointment slashes across his face and he doesn’t mask it, like someone else I know. “Of course. Maybe I can take you out again?” His brown eyes look full of promise and me, being the one to dive in all the way, want all the promises.
“I’d love that.” I lean in and what was supposed to be a quick peck ends up being a passionate kiss. His hands run through my soft silky hair and places his hand on the back of my head as we kiss languidly.
He pulls away with his eyes closed. “Wow.”
“Leslie? Your cab is here.” Dylan tells me as he walks through the door.
When did I get a cab? Freaking, Kane! No, freaking Dylan! He ratted me out and that is how Kane got a cab here. Oh, he hasn’t even seen wrath until I get ahold of him.
I narrow my eyes at Dylan and he just smirks.
“Call me, okay?” I smile at Logan, and he nods before giving me one last peck on the lips.
Running out to the cab, the rain falls steadily getting my gown wet, but the only thing I can think about is Kane. I just kissed Logan and it was amazing. It gave me a low hum, but once again, I can only compare it to the electrifying kisses Kane would give me.
Well, that’s over, Leslie! Get over it!
The car ride is short as I dream about Kane and then dream about Logan as I watch the droplets of water fall against the windshield.
“How much do I owe you?” I ask the cab driver.
“Nothing, it is taken care of.”
“Of course it is,” I mutter and slam the door.
I run up the steps and open the shelter door with such force it bangs against the siding of the building.
“Kane!” I run to the back room and see a disgruntled guilty looking Kane Bridgeshaw over a dog lying on the table.
“Leslie, it was an accident. I didn’t mean to. I…I looked down for a second! It was just a second and he came out of nowhere! I swear, I didn’t mean to hurt him. Can you save him?” Kane sniffs and that’s when I notice his beautiful blue eyes are bloodshot from tears.
“I already called Sampson and he is on his way. I will give him a look over, but that’s all I can really do, Kane.” I check the dog’s vitals and wounds. They are extensive. Four broken ribs, broken leg, and punctured lung. It doesn’t look good, but I don’t know how to tell him that.
“I’ve never seen your hair straight before. You look beautiful.”
His words make me start over on getting the dog’s pulse. I close my eyes trying to ignore Kane’s presence, but I can’t. The same familiar charge wraps around us. The room is filled with electricity, my soul notices, and it’s like it tries to yank out of me to get to him.
“Kane…” I refuse to cry. I refuse to let this emotion I have for him unsettle me.
“Leslie.” His blue eyes search my face before leaning in and kissing my lips. The second time tonight my mouth has been taken. One by a man who wants me, and one by a man who doesn’t know what he wants.
I yank away. “The patient is first.”
Kane blanches, but nods.
“How’s our patient?’ Sampson runs through the door with a robe on and bunny slippers.
“Bunny slippers?” Kane smirks.
“They were a gift from my dead wife,” Sampson snaps back, his friendliness gone.
“I’m sorry. I…” His fingers run through his thick black hair, making me wish it was my fingers. I’m jealous of every part of Kane that gets to be apart of him.
“It’s fine, I’m cranky because it’s midnight, and this guy has a long few hours.”
Kane sits and decides to get more comfortable, and I decide to sit with him, grabbing his hand, waiting for Sampson to say whether the dog will make it or not. I have a feeling if he doesn’t, Kane will disappear into the black cloud that lingers in his heart, making it expand and take over until it pours nothing but sadness.
Chapter 5
After a few hours and four cans of red-bull, the dog pulls through. Sampson decides to keep him sedated for a while since he will be in a significant amount of pain.
“Thanks so much, Sampson. I don’t how I could ever repay you,” Kane says as he shakes his hand.
“Well, pay the bill.” Sampson walks past him and yells goodnight to me, disappearing into the dark. My phone pings a few times with Logan’s name on the screen, and I ignore it. I need whatever this is with Kane to finally be over. I need closure before I can move on. The way we ended wasn’t ideal, and I need more than what he left me with.
We sit on the swing outside the shops, listening to the waves crash for a few minutes before Kane asks how the party went.
“It was a lot of fun. Logan is a really great guy,” I say as I kick the sand.
“Logan?” he asks bitterly.
“Yeah, Logan,” I bite back.
“And what kind of thing do you have with Logan?” He pushes away from the swing and walks closer to the ocean’s cliff.
“None of your business! You left me, remember? You can’t pull the ‘If I can’t have you, no one can’ bullshit!” My feet stop playing in the sand as
I stop the swing from swaying. My long straight hair catches in the breeze, shining against the full moon’s light.
“You don’t think I want you? Are you insane?” Kane yells so loud the birds that were resting fly away. “I think about you day and night. Food is bland. I don’t care about anything anymore. I can’t remember the last time I drew something because every time pen meets paper, I automatically start to draw you. My body, soul, and mind are on automatic for you. My heart and lungs breathe for you even if it means staying away from you.”
I choke on a sob. “You have no right! You have no right coming here and…and declaring all those things, and then leaving again. You have no right to keep me on the edge, waiting to fall into you again! It isn’t fair. I want to be rid of you Kane. I want to! I want to fall into Logan! He actually isn’t afraid to be with me!”
Kane’s eyes burn into me as he stalks to me, “You want to rid of me? For who? That Logan guy?” He spits. “You think he could ever make you feel how I do? How I turn you inside out with pleasure? How I make you scream my name? Tell me, have you kissed him?” He grabs my arms tightly, but not enough to cause pain, just enough to cause tingles to spread over my body and my nipples to harden.
“Yes! And it was so good. You should have been there. Oh wait, Dylan was. Maybe you should ask him? And see how far Logan’s tongue went down my throat.” I struggle to get out of his grasp, but nothing works. He has me bound by his embrace and if he squeezes too hard, I know I’ll break.
His devilish smile appears. “Is that so? I highly doubt he turned you on as much as I do.”
This time it’s my turn to smirk. “You’re right. He turns me on more.”
His smile disappears. “That’s not funny, Leslie.”
“I didn’t expect it to be, Kane!” I turn around to walk back inside to get my keys because I am done! I am done with Kane Bridgeshaw drama!
He grabs me by the arm. “You will always be my business. Do you understand? Even when you think you are with him, you are still with me.” Kane’s mouth slams down on my roughly. My lips can barely keep up as he maneuvers his lips and head in different directions every few minutes.
He lays me down the soft patch of grass, kissing me into oblivion underneath the moonlight. “You look beautiful, baby, so damn beautiful.”
“You can’t do this. You can’t just have me whenever you feel like it!” But my body betrays my words as I grind on to his thick hard length trapped beneath those ripped jeans! Damn those jeans!
“I’m going to fuck you in this dress. I’m going to mess up all your pretty that you worked so hard on for him tonight.” He lifts my dress and bunches it around my waist and notices I’m not wearing any panties.
“Is this for him?” He pets my bare pussy gently, causing my clit to pulse and swell with need.
“It’s not for anyone. This dress is too tight for panties,” I say truthfully.
“That’s a good answer, Crazy.” He expertly slides his fingers over my folds like the well-known lover that he is.
He unzips his pants and the sound is loud throughout the night. I can hear it over the waves and breeze. I can hear it over our breaths and moans. The blades of grass add to my body’s desire as they scratch against my back adding to the overwhelming sensations.
My fist cling to the earth beneath me, dirt bedding itself under my fingernails, as he rams his thick cock inside me, claiming me right in front of where we began.
“Feel that? You feel this? No one can you give this. No can give me this! It’s you, damn it. It’s always been you.” He throws his mouth down on mine as he roughly pumps inside me, thoroughly fucking me like he always did.
I can feel the material of his pants rubbing against my ass, the belt buckle rubbing against my clit reminding me of how primal this is.
I can feel the plump veins in his shaft rubbing against my walls, pumping him up until he is so big that he barely fits inside me. The sounds of the waves crash muddle my moans as I think about his perfect appendage spearing me.
He grabs a handful of my dress as he gains momentum. “Fuck, I’ve missed this. I’ve missed you.”
I ignore his words because, even I know that blabber while having sex means nothing. My heart can’t afford to believe it anyway. I miss him too much already, believing him would ruin me.
“Tell me. I know you miss me. You have to. You have to miss this.” He ends his sentence with a hard thrust making me scream out in pleasure.
“Tell me!” He pounds into me harder than he ever has before.
“No!” I refuse to tell him. I refuse to tell him how I dream of him every night. How I watch through the glass door we share now in-between our shops just to get a glance of him. I refuse to tell him I masturbate to him when I wake up from a wet dream starring him. I refuse to look at all our dogs in the yard because my heart hurts more and more every time. I refuse to tell him I compare him to every man I come across because I know they will never compare. What good would that do me? Why should I feed his ego when he is just going to leave mine shattered again? Broken, again? Bleeding, again?
He can fuck me as hard as he wants. My lips are sealed.
“You can’t fuck it out of me, Kane. Not this time. You want to talk?” I moan while his delicious cock still brings my orgasm near.
“If you want to talk, you have to do it with your dick in your pants.” I hiss through my teeth hovering under his lips. I refuse to give him that last shred of me. I refuse to give him that last piece of me that stands strong against him. It’s that piece that isn’t allowing me to believe his worthless words right now. I might allow him into my body, but that last piece of me that refuses to give in, refuses to give him anymore of my heart.
“You like it when my dick is out of my pants though.” He grunts trying to change the subject.
“Too much talking, shut up!” I yell at him.
“Too much?” He slides out of me and it makes me whimper. He grabs me, making me stand, and throws me against the door of the shelter. He turns me around again, my face slammed against the glass, as he slides his big long member inside me again.
When I’m standing I feel more of him, every inch of him touching every inch of me until the very tip of his cockhead is rubbing against my womb.
The first stroke in and he makes me moan loudly into the night.
“Yeah, that’s it. There we go. That’s what I was looking for,” he whispers into my ear taking me roughly until the door is shaking from the force.
“I’m going to cum!” I shout right before I clamp down on his cock, trying to milk his orgasm deeper inside me, but thankfully he doesn’t cum.
Good, I don’t want to be left with him running down my thighs. I don’t want him leaving me standing in my own humiliation.
I drop down on my knee quickly and take his soaked shaft into my mouth. I taste myself and while the taste of me doesn’t do anything for me, I know it does for him. I know he loves it when I taste myself on him.
“I don’t want it to be over yet,” I barely hear him whisper.
I do, not because I don’t enjoy it. Oh, I do. Obviously, or I wouldn’t be struggling fitting his dick into my mouth.
It’s because every moment I am with him, I fall in love with him more. That little piece I have left slowly deteriorates. So, I stuck harder. I slurp at him quicker. I fondle his sack rougher. I gag on his length perfectly, just how he likes, until his back bows and he holds my mouth down on his cock to take every drop.
The crickets begin to chirp again, the waves crash murderously against the shore, reminding me of the way the ocean acts when it storms. Maybe it is. Maybe the sea is telling me Kane is my storm and he will end up breaking me like the waves break against the superficial surface of the earth.
“Fuck, that mouth. Crazy…” He shakes his head as his hand still holds me in place. Little jerks of his hips let me know he is still riding out the last of his orgasm, but it isn’t up to me to clean that up.
I stand
up wiping my mouth and pulling down my dress to cover myself. I feel ashamed. I should be with Logan, but instead I’m banging my ex right in the open for anyone to see. That just goes to show how careless I am around him.
“Leslie.” Kane reaches out to me.
“That was a mistake,” I whisper his own words back to him and see the hurt across his face.
“We could never be a mistake. No matter how many times I’ve told you. No matter how many times I’ve told myself. No matter how many times you’ve told yourself. We could never and will never be a mistake.” Kane cups my jaw tenderly, kissing my lips again.
And that piece that kept me standing strong against him falls, breaking into a thousand pieces, lost under the angry sea.
Chapter 6
It’s 11:00 PM when I finally separated from Kane. Once again, he only left me with half of him, which left me where I usually stand—alone. This time is different though. This time, I prepare myself. I lock my feelings away and throw the key into the ocean where it can sink to the bottom, nestle in the sand, and be forgotten.
So what helps the brain to forget? Alcohol.
I call Molli and David to see what they’re doing, and they’ve already moved into my house, waiting on me to come home from my date with Logan, so I can spill the beans. They should know, a lady never kisses and tells.
After convincing them to bring me shorts and a tank top, they relent and come to pick me up on the cliff in front of the shelter. It isn’t Lady’s Night at Saturn’s, but it’s the next best thing; it’s karaoke night! I’ve ignored Logan’s calls, I’ve ignored Kane’s texts. I just want to be.
To do that, sometimes a girl has to turn her phone off.
“I wish your man was working tonight. He could let us in since he is obsessed with your fine ass,” David whines.
“Shut up, he isn’t. And we aren’t even that far back in line, David. You need to be patient.”
“I need a martini, extra dirty, it’s been a hell of a day.” He runs his hand through his hair and for the first time, I notice how ragged he looks. I’ve been so selfish lately, always concentrating on me, and I haven’t even asked how my best friends are doing.
The Ink Romance Series Page 18
