Slashes in the Snow : A Baum Squad novel

by M. Never

“I hate him, Kira.” Ky rests his elbows on his knees and presses his palms to his forehead like he’s praying.

  In this moment, I feel incredibly sorry for Ky. He’s suffering.

  I don’t know what I would do if my mom walked away from me. If she just up and divorced herself from my life. I’m pretty sure I’d be devastated, too.

  I place my hand lightly on his arm. “I’m sorry you’re hurting.”

  Ky lifts his head, startled by my touch.

  “I’m sorry I hurt you.” His blue eyes are so anguished and raw.

  “I’ll forgive you if you promise to never do it again.” I try to shed a little light on the dark conversation.

  “Never again, Kira.” He brings his forehead to mine, closes his eyes, and inhales me.

  I believe he’s sorry. I believe he’s remorseful. And even on some deep level, I believe it when he says he’ll never hurt me again.

  But where does that leave us? Who are we now? So much damage has been done.

  Forgive and forget and just move on? Forgive, but don’t forget, and proceed with caution? Forgive, and distance myself completely? The thought of that last option stings too much.

  “I’d really like to get to know the man Gerard talks about. The one who’s funny and strong and brave.”

  Ky scoffs. “I don’t know where that man is anymore.”

  “Maybe we can find him together?” I offer.

  Ky stares at me. Long and hard.

  Maybe it’s an unreasonable proposition?

  “Maybe we can,” he surrenders.

  I smile sweetly at him.

  He touches my cheek tenderly.

  This Ky I could grow to like.

  “How ’bout we get some water ice and go watch the sunset on the pier?” he suggests.

  “I think that sounds like first date material.”

  “This is a first date,” he reminds me.

  After grabbing some lemon water ice for me and some raspberry for him, we stroll down to the pier, and just as we take our first step onto the dock, Ky takes my hand.

  We walk with our fingers entwined to the roundhouse at the end, tossing our empty cups into the trash once we’re done.

  The pink hue the sunset is casting is making everything feel magical. More enchanting, more marvelous, more alive.

  Ky props me up onto the railing so we are face to face. He gets comfortable between my legs and wraps his arms around my waist. We’re close and intimate and maybe a little spellbound because of our mystical surroundings.

  “I really am sorry, Kira,” Ky apologizes once again.

  “You said that.”

  “I want you to believe me. I want you to be able to trust me.”

  “Trust takes time, and I do believe you. You just can’t use me as a punching bag for your frustration. If it’s too hard being with me—”

  “It's not too hard,” Ky cuts me off. “Being with you isn’t hard. Forgiving him is what’s hard. Being reminded is what’s hard. Being with you is easy. It’s what I want.”

  “To be with me how?”

  “Every way.” Ky slides his hands down to my hips. “I want you on the back of my bike, and in my bed, and on my lap for breakfast.”

  “That sounds quite specific.”

  “I’m a visionary.”

  There’s no turning back when he leans in to kiss me. It’s a heart-pounding, showstopping connection that consumes me completely. It’s deep and passionate and sexual, and its intensity communicates so many things. Pent-up frustration, affliction, and physical urgency.

  Luckily, we’re hidden behind the roundhouse so no one can see the mess of hands and lips and tongues we are becoming.

  I struggle for breath as much as I struggle for more. The heat rising inside me like a thermonuclear reactor.

  “I think it’s time to take you home,” Ky speaks between hot, hungry kisses, his grip on my body insanely restrictive.

  “I think that’s a good idea. Maybe we can still go for that swim,” I offer, winded, lightheaded, and woozy with lust.

  Ky places his hands on my face and touches me almost reverently. “I would give almost anything for that.”

  “All it will cost you is a ride home.”

  “Snow.” He presses his lips to mine. “It’s going to cost me so much more than that.”

  12

  Ky

  I CHASE Kira down the beach.

  She changed back into that sexy white bikini, and her body is on full display just for me.

  She runs into the calm water, giggling playfully and carefree. Her energy is infectious, and for the first time in a long time, I feel a true sense of happiness. Of freedom and ease.

  “Gotcha.” I lift her up into my arms, and she screams with a thrill. “Didn’t think I could catch ya?”

  “I was hoping you could.”

  “I always can when I really want you.”

  I let her slide down my chest until her feet are touching the ocean floor.

  “Are you telling me you want me?” She stays pressed against my body. Her skin is warm to the touch and softer than silk.

  “Since the moment I laid eyes on you,” I confess softly, purposely tickling her ear with my lips.

  She shivers, and I know it isn’t from the cool temperature of the water. I run my fingertips gently down her arms, chasing after that same reaction. I execute it perfectly because she shivers more, and her nipples harden under the thin white material.

  “Do you like it when I touch you?”

  “Yes,” she brazenly answers. Her dark eyes fastened to mine.

  “I like touching you.” I skim my fingertips back up her arms and then down over her chest. When my pinky grazes her nipple, she inhales sharply. “I want to touch you all night.” I lean in to kiss her.

  “What’s stopping you?” she questions right before our lips meet.

  “I hope nothing. I don’t want anything to come between us tonight.”

  “I won’t let anything, if you don’t,” she promises.

  I nod, calling her ante. I’m not going to let a damn thing come between us tonight.

  We pick up right where we left off on the pier. Tongues tangling and hands roaming and breaths heavy. Except now, there’s nothing limiting us. We can go as far as we want, and my plan is to take it all the way.

  I break our bond, wanting to look at her as I touch her. The moon is round and full and bright, acting as our very own spotlight. Everything is lit up in a silvery glow, the surface of the water, the beach, the house, and both our bodies.

  Slipping my fingers under her bikini top, I slide it up, exposing her perfect, round breasts. I pant harder at the sight of them and revel in the feel of them. Massaging both of them at the same time, I reclaim her mouth, kissing her harder and more aggressively, but still with some consideration.

  “Mmm,” a little moan escapes her, and I get goosebumps. I want to hear more. I want to feel more.

  This time Kira breaks our kiss. Her eyes are starry, and her lips are plump. She explores my body with her fingertips, tickling my skin with her feathery contact. Up my chest, over the wording across my clavicle, down to the sparrows on both my pecs to my side where a hand is flipping over two cards — a pair of aces. She continues to move lower, testing the waters by the hem of my underwear. I’m not going to stop her. The bulge of my erection is no surprise. I’ve been hard since the second she put on that bikini. Tormented with anticipation.

  When she dips her finger under the waistband and skims the head of my hard-on, my entire body locks up. Completely seizes from one tiny touch.

  “More,” I demand, pressing my pelvis into her palm.

  Kira slips her hand inside my briefs and grips my erection firmly. I crumble under the contact.

  With my head floating in a haze of bliss, I trap Kira’s face in my hands and kiss her like a desperate man. Sucking her lips and stroking my tongue with crucial need.

  “God.” Now it’s my turn to moan as I palm her ass and pres
s her against me.

  If she was any other woman, this would be escalating a thousand times faster. I would be more aggressive, rougher, less patient, but with Kira, everything feels different. I feel different. It freaked me the fuck out the first time we got close, but not tonight. Tonight, I want it all. I want everything she’s willing to give.

  I hoist her into my arms, just so we can be closer. So she can be wrapped around me.

  I strain under the pressure of her pussy against my throbbing cock, but I don’t rush a thing. I’m indulging in each step closer we take. To what I hope is our inevitable destination. Me inside her. Me coming inside her.

  We kiss more boldly, more forcefully as the minutes pass by, the uptick of desire ratcheting our arousal higher and higher.

  As much as I want to take this slow, to give Kira all the time she needs, the friction of our bodies is testing my resolve.

  I slow it down, barely able to retain oxygen in my lungs. Kira peers into my eyes, her nose resting against mine. When she touches my cheek tenderly, with so much raw emotion, something inside of me cracks, just ruptures right open.

  “I don’t think I will be able to handle it if you say no to me tonight.”

  Kira swipes her thumb slowly across my bottom lip, entangling us in the definitive moment.

  “I was under the impression nothing was coming between us tonight.” Her voice is so sweet and so soft it’s an unyielding velvet rope bonding us together.

  “No, nothing,” I agree, pressing a kiss on her collarbone as I push my underwear down. The wet material clings to my thighs as I lift Kira just enough to tease her entrance with the thick head of my cock. Sliding her bathing suit bottoms to the side, the last obstacle keeping us apart, she sinks down onto my erection, and my skull nearly splits from the warm, tight heat.

  “Fuck, Snow.” I latch my hands onto her tight ass as we begin to

  teeter in a maddening motion, and once the floodgates open, there is no closing them. There’s no turning back or reconsidering our decision. The brainwashing passion takes over, and we both give in to it like puppets.

  Kira rides my cock with explosive rapture, and I find as much pleasure watching her as I do feeling her.

  “Ky,” she squeaks my name as she paws at my face and kisses my mouth. I nip at her bottom lip and growl as we fuck slowly but fitfully, a storm of necessity building between us.

  Kira’s moans and sighs begin to climb octaves. Her pussy’s clamping tighter, and her nails are digging into my skin. I know she’s getting close. Her beautiful, thin frame bowing in the moonlight reveals all the ecstasy flowing through her limbs.

  I thrust deeper and harder, wanting nothing more than to watch her ethereal being come to life.

  “Ky . . . Ky,” my name spills from her lips as she claws at my neck. Then she opens her eyes and kisses me as she comes. The connection she establishes in that one fiery moment rocks me to the very core. She becomes a part of me as she shatters to pieces. As she stares directly into my eyes and holds me hostage in the peak of her orgasm.

  There’s no holding back after that. Not for me. My jaw tightens as severely as my balls, and then it’s a full-on release. A climax to the nth degree.

  “Fuck,” I bark out as Kira clings to me, thrusting my hips as hard as my body will possibly allow. I still inside her as a blast of euphoria paralyzes me, sending us sinking down into the water as my knees give out.

  I crush her to me as I battle to recover. Battle to keep our heads above the surface and oxygen flowing through our lungs.

  I’m lightheaded as we drift through the silvery sea. Kira’s soft, sensual kisses elongating the high.

  No woman has ever kissed me the way she does. They’re so penetrative it’s as if they’re sprinkled with crack cocaine and a little bit of fairy dust.

  They bubble under my skin and reach the places I ignore exist.

  “I’m getting a little cold.” Kira glides her nose along my jawline.

  “So let’s get warm.” I stand with her still in my arms, barely weighing anything. I walk us both back onto the shore.

  Placing her on her feet, I scoop up the towels she tossed on the sand. The air is balmy, so it aids in ridding the chill the salty water left behind. And once we are both dry enough, we head back to the house.

  Inside, we shower together, giving me the first real, clear look at her body. I explore her skin as I lather her up, noticing all the little nuances I ignored before. Like the little squiggles of waves tattooed on the most obscure parts of her body. One on the front of her shoulder, another on the back of her neck. One more on the inside of her wrist, yet another on her hip. Finding them all is like discovering one tantalizing prize after the next. The one on her rib cage I find the most intriguing. It’s the same small wave as all the rest, except it has some cursive writing attached, which reads “Into the sea.” I trace the letters with my fingertip, and Kira quivers. Something inside me lights up from her reaction. She responds so strikingly to my touch.

  “I want to go to bed,” I purr in her ear.

  “I’m ready, too.” Kira lifts up onto her toes and steals a wet, delectable kiss.

  It spurs me to pull her closer and grope her ass, squandering all sense and reason.

  After a quick dry off, we dim the lights in Kira’s room. It’s a massive, white space with pops of pink, gray, and gold and a multi-million-dollar view of the Pacific Ocean. It’s an heiress’ room for sure.

  We climb into her highly decorated bed, pushing what feels like a million throw pillows onto the floor. Pulling the comforter down, I urge her to lie on her back and then get comfortable right beside her.

  Propping my head in my hand, I resume exploring her naked body. I’ve never had a woman take my breath away like Kira does. Succumbing so sincerely. So untaintedly.

  She transforms me in a way I never knew possible. Molding me into a man I don’t even recognize.

  Skimming my fingertips down the center of her chest and torso and then back up, I watch her physical reaction take form. Her nipples harden, her skin prickles, and her breathing picks up. As much as I want to attack her right where she lays, I also want to hunt. Hunt all the places that make her weak. Discover all her secrets and then exploit them for my advantage. I also want to make her feel like she’s never felt before. I want her obsessed with only me. With what only I can do and how I can make her feel. I want her body to be all mine.

  “Spread your legs, Snow,” I hiss commandingly.

  Kira opens her eyes, looks straight into mine, and drops to her knees.

  Something about the whole thing is so . . . life-altering. That sounds dramatic, but it’s true. I don’t know what it is with Kira. I’m not usually aware when I’m with a woman, but with her, I’m attentive to every single touch. I want each one to affect her the same, if not more, than the last.

  Moving my hand down to the apex of her thighs, I use all four fingers to massage her clit. Circling around the soft flesh until it’s swollen and wet.

  “Ky.” Kira huffs my name insufferably, our eye contact never breaking. She has no idea I’m just beginning. I move the radius of my fingers out, rubbing her entire pussy, spreading her wetness all over her folds. “God.” Her back bows from the onslaught of pleasure, and it’s a beautiful sight.

  Sliding my middle digit inside her entrance, I finger her, slow and controlled, memorizing each of her actions and reactions.

  I continue the provoking pattern of in and out and around until her cheeks are a deep shade of pink and her breathing is erratic.

  “Huh, huh, huh, huh.” She kisses me crazily between gasps of breath, pulling at my neck and jerking her hips as the sensations become too much.

  “You want me inside you again?” I provoke her.

  “You know I do.” She licks her lips and then mine. How someone as sweet and innocent-looking as her makes the slightest gesture so sexually charged I will never know. But I eat it up, every last bit with a cherry on top.

 
Repositioning us, I beckon Kira onto my lap. I have to watch. I have to see everything. All of her.

  I pump my erection with bloodthirsty anticipation as she straddles me, then sinks down slowly onto my cock.

  “Christ.” The friction is instant. It's earth-quaking sensation and pulsating need.

  Wrapping her hair around my wrist, I pull, forcing her head back as she rides me. I don’t want this to move quick. I want to draw out the time and elongate the pleasure.

  “Slow, Kira,” I instruct as she fights to chase her orgasm.

  “Faster, Ky,” she argues, but I ignore her plea.

  I bite her neck and lick her skin as she bobs up and down, each rock inducing her to tremble.

  “You’re gonna come with me, Kira. When I’m ready, you’re ready.” I hold on tightly to her long, golden-blonde hair.

  “I’m ready now,” she whines, and I get the most selfish satisfaction that it’s my cock making her feel this way. Making her achy, and needy, and weak.

  A handful more of quivering undulations, and we are both at the brink of madness.

  “Ky, please,” Kira begs, deflating all the fight left in me. I want to come, and I want to come hard with the purest fucking woman I have ever encountered riding me with unadulterated reckless abandon.

  Releasing her hair, I bury my face into her chest, sucking and biting each breast as I set Kira free.

  She instantly moves faster, sprinting after the orgasm that has been just out of reach. I watch her facial expressions contort as she comes closer and closer to the breaking point, dragging me right along with her.

  “Ky, Ky, Ky,” she pants my name with every thrust as if it will keep her on the ground. I lift my hips, meeting hers until the rhythm is just too perfect. Until the flow is inescapable and we both succumb.

  Kira climaxes only seconds before me, her pussy clamping around my cock and vibrating like high-power voltage.

  “Oh, shit.” I grab onto her ass, captive beneath her, allowing her to milk my orgasm for every single thing it’s worth.

  Our labored breathing and strangulating sounds fill my ears and the room as we peak together, entangled in a rare and spectacular spasm.

  Rare and spectacular for me anyway.