KAGE (KAGE Trilogy #1)

by Maris Black

  “Jamie!” my mom admonished from the other end of the line. Then I heard my sister howling with laughter for sure.

  Kage narrowed his eyes and shook his head at me. “Hello, Mrs. Atwood. Nice to talk to you again.”

  “Oh, hello Michael. I didn’t know you could hear me. Please disregard my son’s rudeness, and you have my blessing to take it out of his paycheck.”

  “Mom, no fair!” I yelled.

  Kage leaned close to my ear and said, “I’ll just take it out of your ass.” To illustrate, he reached around and squeezed my ass cheek with one large hand, his fingers spreading me and bruising my flesh.

  It gave me chills, and I groaned out loud.

  “Mom, I’ve gotta go.”

  “Okay, honey. Goodnight.”

  I’d clicked off before the last word was completely out of her mouth. Then Kage was on me. He brought his other hand around to grab my other ass cheek, squeezing until I groaned again.

  “I love that sound,” he said before he claimed my mouth with his. My lips were already parted, and he just slid his tongue right between them, squeezing my ass again until I moaned into his mouth. Then he lost it.

  He pulled me against him and rutted against me, cock to cock through our shorts, kissing my throat so thoroughly I had to throw my head back to give him access. I’d never felt so ravished. I tangled my fingers in his hair and pulled, encouraging as much contact as I could get.

  Fuck, I needed to get closer.

  “Get rid of this,” he growled, pulling my shirt so hard he ripped it. I didn’t even care that it was one of my favorite shirts. I helped him pull it the rest of the way off without completely destroying it. That’s when I noticed he had come to my room barefoot.

  “You’re not wearing shoes,” I pointed out breathlessly.

  “Or underwear.” He pulled his shorts off and kicked them away, revealing his entire amazing body, and that gorgeous cock reaching out for me.

  I grabbed hold of it without thinking, bit my lip and looked into his eyes, started stroking. I loved the way his mouth went slack and his eyelids fell halfway shut. I leaned in and sucked his bottom lip into my mouth, thrilling at the taste of him, the feel of his soft but masculine lips. The sandpaper scrape of his stubble against my bottom lip as I sucked on his.

  He pulled away. “You ever jerked a guy off before?”

  I shook my head. “No.”

  “Ever fucked a guy?”

  I shook my head again and swallowed hard at the mere thought of it.

  “Ever sucked a guy’s dick?”

  “Only yours.”

  He smiled. “Good. Let’s keep it that way.” He turned me around and walked me toward the bed, holding onto my biceps, sticking close behind me, talking softly to me. “I’m going to make you mine now. If that’s what you want.”

  “Yes.” I whispered, letting him herd me toward the bed and push me down face first. My feet were still on the floor, keeping me grounded. My only link with the real world.

  He pulled my shorts and boxer briefs down over my ass, over my calves, and I stepped out of them. Then we were both naked, and I was bent over the bed, at his mercy. His hand caressed over my calf muscle, over my thigh, all the way back up to my ass. He rubbed it with a calloused palm.

  I couldn’t see him, only feel.

  “You have a beautiful body, Jamie. I could look at you all day long, every day, and never get tired of looking.”

  “Thank you,” I whispered. It was lame, but my head was reeling from his words. He thought my body was beautiful? It was almost unbelievable.

  He kept moving his rough hands over my skin, caressing and exploring as if it were his first time seeing me. “Every time I look at you, I want to do this.” He dropped his hard cock onto the track of my ass crack and ran it slowly up and down.

  The drag of skin on skin and the thought of what he was doing had me making little noises that I didn’t necessarily want to be making. Kage chuckled in his sexy, low voice. He grabbed me by the back of the neck and put just enough pressure there to thrill me, to hold me still. Then I felt the head of his cock as he slapped it against the sensitive skin nestled between my ass and balls. The spot I loved to press the tip of my finger against when I was close to coming.

  I nearly flew off the bed. Went up on my toes. Buried my face in the mattress to mute my involuntary cry.

  “Mmmm…” Kage hummed quietly. “Jamie’s got a magic button?”

  I felt him moving behind me. He went down on his knees, then grabbed me around the ankles and forced my legs farther apart. I turned my face to the side, my cheek flat on the bed, and curved my neck to look back at him— see what he was doing. When he caught me looking, he smiled at me and slid just the tip of his tongue out to tease me. Then he leaned forward and licked and sucked an agonizing trail from my balls all the way to my asshole.

  If I’d ever heard such a sound come out of my mouth, I certainly don’t remember it. It was somewhere between a growl and a squeal, and I quickly swallowed it back and held my breath against the overwhelming sensations.

  “My God,” I groaned when he pulled my ass cheeks apart with his fingers and used the tip of his tongue to prod at my hole, alternately pressing just inside the opening and pulling back with a gentle sucking action. It was like French kissing, but… there.

  I had honestly never felt anything more stimulating, had never been more turned on in my life. Especially when he reached down with two fingers and pressed my taint. The sounds started back up, but this time I couldn’t stifle them. I just let it roll. My knees were quivering, and I was all feeling, no brain, rubbing my cock against the edge of the mattress for relief.

  “Kage… Can’t take it. Jesus, Kage…” He wouldn’t let up on the unholy stimulation, using his tongue and lips in ways I had never even considered before. I could feel the tell-tale rhythmic movements that let me know he was jerking himself off. Maybe he was close. “I’m gonna come, Kage. I can’t take it.”

  Then he stopped, stood up and slapped my ass cheek hard. “Turn over,” he ordered.

  I flipped over immediately, presenting him with my very hard, very ready erection. He climbed onto the bed and stretched his body out over mine, hovering above me in perfect push-up form, and lowered himself to kiss my lips. Softly, thoroughly he kissed me before moving down to my jaw, my neck, the hollow at the base of my throat where my necklace lay. Then he shifted down and took my nipple between his lips, first sucking, then biting, until I was moaning again.

  “You’re gonna kill me,” I whispered.

  He laughed, then moved down until his face was even with my cock. I realized it was the first time he’d ever seen me fully hard, and suddenly I was shy. The way he was looking at me, admiring me, took my breath away.

  “Just as pretty as every other inch of you,” he said reverently as he bent to take it into his mouth.

  He was rough with it from the beginning, having recently given an aggressive tongue lashing to my other side, and I sucked in a sharp breath. He groaned around me, sending vibrations through my entire body. Bridging my hips up off the bed, I pushed up into his throat without an ounce of restraint, over and over and over, feeling his throat spasm deliciously around the head of my cock every time it bottomed out.

  I fucked his throat hard, and he took it like a champ, stroking his own dick with a fiery passion that rivaled my own. The level of heat between us was staggering. Never during sex had I felt so equal, so balanced, so complete— like matching halves of a whole.

  When I couldn’t watch him swallow my cock and stroke himself anymore, when the sensations finally became too damn much and I had to blow, I threw my head back and bridged my hips in one final thrust, digging my heels into the mattress and unloading everything I had into the depths of his throat.

  Wave after wave of delicious pleasure washed through me until I thought my leg muscles would cramp from holding myself frozen in that position. Finally I relaxed my legs and lowered my weight back dow
n onto the bed.

  I was empty and limp, smiling and sated, when Kage climbed up the bed and knelt on both knees beside my head. His face was flushed with passion, with wanting me, and I thought it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. He worshiped my face through hooded lids, biting his full bottom lip between his teeth hard enough to leave marks. As I watched, he pulled on his cock with the unstudied ease of one who knows his own equipment by heart— two fingers under, thumb on top, just the right torque— and shot ropes of hot cum all over my eager face.

  Afterward, we lay on my bed and cuddled. I was spooned into his lap, his soft cock niched into the cleft of my ass. It reminded me of the first time I had let him cuddle me in bed, so in denial of how much I had wanted him. That night seemed ages ago.

  “I can’t believe this is happening,” I admitted as his hands roamed my body.

  He laughed quietly and planted a little kiss in my hair. “I can’t believe it took so long.”

  I turned over in his arms and faced him, draping my leg over his hip. “I’m just so… I don’t know.” I touched his face, hoping he could feel what I couldn’t find words to express.

  He smiled back. Rolled my necklace between his thumb and forefinger. “What is this?”

  “A necklace,” I said.

  “I know that, smart-ass. What does it mean?”

  “My mom gave it to me. It’s an Irish symbol, like a love thing. Like a code. You see it’s a crowned heart being held between two hands?”

  “Really?” He squinted at it. “Oh, I see it now. It would be easier to tell if you weren’t wearing it upside-down.”

  I smiled. “That’s the code part. Usually it’s on a ring, but I figure it works the same way on a necklace. When you’re single, you wear the point of the heart facing away from your heart. Then, when you meet your soulmate, you’re supposed to turn it around.” I laughed self-consciously. “I know, it’s girly shit. I just wanted it because my sister got one for her sixteenth birthday, so my mom had one made that was a little more my style.”

  Suddenly there was a huge lump in my throat.

  “You thinking about your mom?” he asked.

  I nodded, trying to will the tears not to come. God, that was the last thing I needed to do. Have the most amazing sexual experience of my entire life, then break down in tears. My eyes were stinging, and the way Kage was looking at me was not helping.

  “Here, turn back over,” he suggested, as if he knew. Once I was spooned against him again, he said, “There’s nothing wrong with crying for someone you love.”

  18

  WHEN I woke up the next morning, Kage was gone. There was no note, no text message, nothing.

  I drafted a text to him. “Morning, sexy. Where did you disappear to?”

  I read it at least ten times. Was it too much calling him sexy? Should I play it cool and not text at all? I deleted the word sexy, typed it back in, then deleted the entire text.

  I pulled on a pair of boxer briefs, then some shorts on over them. My reflection looked surprisingly sad after the glorious night we’d had. It was because I’d woken up without Kage beside me, and that was messed up. I’d never even spent the night with Layla, and we had dated for months.

  Kage takes off the morning after, and I’m freaking out.

  There was a knock at the door, and I almost came out of my skin. For a moment, I thought for sure it was Kage. But a glance through the peephole revealed the room service guy.

  I pulled open the door and offered him a lukewarm smile. “Thanks.” I ran to the kitchen and grabbed the three dollar bills on the counter. Then I took my food and tipped him.

  Beneath the silver dome lid of the tray was my feast. Egg whites. Proatmeal. Dry wheat toast. Black coffee. Fucking tomatoes. I pulled my water jug out of the fridge and started chugging it. Where the hell was Kage?

  Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. I grabbed my phone and texted, “Where are you?” This time I actually hit send.

  “My apartment,” he texted back. “Had to take care of something. Come up after breakfast?”

  Relief washed over me. “Sure.”

  I was so screwed.

  But now that I’d solved the mystery of the missing fighter, I had an appetite. I ate every bite on the tray, even the tomatoes. Then I took a shower, so that I didn’t seem too eager. Plus, I thought it might be uncouth to show up wearing the remnants of his cum from the night before.

  Kage answered the door to his apartment dressed only in boxers. He appeared freshly showered as well, his hair wet and slicked back, his skin scented with body wash.

  Instead of inviting me in and engaging in conversation like he normally would have, Kage pulled my t-shirt over my head and had me in his arms before the door had even snapped closed behind me.

  He clung to me, his face buried in the curve between my neck and shoulder, breathing heavily. He pawed ineffectually at my shorts until I pulled them down myself. But he didn’t attack me like he had the night before. We just stood there in front of the door, holding each other. When I tried to pull back to get a look at his face, he held tight and wouldn’t let me see him.

  “Kage, are you okay? You’re scaring me. Is everything alright?”

  “I’m fine. Let’s just watch TV or something.” He let go of me, went into the living room, and used the remote to turn on the classic movie channel. Some black and white thing was playing, but I wasn’t going to argue about his choice of movie.

  We sat down on the sofa, looking straight ahead at the TV with only our thighs touching. This lasted for about sixty seconds, then Kage was up again. He went into the kitchen and refilled his jug with filtered water. He seemed severely agitated. I’m ashamed to admit it now, but my first thought was that he was on drugs— like cocaine or PCP or something. He was so damn jumpy.

  Then he just stopped in the middle of the kitchen holding that jug of water.

  “I can’t breathe,” he said. The words came out a soft gasp, his hand flattened over his chest. “I knew it. Fuuuck… not now. God, here it comes. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.”

  My whole body went white hot.

  “Kage, what is it?” I was at his side in an instant.

  He leaned against the counter and slammed his half-full jug of water down, mangling it and sending water gushing all over the granite. It trickled from the far end of the counter and puddled onto the floor, but cleaning it up was the least of my concerns.

  Kage sucked in a deep breath through his nose and blew it out slowly through lips stretched into a tight line so that only a thin stream could escape. He repeated the process over and over, not speaking, while I stood impotently beside him. I was afraid to touch him.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, already knowing the answer to the question. “Should I call 911? You say you can’t breathe, but you’re breathing, Kage. You are breathing.”

  “Get my cell,” he groaned, dropping his head to the counter, heedless of the water puddled there. He was still dragging in those labored breaths and pushing out thin ribbons of carbon dioxide. I realized he was purposely hypoventilating— the equivalent to breathing into a paper bag— and that meant he felt like he was close to passing out.

  I ran as fast as I could to the sofa and grabbed his cell phone from the cushion. I wished I could take time to turn the TV off. It was loud and distracting, but I had to get back to Kage before he lost consciousness and banged his head or something.

  Absurdly, it occurred to me that I was worrying about a fighter who had been slammed and punched and kicked and choked relentlessly his entire life.

  “There’s a number on there. It says Julie. Call it, tell her to meet me.”

  I fumbled with the phone and got the number dialed.

  “Put it on speaker,” he said at the last second. I did.

  “Kage, what is it?” a female voice asked, sounding alarmed.

  “I can’t breathe,” he told her simply.

  “I’m on my way,” she said. “Headed o
ut the door right now. Are you at your place?”

  “Yeah.” He slowed his breathing even more. “Jamie’s with me.”

  “Can he hear me?” Her voice seemed to carry a note of caution.

  He nodded, then gasped. “Yes. You’re on speaker.”

  “Jamie,” she said firmly, surprising me. “Get Michael to the bed. Make him lie down, okay?”

  “Okay,” I said, hating the panic in my voice. I needed to pull it together, be strong for Kage.

  “He’s going to be fine,” she told me. Even thinned out over a cell phone line, her voice was convincing. Commanding. “He’s having a panic attack, that’s all. It feels very scary to him, but he’s not in any real physical danger. Just get him to the bed and comfort him the best you can. I’m already in the car, and I’ll be there in less than fifteen minutes.”

  “Alright,” I said, my voice warbling with my own wave of panic.

  “Jamie,” she called, and I had to pull the phone back to my ear. “Don’t let him out of your sight.”

  After I hung up the phone, I took Kage by the arm and led him slowly to the bed. He seemed weak, like the energy to move had been stripped from him. I got the feeling that if I let go of him, he’d sink down and not try to get back up— which is exactly what he did when we reached the bed.

  I left him there lying sideways on the bed long enough to run to the front door and unlock it. Then I was at his side again.

  I picked his legs up and got them onto the bed while he continued to hypoventilate and stare at the ceiling. His breathing was chillingly similar to my grandfather’s on his final emergency room visit. A longtime emphysema sufferer, he’d lived with us for the final years of his life. During that time, we made frequent trips to the ER. On that last night, I’d held his frail, grasping hand as he fought for breath. The tube blowing oxygen into his nose did little to comfort him.

  His words had been desperate, punctuated by labored breaths.

  “Don’t want.” breath. “To do it.” breath. “Anymore.” breath.

  He was tired. So tired. His chest heaved with exertion.