his arms around me, and when he pulled me into his lap, I winced. I regretted the sound the second it came out of my mouth.
“Fuck.” His arms dropped. “I’m sorry; I wasn’t even thinking.”
“No, Garin, don’t stop touching me.” I wiggled in between his legs, pushed my back into his chest, and locked his hands over my stomach. “I’m fine. I may not look it, but I am.”
He tucked his face into my neck. I could tell by his breathing that something wasn’t right.
“Tell me what’s on your mind before I take control of your lips and don’t release them for a very long time.”
“Jesus, Kyle, I thought they killed you.” There wasn’t anger in his exhale. It was pain. “I heard you scream. For two days, I heard it, and I just sat in this goddamn cell. Beard didn’t bring any food, so I couldn’t even attempt to get out. Your screams…they fucking destroyed me.”
I had to see his face, so I pulled my body off his and turned around. I held in the gasp, but it wasn’t easy.
This whole time, I hadn’t even considered that Breath would out me. If Garin had any idea that I knew who Paulie’s killer was…
“Did you hear anything else?”
“No.” His eyes narrowed. “But I was going to murder the next person who came into this cell. The next person ended up being you.”
I should have felt relief. I should have turned back around and snuggled into his chest again. But I couldn’t move. Something inside me was making my chin quiver. Was making my lips shake. Was making tears well in my eyes.
My body was paralyzed with guilt, and it showed all over my face. I had to try and hide it. He couldn’t know. He couldn’t…
“You saved me,” I blurted out.
“No, I didn’t, Kyle. I couldn’t get my hands on them.”
“But, in my mind, you did. You were the happiness I felt when he was torturing me. Your face and presence. You got me through it. You told me to breathe.”
“You stopped screaming after the second day. A whole day went by, and you still hadn’t returned. I had nothing, not even whispers to hold on to.” He ground his teeth together. “Do you know what that did to me? What it made me think?”
“I’m here now.”
He nodded, as though he were reminding himself of the same thing. “Come here.” He tapped his leg with the back of his hand. “Lie down right here.”
“I don’t want to lie down.”
I watched him tug at the corner of his mouth, and I was jealous of his teeth. Jealous that they got to bite into the flesh that I wanted to sink into.
“You need—”
“I need you, Garin. I need you to make me forget about those three days.”
He shook his head. “No fucking way.”
He had washed everything off me, but he hadn’t cleansed the memories.
“I need you to take my mind to a different place. My body…take my body, too.”
“You’re too sore. You’re cut.”
“I’m fine. Please.” I dug my nails into his thighs and looked at him through my lashes. “I need this. I’m begging you.”
It took him a few seconds before he responded, and then I slowly started to see the change in his eyes. The dominance was back. The control. The need.
“You don’t want it soft.”
He didn’t phrase it as a question. I loved that.
“Or slow,” he continued.
“No. I don’t want either.”
His growl tore through the entire cell as he moved on top of me. He stripped his clothes so fast that I was sure they had ripped. I expected him to slide between my legs, for his lips to be somewhere on my body, his hand on my clit. I expected the memories to sink into the cement below me.
But all I got was a stare. A lick across his bottom lip. His fingers giving his erection a few pumps. I was thankful there wasn’t a video camera inside our cell. Breath probably would have punished me for his insecurities when he compared his pathetic hard-on to the length and girth of Garin’s.
“How far can I take it?”
He had all of me. He had to know that by now.
“There are no limits.”
“You’re sure?”
I spread my legs wider, so my feet pressed against the outside of his thighs, and I dipped my hand between them. As I found my clit, I gently rubbed it. “I’m definitely sure.”
“Fuck,” he moaned. “Do you know how sexy you look, touching your clit the way