Kings of Anarchy (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep #3) - Caroline Peckham Page 0,211

standing in the shadows behind me, but it had also taken away my excuse not to have it.

"He's a good man," Tatum agreed and I almost smiled at that.

It was funny how we could both come to that conclusion over someone who we knew for a fact took pleasure in violence and had killed more than once. And yet I was certain that it was true right down to the core of my being.

"If you stay here, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to maintain my control with you, Tatum," I warned her. "If you stay, you're making this decision for us."

"I'm not afraid of you, Saint."

"That really only makes this worse," I told her. "Because if you're not afraid then you must be seriously underestimating me."

"Or maybe you're the one who is underestimating me," she replied and I couldn't help the small twitch of my lips to her words. Never had a truer word been spoken; I’d been underestimating her since the day we’d first met.

"Come over here then, let's see what you've got." I inclined my head to the bench beside me and my skin prickled as my awareness of her presence sharpened until I felt like I was drowning in it.

When she dropped down onto the bench a few inches from me, I inhaled deeply, relishing the scent of her while never once pausing in the movements of my fingers over the keys.

"Can you play?" I asked her, and from the corner of my eye I saw her shake her head.

"I've had so many hobbies over the years that I couldn't even count them if I tried, but I never once got the feeling I had the aptitude to attempt a musical instrument," she explained.

"It's easier than it looks," I murmured as I slowed the movements of my fingers and slowly played the introduction to Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata for her, making it easy for her to follow the pattern my fingers took across the keys. "You try."

I drew my hand back and the music withdrew from the room as she turned to look up at me, biting down on her lip and forcing my attention to her mouth as she hesitated.

"There's nothing easy about that, Saint," she protested and I sighed, reaching out to take her hand and place it on the keys.

I encouraged her to press down on them in order, but her fingers resisted the movements of mine and she frowned as she tried to concentrate on what I was showing her too damn much and hit the wrong notes.

"It's not supposed to feel like that," I said in a low voice, reaching out to smooth the creases from her brow and giving her a light smile as she stared up at me in surprise like she thought I’d be angry over her doing it wrong. But the piano was where I came to vent my emotions, I wasn’t going to be angry at her for attempting to understand that. "You have to feel the music. Let it use you as a vessel to travel out into the world. Don't overthink it."

"I don't underst-"

I huffed in irritation as I tried to figure out how else to show her what it felt like to me, the silence of the room offending me now that the piano lay unused before us and I wound my arm around her before hoisting her into my lap.

Tatum gasped as I situated her on top of me and I reached my arms around her as I laid my fingers down on the keys once more.

"Place your hands on top of mine," I instructed, my chin almost leaning on her shoulder. "Rest your fingers on each of mine too and relax, let your hands move with mine. Okay?"

She nodded wordlessly and I began to play Unchained Melody by The O’Neill Brothers. It was a hauntingly beautiful piece which I'd always loved because of the way it almost made me feel real heartache as I brought it to life. But as I played it with her, her hands caressing mine, the notes coming alive as if it really were both of us playing, I swear I felt something in the music which I'd never noticed before. Something sweet and pure and almost hopeful which had my heart thumping solidly in my chest.

I kept playing and Tatum slowly turned until she was looking at me over her shoulder, our hands still moving in perfect synchronisation as the music came to life all