got out, “that you love me, Cash Kelly. Just as much as I love you.”
“Grand,” he whispered in my ear. “Just fucking grand.”
I intertwined our fingers, holding on tight.
“Keely Kelly,” he said.
“Yeah?”
“I need you more than a heart needs blood.” He wrapped his hand around my wrist, applying pressure to the pulse there. “The only addiction to ever have power over me. The only soul to ever conquer my chaotic soul with complete peace.”
We both stared at the steam on the windows, condensation making strange patterns as it ran down the panes, snippets of the storm coming through the cleared paths. I fell asleep wrapped in his arms without realizing it; the pounding of his heart against my back was a song, soothing the mayhem surrounding us.
28
Keely
I blinked at the bright light coming in through the windows. The sun had burnt through the night while we slept, and the room had turned stuffy and humid from the storm.
My skin was still against his skin.
His arm was around me, and his nose was close to my ear. He was snoring.
A slow, satisfying grin came to my face at the faint sound of it.
He barely slept, and when he did, it was light. The nights must’ve caught up to him, like my evenings without dinner had caught up with me. He needed sleep as much as I needed food. My stomach made an obnoxious noise at the thought. But I had other needs that felt more important.
He was hard, and after I pushed my ass into him, he pushed himself inside of me and groaned deep.
“I wasn’t hungry for food, Kelly,” I said, breathless. “I was starved for this.” The connection.
“When I close my eyes, I dream of this,” he said, sinking into me even deeper. “You fuck up my body and settle my mind.”
He worked my body hard—gasping for breath, slick with sweat, his handprints on my skin—before my body submitted to his and his to mine.
Afterward, I felt like I’d taken a free fall from heaven. I sank deeper into the mattress, the pillow, and my eyes closed.
His breath fanned over my ear when he laughed. “No time for sleep, my darlin’.”
“There’s always time for sleep, my thief of hours,” I said. Maybe I dozed off for a second, but when I came to, it was with a jolt. Someone had slammed a fist against the front door, and I heard it open with a creak.
Cash sat up, rubbing his face, and then went to the bedroom door. The golden light coming in through the window lit up his naked body, every spectacular angle of it. He looked around for a second, and after he didn’t find what he wanted, he left the room.
“What the fuck, Cashel,” I heard the voice say. It belonged to Cash, but it was coming out of another man’s mouth. His brother, Killian. “I don’t want to see your wanker before I’ve even had my porridge. Ach.”
“Best to knock and wait then,” Cash said, his voice low. He must’ve been picking up his clothes. A minute later, I heard the front door again, and then another minute or two, he came back into our room with our suitcases and all of my clothes from last night. “Get dressed.”
I nodded and moved with more energy in my blood. I took a quick shower and dressed in a black maxi dress that came close to sweeping the floor. A row of buttons ran down the front of the dress, which was open from my knees down. I completed the outfit with a tiger-print belt around my waist.
My hair was fluffed up, a wild storm of red, and I didn’t even bother trying to tame it, but I did do some light makeup to help my face. Then I stood back, looking myself over. I wasn’t sure why, but I wanted to make a good impression on his brother.
I went to touch the necklace, the heart pendant, and as usual, I felt hollow when I found it missing. When I’d taken it off and left it on his pillow, it almost felt like I’d stolen a piece of myself back from him. I hated it as much as if he’d taken a piece of himself from me.
Love should’ve been spelled I. N. S. A. N. I. T. Y.
I must’ve been quiet when I entered the kitchen, because his brother didn’t hear me. He sat in his wheelchair, at the kitchen door, watching something going on outside. An old