The Rebel King (All the King's Men Duet #2) - Kennedy Ryan Page 0,100
map, and we make love until it feels like we fall off the edge of the world. It’s just us, the longitude of our bodies aligned and locked and loving. The latitude of our hearts, crossed, pressed together.
Later we’re under the covers, the hotel comforter nowhere near as soft and fine as our bed in Wyoming, but I don’t really care because she’s with me.
“I needed this so much.” I kiss her shoulder, pull her back into my chest, and cup her breast. “I needed you so much.”
She nods, capturing my hand and linking it with hers. “I knew seeing Millie and the kids would be rough.”
“It was so hard, but I think she’ll be okay.” I shrug. “We all will eventually. She misses him.”
Matches are being struck inside my throat, a betraying burn. I swallow, trying to keep the scorching emotion at bay, but it won’t be denied.
“Fuck,” I mutter into her hair, tears streaming from my eyes. “Dammit.”
She turns over, naked and beautiful, her eyes wet and concerned, searching mine in the lamp’s anemic light.
“Oh, Doc,” she whispers. “It’s okay. Oh, baby, please let it out. Please let it go.”
I grit my teeth, hoping to trap it, to cage it, but it roars out, wild and unwieldly.
“It’s my fault,” I mutter into her neck, squeezing her, needing something to hold onto when it seems the whole world is spinning. “God, Millie . . . she . . . the twins . . . it’s my fault. O would still be here if . . .”
“Shhhhh, baby.” She rubs my back and kisses my jaw, my cheeks, my tears. “It’s not your fault. It’s his fault, and we can’t bring Owen back, but we’ll make Gregory pay, and we’ll be there for Millie and the kids. We will. I promise, Maxim. I promise.”
I don’t know how long the tears fall, and I’m not ashamed or self-conscious. Not with her. She’s an extension of me, and I’m an extension of her. She’s a layer of my skin, a chamber of my heart. She’s the tattoo on my chest.
Endurance.
I know what it meant when I got it, but Lennix brings new meaning to everything, even the word inked on my skin. She endures. This connection that started so many years ago, it endures. For the first time tonight, I think I can make it, as long as I have this. As long as I have her.
45
Lennix
“Oh, hell.”
I jerk upright in Maxim’s hotel bed, naked as the day I was born. There’s light coming through the shades.
Light is bad. Very bad.
I throw the covers back and jump out of bed. We’re supposed to leave for Pittsburgh at eight. I snatch my phone from the bedside table.
“Six thirty. Not great, but not the end of the world.”
“Where are you going?” Maxim asks drowsily, grasping my wrist, his fingers catching in my bracelet. “Come back to bed. I’ll make us breakfast later.”
“Doc, we aren’t in Wyoming.” I pull away and search the floor for my clothes. “I have to go before someone sees. I’ll meet you at the bus.”
I speed out to the sitting room and locate my torn panties and jeans. Slipping the jeans on commando, I stuff the torn panties in my front pocket. I throw on the campaign tank top, not bothering with the bra, but balling it into one hand and grabbing my shoes with the other. I have to make this the most discreet walk of shame in the history of hook-ups.
I open the door cautiously, almost overlooking the guard sitting in the corner of the small reception area. He quickly averts his eyes.
I’m not wearing a bra. Great.
Nippling in this tank top. Panties hanging out of my pocket. Barefoot. Well-fucked hair all over the place. This is some trashy shit right here and not my proudest moment.
I flash the guard an awkward smile while I wait for the elevator. The security staff know about Maxim and me. Most of them were with us in Wyoming. They probably think it’s strange that we don’t tell everyone. Fortunately, this is a private floor and you have to know the code to get up here. I should be safe.
The elevator doors open and before I can step on, Glenn steps off. We both stand there, suspended in our mutual disbelief. I grip my bright orange bra so tightly, I’m sure I crush the wires in it. His gaze falls to my fist of orange satin and his mouth drops open.