Page 52 of Midnight of Ashes
Knox’s hand trailed up and down my back in soothing strokes.
“I’m sorry,” I croaked.
“There’s nothing to be sorry for. Tonight was a lot. You can’t bottle up everything that you’re feeling.”
I pulled back a fraction. “I don’t see how it’s possible for this to work. It feels like the whole world is against us.”
Knox’s hand moved to my neck, kneading the muscles there. “I won’t lie to you. We’ll have to deal with the Corbetts. They won’t stand for us having a mate.”
“Why do they care so much?”
Knox’s mouth curved. “Sometimes I forget that you didn’t grow up in this world. Being mated will make all of us stronger, faster, our abilities heightened.”
My mouth went slack. “Oh.”
“They don’t want that for us, but more, they want it for themselves.”
My stomach cramped at the thought.
Knox squeezed my neck. “We’ll deal with them. And once we’re mated, things will ease a bit.”
But I wasn’t sure we’d ever get there. Not anytime soon. Maddox may have softened to me tonight, but he was firm in not touching me until I graduated. And Easton…he wasn’t any closer to letting me in, even if he’d stopped with his assholish ways.
My gaze lifted to Knox’s. “Make me forget? Just for tonight?”
His eyes flared. “Hayden…”
“Please.” I wasn’t above begging.
Knox searched my face, looking for something. He must’ve found it because he took my mouth then. The kiss was different. It was slow and tender. It poured emotion into me that made my eyes sting.
His hand moved to my breast, palming it and squeezing gently. His thumb circled my nipple, and it beaded under his touch.
Knox pulled his mouth from mine, breathing just a little more raggedly. “I could drown in your taste.”
My core tightened, spasming around nothing but the need for him.
I moved then, straddling Knox’s lap and resting my hands on his shoulders. He gazed up at me, reverence in his eyes.
“So damn beautiful.” His hand dipped between my thighs, teasing, toying.
“I want all of you,” I whispered.
Gold sparked in Knox’s eyes as two fingers slid inside me. “Are you sure?”
“Never been surer of anything.” I needed to be as close as possible to this man who had cared for me before he’d even known who I was to him. This man who had shown me kindness before knowing I was anything but a bumbling freshman, lost on her way to check-in.
His fingers stretched me, and I couldn’t hold in my moan.
“I’ve wanted you since the moment I saw you. When I thought you were a human and knew I shouldn’t go anywhere near you.”
My eyes locked with his. “You made me feel safe from the moment I met you. You made me feel special. And you showed me true kindness.”
Knox’s free hand lifted to my face, cupping it. “I love you, Hayden. You saw me, even the things I tried to hide.”
Pressure built behind my eyes. “I love you, too. More than I thought possible.”
Then Knox’s fingers were gone, and I was sliding down onto him. My eyes watered with the stretch, my mouth falling open.
