Although that was exactly what I was.
Doe
I closed the door to my room and pressed my forehead against it. Devastated didn’t begin to cover how I felt. King was dead and I’d lost my only friend because I was stupid enough to think that I could use a marriage certificate as a tool to get what I so desperately wanted.
A family. A real family that I chose, just like I’d chosen King and Preppy.
I let out a frustrated scream and clenched my fists, banging on the door until I was all out of fight. I rubbed my lips to erase the taste of Tanner until they felt raw.
“Take your fucking clothes off,” a deep voice growled.
Awareness washed over me like static electricity.
I gasped and turned my tear-stained face from the door. Hundreds of years could pass without me hearing it and I would still know exactly who the voice belonged to.
King emerged from the corner of the room, the shadow falling away from his body like a blanket slowly being tugged off. “You know I don’t like to repeat myself, but for you, I’ll do it just this once, Pup.” He stopped in front of me and peered down, his eyes burning with both lust and anger. “Take your fucking clothes off.”
“You’re alive,” I whisper as my heart hammered in my chest.
Was I imagining this?
“You’re about to find out how alive I really am.” He stalked toward me. “You and I communicate better when I’m inside you, and there is a lot I’ve got to say… So instead of the question-and-answer bullshit that will get us a fuck of a lot of nowhere, we’re going to do this in a way I already know works.”
“I thought you were dead.” My chest heaved with fear and desire. My skin prickled, my nipples tightened.
“Were you grieving when that kid had his tongue down your fucking throat?” King reached for my hand, holding up the finger that held Tanner’s ring. “Is your grief the reason why you’re wearing this?”
I ripped my finger from his grip and placed my hands against his chest. My intention was to push him away, but as soon as I made contact I couldn’t let go.
I didn’t want to.
I fisted his shirt in my hands. The relief I had felt over him being alive was being replaced by my anger at his accusatory tone. “I thought you were dead,” I repeated.
He spoke into my hair, his breath warm against my scalp. “Oh, Pup. I’m pretty sure even death couldn’t keep me from you.”
I inhaled, taking in the scent of cigarettes and wind. I’d missed the familiarity of his smell almost as much as I’d missed him. “I never thought I would see you again. I went to the MC. Bear’s dad is the one who told me you were dead.”
King shook his head slowly from side to side. “He’ll be dealt with.” He narrowed his eyes. “As will you,” he said so low and deep, I felt his words to my very core.
“What?”
“Did you really think it would be that easy to get rid of me? For fuck’s sake I remember what it feels like to be inside you. You think I can just forget that? You think I haven’t been trying for weeks to convince myself that it’s just my cock who misses you? Because I’ll tell you, nothing would make me happier than to be able to rid myself of this fucking hurt, right now. Right here.” King pounded on his chest with a closed fist. “I sometimes wish I could just forget it all, but I can’t. I won’t. Because I don’t want to ever want to forget you. And I welcome this pain because it reminds me that you were real.” I bit my lip so hard I could taste the copper in my mouth.
King spoke while walking toward me, backing me up further into the shadows until my back connected with the dresser. He placed his hands on the wall around me, caging me in, leaning down until we were eye to eye.
“I don’t know why you’re holding on so tight, Pup, when your body is clearly telling me that you’re still mine.” King inhaled me, like I did him. Closing his eyes, he rubbed his nose across my jawline. “Do you love him?” he growled, nipping at my neck with his teeth.
“Yes,” I admitted. King pulled back and scowled. I clarified, “It was never a love like he thought it was, like he wanted it to be. I loved him like a best friend, never like the way—” His eyes searched mine, eagerly awaiting the rest of my answer. “Weeks go by without a single word, and you show up out of nowhere, sneak into my room and demand that I take my clothes off on the day I—” I couldn’t finish the sentence. I couldn’t say the words that I didn’t want to be true.