Page 14 of Kade

“Babe.” I swept my tongue inside of her mouth before pulling away to move down her throat, sucking on her neck. Her carotid artery. That was my spot. I tasted it, needing to mark her. I didn’t care how old we were, if we were married, how many kids we had. That mark on her, that was mine, and I hungered for people to see it.

Sam was mine. She belonged to me. I wanted everyone to be reminded.

“Hmmm?” She was replete after her release, but the longer I rubbed against her, the more I tasted her, she began to move underneath me. Her hips were moving, seeking out the beginning of another release.

“I need to fuck you.” Now. Right fucking now.

I pressed hard against her.

My hands began to shake. The need to get inside of her was too much.

I hoped this desire, this lust, never went away for us.

Shoving down my pants, I lined up with her.

I looked up, her eyes collided and held onto mine, and right there. That’s the connection I needed. I hungered to see inside of her at the same time as I wasinher. Feeling that link fill me up, I thrust inside of her.

6

MADDY

“Hey,” I whispered. “Come here.”

We were at my grandfather’s wake, and what a joke it was. We couldn’t even see him. Closed casket. Grandpa would have hated that. He was a good guy. I knew he hadn’t made the right decisions in his life. Man oh man, we heard that same oldallthe time, and hello? Grandma Analise had been a headcase. Those were her words. But they tried to change, and I thought they had. I don’t remember them being assholes. They loved me, still did in my books, and anyone who doted on me was good in my books.

I blinked away tears and shoved aside that stupid ball of emotion that kept trying to wedge its way into my chest.

Well, it was already there. It kept trying to move higher up in my throat to choke me, but nope. No way. I had no intention of letting myself submit to—what? Sadness? My emotions? My stupid grief?

I missed them both, and it sucked they were gone, but I’d see them again. They weren’tgonegone, and I mean, hell, if you believed in the afterlife, they were still around. That weirded me out, because I didn’t think either of them would be okay withwhat I wanted to do, but I also kinda didn’t care. If they were around and disapproving, they couldn’t tattle on me.

“Sorry, Gram, Gramps,” I said. It didn’t hurt to cover my bases.

I had this buzzing inside of me. It was in my blood. I knew I should be the good and dutiful daughter and sit by Mom’s side, maybe hold her hand. I’m sure she’d want me to help watch the kiddos, but I wasn’t doing that.

Max followed me. I led the way to the back of the building, exiting out to the lot behind it. It was more of an alley. There was minimal light. but it was enough to see the two guys waiting by the Ferrari.

“Oh. Whoa. Wait.” Max stopped me, touching my wrist. He went rigid, glaring at the guys before turning me around to face him. “What the fuck, Mads?” he hissed under his breath. “Do you know those guys?”

Beltraine Moreaux and Axel Johannson. Yeah, I knew them. They were seniors at my school, and they were the gatekeepers for mostly all the sorts of fun I wanted to do. Tonight, included. “Yeah. Duh. They’re why we’re here.”

“Little Kade.” Beltraine spoke up, lifting his chin.

“A second.” I held up two fingers, glancing over my shoulder.

Axel smirked, shifting to sit on the Ferrari. Why they brought a Ferrari was beyond me. They had money. I was aware. Everyone was, but they were stupid. Honestly. There were gangs in our town that would boost a car like that. If I were in a gang, and I needed to boost a car, that Ferrari was the first I’d go for. There was usually a GPS tracker installed and another added as a backup, but both were reachable. Yank them out, insert your modifier, which took twelve seconds to replicate the vehicle’s fob, andboom. Press a button, and that engine would be purring.

I wasn’t supposed to know this stuff, but I did. I’d done my research. Every adult in my family had been a hellion growing up. It was in my blood.

“What are you doing with those guys? I don’t want anything to do with them.”

God. Max.I fought against rolling my eyes, stepping back a little.

I loved Max. I did. We’d grown up together. We were best friends. He was family, though not actually blood, but he was such a smart, careful, don’t-get-in-trouble kind of guy. I wouldn’t call him lame or a goody two-shoes, because I knew he wasn’t either of those. If he needed to lay it down, he would, and when I say that, I meant whatever was needed in any situation. The guy was one of the most adaptable and intelligent guys I’d ever known, which was why I needed him to come with me.

He was my conscience.

If there was fire, I had to get so close to it that I burned. Something in me made me go to the fire. Max would pull me back. He kept me safe even from myself. It wasn’t fair to him, but that was our dynamic.