“Hey.” He gave her a gentle jostle, so she’d look at him again. “Don’t apologize for something you can’t control. But you gotta tell me what to do if it happens again. Is it even safe for you to live alone?”
“Knox knows what to do,” she said, and she didn’t even try to hide the way she curled a little closer to him. She fit perfectly in his arms, soft and warm, and he wasn’t even thinking about putting her down. Not yet.
She tilted her head toward the door. Knox was still sitting guard, intense as ever. “Good boy, Knox. I’m okay now. Go to bed.”
Kane watched the transformation, the fierce guardian dog suddenly turning into a wagging, happy idiot as he trotted over to sniff her and make sure she was alright. After Monica patted his massive head, he bolted upstairs.
“Knox guards the door, so I can’t go outside. Usually, he watches to make sure I don’t grab a knife, turn on the stove, or do anything with fire. If I do, he barks and wakes me up, which I hate because it’s terrifying to wake up in a place when you have no clue how you got there.”
“He’s trained for this.” It wasn’t even a question.
“Yeah, my ex trained him when he was a puppy,” Monica said, shifting in Kane’s arms. “You can put me down now.”
He totally ignored the put me now part of what she was saying.
“Your ex?” The word tasted wrong coming out of his mouth. Worse was the growl hiding behind it.
“He got tired of getting up in the middle of the night,” Monica said with a shrug. “He trained Knox instead. He was a dog trainer for people with disabilities. My brother got me Knox for my birthday, and my ex offered to train him to help keep me safe. I accepted because I hate to be a burden to anyone. It happens more when I’m stressed or sleep deprived.”
“Your man should take care of you. Not your dog.” Kane said instead of saying what he really wanted to say about a man who relied on a dog to keep his woman safe. Yeah, that pissed him off to the point he wouldn’t mind running into the jackass. “What happened with your ex?”
Her surprised expression told him she didn’t expect him to ask. Hell,hedidn’t expect to ask the question either, but there it was.
“It just didn’t work,” she finally said.
“That’s obvious,” Kane muttered. “Why?”
“After Beverly disappeared, he accused me of caring more about her than him,” she said softly.
Kane’s jaw went tight. “What an asshole.”
“Not really. He was right.” Monica smiled a little at his reaction. “We were drifting apart anyway. And I did love my sister more. If I even loved him at all.”
“A strong man would never compare himself to your sister,” Kane said, his gaze drifting to her lips—just in time to watch her tongue slide across her bottom one. Jesus.
“You can put me down now, Kane,” she whispered, her eyes searching his. If he were a gambling man, which he was, he’d bet his last dollar that she didn’t want to be set down.
“What if I don’t want to put you down?” he said roughly, lifting his eyes to hers.
She didn’t hesitate.
“Then don’t,” she whispered, cupping his cheek.
And that—fuck, that was all the permission he needed to claim her mouth.
CHAPTER 21
The second Kane’s mouth crashed into hers, Monica damn near wanted to shout in triumph. There was nothing soft or searching about the kiss. It was pure heat and pressure, like he’d kicked open a door inside her she never knew existed. His hand came up to the side of her neck, fingers firm, and God help her she leaned into it like she’d been waiting on that touch forever.
Kane kissed exactly the way she’d known he would—reckless, hungry, and unapologetic as hell. No easing in, no testing the waters. He took and consumed. The raw, animalistic growl rumbling through his chest lit every nerve she owned on fire. She didn’t want gentle from him. She wanted the force of him, the danger of him… and she wanted to prove she could meet every bit of it.
Her fingers fisted in the front of his shirt as she tried to shift in his arms. He didn’t even break the kiss, just grabbed her, turned her, and lifted her like she weighed nothing. Her legs locked around his waist as his hands gripped her ass, rough enough to make her gasp, but just shy of actual pain. The throbbing between her legs kicked hard in response.
Suddenly, her back met something cool behind her, and she felt all of him, every ounce of the dangerous, barely-contained energy that would make any sane woman run the other way. But she wasn’t running. Hell no. As overwhelming as he was, she felt safe in a way she didn’t understand.
His mouth tore from hers and dragged down her throat, hot, rough, and devouring. When his fangs scraped her skin, she moaned, shocked by how good it felt. Her pussy pressed against his lower stomach, his hard length pushing against her ass, and she rocked—just a little. Enough to feel him. Enough to make him growl out a warning.
He pulled back, eyes pitch-black, locking on her. She should’ve been afraid of that look. Instead, it thrilled her.