Page 49 of Unmasking Her Shadow

“You’re perfect and I can’t believe I get to call you mine,” she admits, kissing my forehead gently. “I get to call you mine, right?”

“Your what?” I tease.

She exhales slowly. “My everything.”

Anxiety clashes with selfishness. I worry this will end with me walking away like I always do and hurting her. But the selfish part of me doesn’t care about the possibilities because I am in love with the way she makes me feel, in and out of the bedroom.

“I’m not the best with relationships,” I warn. “Or at least…I haven’t been.”

“Me neither, Red.” She rubs her thumbs back and forth against my cheeks.

“I like things that are not normal,” I add.

“And maybe I enjoy doing them to you.”

“I may have a stalker…that might also be in love with me,” I mutter quickly under my breath, but she still hears it.

She chuckles. “I’ll take care of it.”

That’s what I don’t want to happen though. He’s my shadow. I don’t want him in trouble with the law. I’m the one who met him and never let go. “No.” I shake my head. “Please let me handle him.”

He’s harmless. But that might only be true for me. Even though I already fell for him, I could never choose a faceless stalker over Kioni. I fell for him in fantasy land. The land of sins and secrets. This is real. She is real. If this ends the same way they all do, then it’s obvious…I’m incapable of being with anyone and need to save us all the trouble and keep to my toys and my toys only.

“I’ll do whatever you want me to do, but I will also keep you safe. You are my priority. Nobody else.” She pulls me into a hug, and I melt into her embrace one last time before we leave our room and enter our new reality.

The knocking at our door signals that our time’s up. She needs to get to work, and I need to get my baby. Taylor is going to be so hungover. A pang of guilt hits me that I left with Ki instead of staying with her, but I know she won’t hold it against me. If she wasn’t on her no-dick diet, she would have dragged Ryker away whether he was willing to let her lick the push pop or not.

Ki opens the door and Ryker’s stunned, disheveled appeared has a laugh bursting out of me.

“What the fuck happened to you?” Ki blurts out with amused concern.

“I don’t want to talk about it. We need to go,” he mumbles, walking away without waiting for anyone to follow.

Taylor walks out with her overnight bag half open over her shoulder and laughs when she sees our puzzled expressions, then holds her head and groans. “Ow,” she whines.

“Would you like to talk about it?” I ask, walking beside her down the hall.

“I got Ryker back is all. Play with fire and I’ll roast marshmallows. Do you have time to eat breakfast before we leave? I need something in my stomach to soak up some of the tequila swishing around before I puke.”

“Yes. Come with me to Mom and Dad’s so you can meet my new puppy afterwards.”

Ki huffs out a forced laugh. “Nyx is not a puppy, Sam. She’s a terrifying grizzly wolf that wishes to eat me.”

“Stop being dramatic. She’s a sweetheart.”

We come to our parting place, and she tugs me into her chest, kissing me as if my sister was not right next to us and we were all alone again. Not in the shadows, but out loud. When she pulls away, I’m left breathless.

“Have a fantastic day, love. Nice to meet you, Taylor.” We both watch her leave, and Taylor smacks me on the arm.

“Ouch!” I turn and smack her back. “What was that for?”

“You do have a girlfriend!” she shrieks loudly, as if she just remembered the last question on a quiz, and then squints her eyes in pain. “Too loud, Taylor. Too loud.”

I roll my eyes and laugh, dragging her toward the food.

32

Kioni