Page 492 of Lessons in Cruelty

Something in his tone makes my chest tighten. This is the Kai who used to clean my scraped knees when we were kids. The one who’d throw an arm over my shoulder as we huddled under the overhang to stay warm during a thunderstorm. The one who’d change the subject when our conversations got too real, too fast and tears were on the verge of spilling.

The one I was forced to forget when it was obvious he’d moved on.

“Fine,” I grumble, climbing reluctantly onto his back. “But no funny business.”

His hands grip under my thighs, fingers pressing into flesh with just enough possessiveness to send an unwelcome shiver up my spine. I wrap my arms around his shoulders, hating how perfectly I still fit against him.

I can’t count how many times he carried me like this when we were kids.

“Ready?” he asks, his voice a rumble I can feel through his back.

“For the slow death of my dignity?” I mutter.

He laughs, the sound vibrating through my chest as he climbs through the window with surprising grace considering he’s carrying me. As he walks, his thumbs trace small circles against my skin.

I tell myself it’s to secure his grip. I tell myself I hate it.

I tell myself a lot of things these days.

Rain patters down on us as Kai carries me toward Greek Row, his breathing steady despite his own injuries. I rest my chin on his shoulder, close enough to smell his hair, close enough to feel his warmth against my cheek.

Close enough to remember why it hurt so much when he rejected me.

Chapter 58

Kai

My arms hurt, but my back hurts even more. And I don’t even want to think about my feet. I might as well not be wearing boots at all. I can feel every cut and bruise like⁠—

Like I’m carrying a two-hundred pound sack of potatoes around in the dark.

I slow down to maneuver Haven’s legs around a tangle of underbrush. She doesn’t even bother trying to move her legs out of the way.

“Don’t work out much, do you?” she mutters.

I speed up again, side-eyeing her with a crooked smile. “Glass houses, Heavenly. What are you, pushing one-fifty?”

She lets out a shocked gasp and punches me in the ribs so hard I grunt.

Worth it.

“Asshole,” she mutters, and I swear I hear her teeth chatter. She’s been shivering for the past few minutes. I tried to convince myself I was imagining it, but it’s obvious she’s freezing.

The fact she’s shivering shouldn’t affect me the way it does. But now that she’s mine, and that means I have to protect her, right?

Keep her safe, warm.

The thought should terrify me, but it just makes my dick hard.

I stop near a relatively mossy area, groaning as I slide her off my back.

“I can walk the rest of the way,” she says—and not for the first time.

I work my arms and shrug my shoulders, willing the burning ache to subside. “Yeah? Show me.”

She tries, unsuccessfully, to suppress a whimper as her injured foot touches the ground, despite how soft and squishy it is.

“That’s what I thought.” I take a second to scan the dark, damp forest. I hate being cold and wet. But I’d hate myself even more if I had to watch Haven shivering.