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Chapter no 13

Kiss the Sky

CONNOR COBALT

I check my watch. 4 a.m. The stationary cameras in the kitchen rafters film me, but thereโ€™s no possibility anyone would want to watch me, alone, right now. I just take pleasure in the idea that Scott will have to sift through hours of footage of me doing monotonous tasks, like studying. I find time to give the cameras the finger too, even if itโ€™s childish.

Ryke would definitely do it.

And if I can tell Scott to fuck off at four in the morning, then Iโ€™ll gladly take the opportunity. The benefit is just too fucking good.

I pour black coffee into a larger mug and fit the pot back. As soon as I turn around, I flinch and almost spill the hot liquid on my button-down and slacks. โ€œDammit, Rose.โ€

She wears her black silk robe, but I focus on her hands that fix firmly on her hips. โ€œYou never came to bed.โ€

I take a sip of my coffee and pass her easily, heading to the kitchen table, papers spread around my open laptop. โ€œI have business reports due

tomorrow. I donโ€™t have time to sleep.โ€ She follows me, and just as I near my chair, she kicks the legs, and it overturns and clatters to the floor.

My brows jump as I look from Rose, her arms crossed, and the chair on the floor. โ€œAre you trying to start something?โ€ I would smile if my eyes didnโ€™t feel like lead. My temples pound as though someone repeatedly swung a bat at my face. She has more leverage on me when Iโ€™m this exhausted.

โ€œLet me help you with the report,โ€ she says.

โ€œNo.โ€ I set my mug down on the table so I donโ€™t burn her or me. Her vexed stance and piercing yellow-green eyes tell me what she may do next. And itโ€™s not going to be delicate.

โ€œRichard, you canโ€™t live off two hours of sleep a day. So either I help you or youโ€™re going to turn your report in late and try to get an extension.โ€

The latter is not an option, and while I think Rose is fully capable of helping me, she needs the sleep as much as I do. Thereโ€™s no point in both of us suffering while I try to get my MBA.

โ€œGo back to bed,โ€ I say flatly. โ€œYouโ€™re stubborn.โ€

โ€œIโ€™m determined,โ€ I refute. I layer on a complacent smile, which causes her chest to rise in irritation.

She shoves me hard, and I sway at the force, already predicting it enough to brace myself. But she catches me off guard, darting to the table and gathering my papers. She scans the words quickly.

โ€œRose,โ€ I warn. โ€œYouโ€™re not helping me.โ€ I try to collect the papers from her, but she holds them above her head, as though thatโ€™ll work. I easily snatch a couple, having the height advantage.

โ€œI can calculate these numbers,โ€ she says, glancing at the computer screen.

โ€œI have no doubt that you can. But youโ€™re not going to.โ€ She tries to reach for my laptop, but thereโ€™s no way Iโ€™m letting her touch itโ€”tired or not, I block her with my body and shove her back with enough force that she stumbles into the wall.

She gapes and then her lips tighten. โ€œYou always talk about how I need to accept help once in a while. Youโ€™re becoming aโ€”โ€

โ€œThink hard before you finish that sentence, darling.โ€ Her eyes brighten at the challenge. โ€œA hypocrite.โ€

Thatโ€™s it. I grab her around the waist, and she starts hitting my chest with closed fists. โ€œSet me down right now, Richard!โ€

I carry her towards the kitchen sink, my hand gripping her ass, while she thrashes against me. When she bites my arm, I grimace into a laugh. โ€œYou want to play rough?โ€ I set her feet on the ground, and before she can orient herself, I push her hard against the kitchen island.

I lose my hand in her hair and yank forcefully. She gasps, but she blinks quickly. โ€œLet me help you.โ€

โ€œNo.โ€

Her nose flares. And she slams the heels of her palms into my chest, forcing me back. โ€œIโ€™mย doing half of your report.โ€ Sheโ€™s about to storm over to the kitchen table, but I seize her again. My lips find her ear as I draw her ass towards my cock.

โ€œNo,โ€ I force, โ€œthe only thing youโ€™re going to do is sleep.โ€ My hot breath hits her skin as I lower my head. Her perfume smells like white roses and ivyโ€”a scent that dizzies me in an intoxicating lull. I love every inhale. My lips skim her neck before I suck deeply.

She lets out an audible noise of pleasure before spinning on me again, her gaze flickering to my laptop.

โ€œNo,โ€ I tell her. โ€œYes.โ€

When we disagree, we usually donโ€™t speak for a couple days until one of us concedes. I donโ€™t want that to happen tonight, not with Scott upstairs trying to encroach on my territory. I watch her shift in anger, her black robe stopping mid-thigh. Adrenaline pumps into my veins as her blazing eyes

dance over me.

I rub my sensitive lips, and I make a calculated decision. I shove her into the island again, and she lets out a sharp noise. She tries to fight me at

first, but I pin her to this place with my pelvis, her spine curving against the counter.

I squeeze her chin and glare as though sheโ€™s been a bad fucking girl, a look she rarely sees from me. Her whole body shudders. I feel every quake against my chest, my legs, my arms and groin. Her lips part and a high- pitched moan staggers upon release. The noise grips my cock so tightly that I choke on a groan. I want to be so far inside of her. I want to pound between her legs until her eyes flutter, until her limbs slacken in exhausted defeat.

She breathes heavily, as do I, and I trace her lips, her flushed cheeks, her narrowed eyes.

โ€œIโ€™m helping you,โ€ she says with a raspy voice.

โ€œNo,โ€ I say before I bite her lip. She moans again, and I slip my tongue into her mouth, kissing her forcefully. She returns it with just as much power, her hands clenching my hair with a desperation that I havenโ€™t seen from her in a while.

I lift her up onto the counter and pull her legs towards me. I wrap them around my waist, not giving her time to be uncertain. My hands drift underneath her robe, relaxing on the bareness of her thighs. I kiss her while guiding her shoulders onto the cool counter. My lips break from hers, sucking a line from her collar towards her breasts. With one hand, I slowly untie her robe, and then her eyes meet the cameras overhead.

She shoots up and places two hands on my chest. โ€œWaitโ€ฆโ€ Her eyes flicker to the rafters again. I donโ€™t want Scott to see Rose naked any more than she does, but I knew this would be the easiest way to get her to forfeit.

Iโ€™m not really a winner in this scenario. My cock hates me, dying to slip between her legs and thrust for as long as we both can last.

โ€œLet me help.โ€

โ€œIโ€™m either fucking you right now. Or youโ€™re going to bed.โ€

She realizes thereโ€™s no alternative. Really, I wouldnโ€™t deflower her in the middle of the kitchen with cameras pointed on us. I may be horny, but I

have an idea of how I want to take her virginity. And this isnโ€™t it.

โ€œFine,โ€ she concedes. โ€œIโ€™ll go to bed this once, but if I catch you up again like this,ย Iโ€™m helping.ย Or youโ€™re going to wake up with bruises.โ€

โ€œSuch threats.โ€ I kiss her cheek, my lips lingering.

She holds my arms and swallows hard. I put a little space between us, but I keep my hand on her knee as she stays seated on the counter. A sudden thought sweeps my brain. Itโ€™s one Iโ€™ve meant to ask before. โ€œWhere do I rank in your life?โ€

She frowns and shakes her head in confusion. โ€œYou want me to rank you?โ€

I nod. I want to know how far I have to climb to be her first importance. Iโ€™m willing to work hard to get there, but I need to know who fills her heart before me and if Iโ€™ll ever be able to surpass them.

โ€œI have siblings,โ€ she says.

Her sisters outrank me. All three of them. Thatโ€™s what I thought. โ€œI almost had brothers,โ€ I tell her honestly.

Her face falls. โ€œWhat?โ€

โ€œTwins. They would have been fourteen by now.โ€ I skim her knee with my finger.

โ€œHow can you say it like that?โ€ she asks. โ€œLike what?โ€

โ€œDetached.โ€

โ€œIโ€™m not the one who carried them for nine months.โ€

She slaps my arm. โ€œStop being an ass. This is serious.โ€

โ€œI know. Thatโ€™s why Iโ€™m telling you. Iโ€™m not sure if having brothers would have made me a different person.โ€ Iโ€™ve often thought about this event and how it could have reshaped my life, but itโ€™s too foggy to see a clear outcome. They would have been ten years younger than me. They would have gone to boarding school, been distanced from my life at Penn. Would I have been as fiercely protective of them as Rose is to her sisters? I donโ€™t know. I was never given the chance to see. โ€œMy mother had

complications during their birth. They both passed, and I have no idea how she coped afterwards. She seemedโ€ฆfine. She could have been as cold as

she appeared to be, or she could have just hid her grief. I wouldnโ€™t know.โ€ โ€œDidnโ€™t your parents separate two years later?โ€

I nod. โ€œBut I think their marriage was already strained when she was pregnant. I rarely saw them together.โ€

โ€œDo you thinkโ€ฆ?โ€ She trails off, not able to say the words. โ€œThat she cheated on him? That those werenโ€™t his kids?โ€ I shrug.

โ€œMaybe. But all of it is neither here nor there. Itโ€™s all justโ€ฆgone.โ€ She exhales loudly. โ€œThatโ€™s a lot to take in, Richard.โ€

โ€œNo one knows that except Frederick. I didnโ€™t think it was important.โ€ โ€œIt is,โ€ she says.

I still donโ€™t see how, but somewhere in the recesses of my mind, I must have believed it was significant too or else I wouldnโ€™t have shared it. โ€œSo you love your sisters the most?โ€

She runs her fingers through her shiny brown hair. โ€œI canโ€™t imagine loving anyone more than them.โ€

โ€œYou do realize that Lily loves Loren more than anyone else on the

planet? If they were both given the ultimatum of oxygen or each other, Iโ€™m fairly certain theyโ€™d choose to suffocate.โ€

She contemplates this for a second, her brows scrunching in thought.

โ€œIโ€™m not asking you to love me,โ€ I tell her. โ€œI think weโ€™re both smart enough to choose oxygen.โ€ย I donโ€™t see how love could benefit me.

Her eyes fall and her lips downturn. After a full minute of silence, she says, โ€œIโ€™d choose to die if it meant my sisters could live. You think itโ€™s stupid, but sometimes love is worth every foolish choice you make.โ€ She hops off the counter. โ€œOh, and youโ€™re my number three.โ€

โ€œI beat Poppy already?โ€ I fight a burgeoning smile. โ€œI see her less than I do you.โ€

I fit my arms around her waist. โ€œDonโ€™t ruin it,โ€ I breathe, kissing her neck lightly. My hand lowers to the small of her back, and I leave her with one last kiss to the forehead that feels more genuine than all the others.

โ€œYouโ€™ve bewitched me, body and soul.โ€

She glares. โ€œAndย youย ruined it with a quote fromย Pride and Prejudice.โ€ I grin. โ€œWhat? I thought we were purposefully being clichรฉ.โ€

โ€œMaybe next time, quote the book and not the film.โ€

My eyebrow arches and I recite theatrically, โ€œYou pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope.โ€ I shake my head. โ€œDoesnโ€™t have the same ring to it, darling.โ€

A laugh escapes her lips. โ€œGo back to work. Iโ€™ll see you in the morning. Oh wait,โ€ she feigns surprise, โ€œit is the morning. Iโ€™ll see you when we cross paths again.โ€ I watch her walk to the staircase, her lovely round ass bouncing against her silk robe.

โ€œHow can you be sure we will?โ€ I ask before I return to my computer.

She hypnotizes me, gluing me to this very spot.

She glances over her shoulder, her silky hair molding her beautiful face. โ€œBecause,โ€ she says, โ€œwe always do.โ€

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