Chapter 5

Knox's POV 

"It's not your fault. You didn't shoot me.

 I gently took her trembling hands into mine before they could brush the bandages. 

Her lower lip quivered. "You could have died because of me." 

"But I didn't."

I squeezed her hands, gently. The only thing that was keeping me sane at the moment. 

"Enough about me. Do you want me to bring your therapist here?" 

She let go of my hands and wiped the tears almost about to drop. 

"My therapist?" 

Oh, right. She doesn't know that after she left LA, I stalked her every fucking day, so I know everything that happened to her. 

"Yeah, your therapist, Dr. Lenore," I confirmed, trying to sound casual, as if her entire personal history wasn't currently uploaded to the private server in my head.

Elara’s eyes narrowed slightly. 

"How do you know about Dr. Lenore?"

"She and I... share a mutual acquaintance. I happened to find out that you were one of her clients." 

Mutual acquaintance? Really, Knox? That's all you can come up with.

"How? Everything was supposed to be confidential." 

She was already suspecting. 

"That's not the real issue here. Do you want me to bring her?" 

She took a few steps back and turned back to the open windows. 

"Do you know why I decided to go to a bar tonight even though it was completely immoral for me?" She inhaled and exhaled. 

"Because I didn't want to feel certain emotions. Dad just died, my fiancé cheated on me with his stepsister and now, the PTSD is back."

I watched her shoulders rise and fall with a deep shaky breath. 

"I didn't want to grief over Dad because I tried everything in my power to get him to leave this life, but he didn't listen.”

“He literally caused his own death, but it still hurts. I want to cry and scream because I didn't get to spend his last moments with him." 

She turned to face me, tears already streaming down her face. 

"I didn't want to sulk over that good for nothing who didn't give a shit about me," she scoffed, averting her eyes from me. 

"He hasn't even called me since I left New York." She scoffed again. 

That fucker deserved more than having his eyes gouged out and being shot ten times. 

I should have ripped his head off his neck and hung it on the Empire State Building with 'cheater' emblazoned on his forehead. 

"I went to that bar because I needed a distraction, a distraction from everything." 

"I will be your distraction," I said, meaning every word. I walked closer to her, closing the distance that had been agonizing me all night. 

 "I will be your distraction," I repeated, my gaze locked on those doe-brown eyes.

"In what sense?" She asked, her voice almost coming out as a whisper.

My eyes darkened as I leaned in close, my breath brushing her ear, letting the heat of my body radiate toward her.

"In the sense that when I'm done with you, the only thing you'll be capable of feeling or thinking about is me. I will take away the grief, the fear, and the memory of that fucker until I'm the only thing that haunts you."

The rule be damned.

Rylan better start prepping for war, because I'm breaking every sacred oath for this woman.

I crashed my lips on hers. It was gentle at first, a deliberate restraint. I gave her a little moment to register the contact. 

I also let the agonizing relief of finally tasting her completely overcome me. 

Then, possessively, I deepened the kiss, demanding everything. My hands gripped her, pulling her against my body.

I found my eyes drifting toward the lips, lips that were still quivering from the first contact with mine. 

Something dark stirred deep within me–a lustful need. 

Tonight was the night I’d waited years for. I wanted more than just a few second kiss. I wanted to feel myself in her, I wanted to hear the sound of her breaking just for me, I wanted to hear her moan my name while I claimed her. 

"Knox," she said, breathy. 

My mouth slammed back on hers, deeper and rougher this time. 

I could feel her trembling and melting in my arms, she let out a needy moan in my mouth. 

I took it as a sign for me to keep going. 

My right thumb slowly traced the curve of her jawline. I dragged it up to her temple before digging into her hair. 

The hand kept going, blindly tracing the strands down her back until I reached the end of her hair. 

I clenched my fingers and wrapped her hair around my hand to fully take control of her.

She winced when I pulled her head back, but her mouth never left mine. 

My other hand moved fast, circling her waist and dragging her against my body. 

I could feel both her hands flat against my chest. 

She wasn't pushing or pulling me. She was prolly deciding which was a wise decision. 

Too late, little bird. I have already made the choice for you.

I cleared all her feminine products on the chest of drawers with my left free hand and hoisted her on it, my other hand still in her hair and my lips still locked on hers. 

The impact made her gasp. I took that breath straight into my mouth. 

My left hand, now free, went straight to the hem of her sundress and raised it up to her waist, the same hand parted her thighs and found its way in. 

After I finally had enough of her mouth, I let go to explore other places. 

My mouth found the nape of her neck and sucked the spot, claiming her with my teeth and tongue. 

If I was going to be her distraction, she was going to be marked. 

Her back arched hard, and she moaned my name breathlessly, "Knox." God, such a sweet sound, I had it stored in my brain