Burned » Kai Parker

23

Kai's POV

I woke up beside Eva–a realization that rattled my thoughts all on its own.

Namely because waking up with women wasn't something I did. There was usually a mutual agreement, in the occasional times when my various rendezvous took place in someone's bedroom instead of a closet or car seat, that we'd fuck and be done with it. Maybe make casual plans for another hook-up in the near future. But spending the night? Unheard of. And I liked it that way. Life was complicated enough as a coven leader, I didn't need any of that blurring into my personal affairs.

Eva hadn't only blurred the lines I kept between business and pleasure until they were nearly indecipherable. She slashed them completely, left them in zig-zagged tatters–the full-moon witch, making it her mission to eradicate barriers with ease. A worthy alliance ally, a friend...

A mind-blowing sex partner–

Yeah, a number of things, all of which held more places in my life than I was used to letting anyone fill. She had staked out her territory and instead of threatening the person that stepped too far into my routine, I was moving aside to let her in.

Rather than dwell on what the hell was brewing here–a mindful task that was sure to give me a migraine–I lifted my head slightly to study Eva.

She was still asleep and it stirred something foreign in me, seeing her so peaceful. My arm was draped across her stomach, like it had been last night, when I tugged her closer. Sometime during the night, her hand had drifted up to rest on my forearm, keeping it there.

Wavy strands of brown hair fell against her cheeks and her full lips were parted. I almost reached out to trace her features, feel her softness, but stopped myself abruptly. I didn't want to wake her up, not yet. I knew once she was awake, it wouldn't be long until she left to return home and field the flurry of questions that her family was sure to have for her regarding her nightly disappearance.

I wasn't ready for her to go. Especially since I strongly suspected she'd also be trying to leave everything we did in this hotel room behind.

We're friends, Kai, she'd said, with a matter-of-fact that tone that totally contradicted how rapidly I was losing my mind in that moment. Just friends that really need to have sex.

Understatement of the fucking year. But I hadn't even cared about correcting her, reminding her that this wasn't a one-and-done deal. I'd been too preoccupied by her hands untying the strings of her tiny shorts and from there, my mind was all Eva. And my personal mission to discover how loud I could make the Luna witch moan.

Turns out, loud enough to shatter glass. Literally.

I looked around at the mess that remained around the bed and smirked, unperturbed that I still had to clean it. Never been a fan of morning chores, they were always the bane of my existence pre-prison world, but I don't mind it today. Soooo fucking worth it, since the reason for the mess was possibly the hottest thing I've ever witnessed in my life. Just for reference, that list even includes my high school crush on Pamela Anderson in Baywatch. The lifeguard is paling in comparison to what I'd seen the woman beside me do last night.

After I managed to successfully vacate the bed without disrupting Eva's ongoing slumber, I surveyed the damage.

"Holy shit," I murmured in awe, crouching down to observe the shattered glass from the oven and microwave. A couple of the cabinet doors had fallen, too, and one was only hanging by its hinges. For a moment, I humorously indulged the thought of leaving it all like this and offering a big tip to the clean-up staff as an apology. Not that I could honestly say I was sorry.