Incandescent

Gu

I messed up with how I reacted to Kadence and Zane. She apparently is still working through some of that shit, but I still stand behind what I think. Zane Edwards is dangerous. The asshole got himself into some messed up shit before he got into bed with Gu

Kadence pulls me out of my thoughts as her hand comes down and squeezes my throbbing cock.

“You going to fuck me on your front lawn or are you going to take me up to your bed?” Her smooth voice is challenging, but her lips, soft against my neck, are inviting. Jesus, I nearly take her right here but I’m sure the neighbors don’t want to see that show. Picking her up, I walk her to the front door. We’ve got five days to make up for and I’m not about to waste any time.

***

“Wow.” Her breath comes out shallow and fast above me, her bright smile infectious, lighting up the room. “I might have to instigate another argument if that’s how we make up,” she laughs, rolling off me.

“Fuck no. A week without your sweet pussy is not worth it,” I admit. Her smile deepens at my admission. Not seeing her, touching her, or even talking to her was bad enough.

“I’m sorry, Nix. I wish you didn't have to see that.” She shakes her head, reliving our messed up Sunday afternoon. “You were right; my anger should be at him. I knew that he left me there, left me without a backwards glance, but I guess I was holding on to the hope that something else happened. Maybe he didn’t want to leave me.” I lean down and kiss her swollen lips.

“I didn’t want you to learn that lesson, babe, not that way anyway.” I kiss her lips again, not getting enough of the softness of them.

“I know, Nix, but I realize now I was holding on to something that wasn’t there.”

I nod, glad that she can finally see that. “The Mayhems, they run a lot differently to us,” I begin, wanting this to be out there between us.

“It’s okay, Nix,” she interrupts me before I can even begin.

“No, Kadence, this situation is fucked and I need you to understand that I would never be okay with what they did to you, but you also have to know our relationship with that club is based on keeping the town safe. Both clubs have done things to hurt each other, but we’ve come to a point where it’s not worth it. I can’t just go in and seek revenge for what they did.”

“I’m not asking you to do that, Nix.”

“I know that, but I need to lay it out for you, okay?”

“Does your club do those sorts of things now?” she asks, her voice barely above a whisper, unsure of my answer.

“I’m not go

“You still with me here?” I ask, hoping this isn’t a deal breaker.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to be okay if you break the law, but I think I can deal,” she admits, turning to me, and pulling the sheet up with her to cover herself. I stop her, pulling it off.

“Nix,” she argues, pulling it back up again.

“Don’t hide away from me.” I reach down, throwing the sheet off her again. I don’t like it when she shies away from me. Sometimes she can just let go, forget about the scars, while other times, she’ll hold herself back. I want her to feel confident and comfortable in my bed.

“I don’t want you to look at it,” she confesses. Her voice wavers and her hands cover the marred skin. I reach down and run my finger along the scar.

“Kadence, don’t ever be ashamed in front of me. You’re fuckin’ beautiful. This scar here," I move my finger along the rigid surface, "simply means you’re stronger than that asshole.”

My finger moves to the piercing that Sy gave her. It looks almost healed and so damn sexy; the soft glow of the bedside table lamp hits the golden bar. I play with the barbell, and watch as her belly contracts.

“Will you tell me what happened?”

She rolls onto her back, a breath escaping her in frustration at me asking. “It’s really not that exciting," she assures me, but I doubt that. Something like this is huge.

“Try me,” I push.

"I woke up in the middle of the night to an empty bed. Zane and I had been fighting that night, but I didn’t think anything of it until I woke up to a noise.” Her head turns to the side, looking directly at me. “I went looking for him, thinking he was still up. I didn’t think it could be anyone else. It was the smoke that hit me first. The smell was almost chocking me.” She takes a deep breath still looking at me. The silence in the room is eerie: me waiting patiently for her to speak and her trying to gather strength to continue. “When I made it down the hall, I couldn't even comprehend that half of my house was burning in front of me. For a moment, I wasn’t sure what to do or where Zane was. It all just happened so quickly; there was an explosion, and when I tried to get out, the door was stuck and the smoke was too thick.” She stops for a moment, letting the details wash over me. Reaching down, I entwine my fingers with hers. She seems so detached, like she is reading from a script, but I know reliving it wouldn't be easy.

“I woke in the hospital the next day after having the first surgery. The police told me the fire was started with two Molotov cocktails through the windows. Zane was nowhere to be found and I was severely burnt to ten percent of my body.”

Fuck me.

“They told me my skin was too damaged; that it wouldn’t be able to regenerate on its own, so the first surgery I went through was to protect the most damaged parts before they could graft it.” She shows me the smoothest part of the burn. The pale skin is taut, not red and raised like the rest. You think that would be the least burnt area.

“Fuck, Kadence,” I say, trying to get my head around it.

“Yeah it was a lot to take in. The second surgery was a grafting; they took skin from my backside and I really wasn’t prepared for the pain of that.” A shudder runs through her as she relives the pain.

“After three weeks, fluid built up underneath the donor skin, preventing it from attaching to the wound. It failed, so they had to re-graft more skin. That time they grafted from inside my thigh. I’m not sure if you’ve ever noticed,” she says, pointing to the slightly different patch of skin. Leaning forward I scan the area. I must admit I haven’t noticed it. My eyes have always been on the prize between her thighs. I had seen the faint area on her ass, but she never acted like it bothered her, so I never commented.

“I stayed in the hospital for three weeks after that one. I wasn’t healthy enough to be able to go home. I gave up, mentally and physically. Looking back, I can see the weakness, but laying in the hospital, I didn’t see it as survival, only how much I had lost.”