Eluding Nirvana (The Dark Evoke Series Book 2) Read Free Page B

of fellow feeling made everything clear. And it was driving me crazy because he never acted this way. Ever. How can you know someone for so long, wake up next to them every day for years, laugh with them, and cry with them, feel whole and content with them, and then out of the blue, they do something that strips a portion of that contentment and trust away?
    That being said, if I ’d took more consideration to his feelings, if I didn’t push it with saying I’d quit, and then on my next breath, say that I had to go back for a few more days, none of what happened that night would have happened. I was the one at fault. I was responsible for his outburst. I made him do this with my sheer lack of empathy. I couldn’t blame him. I brought it on myself.
    “Liam, please. You’ve made your point. I understand now. I’m sorry. I’ll call Benny and Liv in the morning.”
    “I want your word that you won’t go back there, Kady.”
    My head dropped forward on an exasperated sigh, as my body continued with its incessant vibrating and my teeth chattered. “You have my word, Liam. Please,” I lifted a numb hand to hastily swipe a falling tear. And to think I used to laugh at Brittany for crying and hiding under the stairs when a thunderstorm hit. I was stood surrounded by darkness. The already cold air, cooling furthermore as the nightly temperature plummeted, and triggered the stabbing of knives all over my body. My tears weren’t only ones of remorse. I was crying because of the cold. I was crying because to prove a point, Liam had deliberately put me in pain. “Liam, I’m freezing. Please, let me come in.”
    After a few excruciating moments, the welcomed sound of the loud buzzing echoed down the speaker, the heavy glass door before me, unlocked.
    That night, I was taught a lesson.
    That night, a lesson was learned.

Chapter Two
    Upon reaching the summit of the steps, I turned to the apartment to see the door open with Liam resting his shoulder against the frame. He teased me with the sliver of hard flesh on display as his black shirt hung open. Had it been any other occasion, I would have run into his arms and finished the job he had begun with my teeth.
    But it wasn’t any other occasion. It was the night that I was made to feel utterly vulnerable. And that was how I felt.
    He hung his head, focusing his gaze on the scuffing movements of his shoe against the hardwood surface of the hallway. “I’m sorry, Kady,” his apology was barely above whisper. But, he had the decency to at least look contrite.
    Shivering from head to toe, I fought to eject my words through the chattering of my teeth and quivering of numb lips. “Don’t worry about it, it’s alright , Liam.” My gesture was mirrored as I took a fragile step toward him and before long, I was swathed by warm, burly arms.
    The usual tickle of his chest hair was absent as I was scooped up and held against his chest. Still , the iciness of my cheeks was thawed by his warmth, and for that I was grateful. Shuddering incessantly, I gasped when he pulled away, his soft hands framing my face as he tipped my head back to hold my gaze. “I didn’t want to do that, Kady. But you had to learn your lesson.”
    I nodded and licked my lips. The warmth of my tongue burned at the frozen flesh. “I understand,” I muttered simply.
    “Do you?”
    “Yes. I want to make you happy, Liam. I’ll do anything to make you happy.”
    Lips slanted over mine, the heat of his breath collid ed and eradicated the iciness in my mouth and on my face as he swept his tongue against me. However, the coldness of my body and mind, proved impossible for me to respond while matching his fervor. Lips were numb while my jaw continued to quiver, and I swore I almost bit him. “Kiss me properly, Kady.”
    “I can’t. I’m so cold.”
    Restrained once again by hard, demanding eyes, his hands made their way into my hair and fisted painfully. I winced and screwed my eyes as tightly as I could,