“Promise?” Tyler asked, as if he could hear my very thoughts. His hands moved over my lower back, his fingers tracing a familiar pattern. I smiled and nuzzled his neck, shivers quivering up my spine.
“What are you writing?” I laughed. “It tickles.”
“My Katie,” he confessed, tracing it repeatedly, rubbing it in with his palm. “Since the day I met you, I wanted you to be my Katie.”
My Katie. Now that he said it, I recognized the letters he’d been tracing on my skin since we first met. That was what he’d been writing all along.
“I am yours,” I told him.
“Then prove it.”
“Ty...” I gave him a look and he grinned.
“I have to catch a flight in about six hours.” His eyes grew dark as his gaze swept over me, his hands moving over my skin again. “Let’s see how sore I can make you.”
“What about Sarah?” I glanced toward the house.
She was peeking out of the blinds, watching. That made me smile.
“She’s not invited.”
I giggled when he challenged me to a race into the house, but I was off to a head start before he’d even said “go!”
Sarah asked what in the world we were up to as we tore past her, down the hall, both of us out of breath when we locked Sabrina’s bedroom door behind us, laughing as we kissed each other down onto the bed.
I tried to be quiet, knowing Sarah was out there—she knocked on the door a few times, but we were both too busy to answer and she finally gave up—but in the end, I succumbed and lived up to my reputation as Katie the Screamer. And Sarah was so happy I wasn’t running away to go on tour with Trouble, she didn’t even mention all the noise she must have heard coming from Sabrina’s bedroom when we finally came out hours later, dehydrated, sore, and hungry.
She just took off her earbuds, put down her book, and said goodbye to Tyler when it was time for him to go. She gave him a big, long hug, telling him to stay sane and sober. Sound advice. I wanted to go to the airport with him, but I knew I could only be so strong. He held me close, he kissed me, we made promises to talk, text, call, email, everything we could do long distance that was humanly possible to stay connected. And to his credit, he didn’t ask me to go with him again.
Because if he had, I might have broken down.
It was Sarah who was there when he had gone, when I finally collapsed, sobbing on the sofa. It was Sarah who stroked my hair and held my hand and told me I’d done the right thing, for both of us, for all of us. I knew it, and I hated it at the same time. This whole being a grown-up thing was, I decided when I crawled into bed, still smelling him on the covers, way overrated.
Then Tyler called me from the plane before it took off.
“I miss you already,” I told him. “It hurts.”
“I know.” He sighed. “I’m kissing you right now. Making it all better.”
“Kissing the ouchies away?” I sniffed, smiling.
“I’d make it all better if I could,” he whispered. “I’d take away all your pain.”
We’d both been running, looking for a way to escape the pain, and that instinct remained strong, ingrained. But pain was meant to be felt, I realized, just as much as joy or love. My pain wouldn’t ever disappear entirely, but knowing Tyler loved me enough to want it to—that made it bearable.
“You do make it better,” I told him honestly. He couldn’t take my pain away and I couldn’t take his either. But just hearing him say he wanted to, feeling the love behind his words, made it okay. He didn’t make it go away—he made me feel brave enough, safe enough, loved enough, to face it, to feel it.
That was a far greater gift to me than being painless.
And it was a much better high than heroin had ever been.
By the time Tyler’s flight took off and we had to say goodbye again, I was already flying. Higher than a kite. We both were. Loving each other was like breathing now, natural and easy and constant. It buoyed me up, like the air in my lungs, keeping me afloat in a sea of crazy. We said it before we hung up, but we didn’t need to, because we both knew.
We both felt it in every part of our being.
Together, loving each other, we could reach heights addicts could only ever dream about.
* * *
The End
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About Selena Kitt
Selena Kitt is a NEW YORK TIMES bestselling and award-winning author of erotic and romance fiction. She is one of the highest selling erotic writers in the business with over two million sexy books sold!
Her writing embodies everything from the spicy to the scandalous but watch out-this kitty also has sharp claws and her stories often include intriguing edges and twists that take readers to new, thought-provoking depths.
When she’s not pawing away at her keyboard, Selena runs an innovative publishing company (excessica.com) and bookstore (excitica.com), as well as two erotica and erotic romance promotion companies (excitesteam.com and excitespice.com) and she also now runs the Erotica Readers and Writers Association (erotica-readers.com).
Her books EcoErotica (2009), The Real Mother Goose (2010) and Heidi and the Kaiser (2011) were all Epic Award Finalists. Her only gay male romance, Second Chance, won the Epic Award in Erotica in 2011. Her story, Connections, was one of the runners-up for the 2006 Rauxa Prize, given annually to an erotic short story of “exceptional literary quality.”
Her books, Babysitting the Baumgartners, Adventures with the Baumgartners, Heidi and the Kaiser and Unfolding are now adult films by Adam & Eve, directed by Kay Brandt.
She can be reached on her website at www.selenakitt.com
Selena Kitt’s Other Works
MOVIES
Adventures with the Baumgartners
Babysitting the Baumgartners
Heidi and the Kaiser
Unfolding
* * *
NOVELS
BAUMGARTNER SERIES NOVELS
A Baumgartner Reunion
Adventures with the Baumgartners
Babysitting the Baumgartners
Baumgartner Generations: Henry
Baumgartner Generations: Janie
Baumgartners Empty Nest
Crazy About the Baumgartners
Letters to the Baumgartners
The Baumgartners Plus One
* * *
DIVINE VAMPIRES SERIES
The Blood of Angels
The Kiss of Angels
* * *
HIGHLAND WOLF PACT TRILOGY
Highland Wolf Pact
Highland Wolf Pact: Compromising Positions
Highland Wolf Pact: Blood Reign
* * *
PARANORMAL/FANTASY NOVELS
Bear Necessities
Blind Date
Hooked (Blood Courtesans)
The Real Mother Goose
The Song of Orpheus
The Surrender of Persephone
* * *
TABOO/FORBIDDEN NOVELS
Heidi and the Kaiser
Hussy
Forbidden Fruit
Naughty Bits (Revised)
Step Beast
Yank
* * *
THREESOME/MENAGE NOVELS
Bluebeard’s Wife
Taken
The Sybian Club
Under Mr. Nolan’s Bed
Unfolding
* * *
UNDER MR. NOLAN’S BED TRILOGY
Temptation
Confession
Grace
* * *
SELENA KITT BOX SETS
The Baumgartner Box Set 1
The Baumgartner Box Set 2
Girls Only Complete Boxed Set
Highland Wolf Pact Boxed Set
&
nbsp; Modern Wicked Fairy Tales: Complete #1
Myths Behaving Badly Box Set
Nolan Trilogy Boxed Set
Power Play: The Complete Collection
Tempting His Best Friend—Forbidden Love A-Z—BABY SERIES—Volume 1
Tempting His Best Friend—Forbidden Love A-Z—THE GIRLS—Volume 1
Tempting His Best Friend—Forbidden Love A-Z—THE GIRLS—Volume 2
Tempting His Best Friend—Forbidden Love A-Z—THE GIRLS—Volume 3
Tempting His Best Friend—Forbidden Love A-Z—THE GIRLS—Volume 4
Tempting His Best Friend—Forbidden Love A-Z—THE GIRLS—Volume 5
Tempting His Best Friend—Forbidden Love A-Z—THE GUYS—Volume 1
Tempting His Best Friend—Forbidden Love A-Z—THE GUYS—Volume 2
Tempting His Best Friend—Forbidden Love A-Z—THE GUYS—Volume 3
Tempting His Best Friend—Forbidden Love A-Z—THE GUYS—Volume 4
Tempting His Best Friend—Forbidden Love A-Z—THE GUYS—Volume 5
* * *
ANTHOLOGIES
Back to the Garden (Revised)
Baumgartner Hot Shorts
Confessions
EcoErotica
Quickies
Tickled Pink
* * *
STORIES
* * *
BAUMGARTNER SERIES STORIES
A Baumgartner Anniversary
A Baumgartner Christmas
A Baumgartner Valentine
Baumgartners Dirty Show
Meet the Baumgartners
* * *
EROTICA
A Different Angle
A Twisted Bard’s Tale
Connections
Hannah’s Choice
I’ll Be Your Superman
On Cherry Hill
Sacred Spots
Second Chance
Shorn
Starving Artist
The Flintstone Experiment
* * *
ROMANCE
Christmas Stalking
Unbreakable Bonds
* * *
GIRLS ONLY
Girls Only: College Days
Girls Only: First Time
Girls Only: Girl Scout Trip
Girls Only: Moms’ Night Out
Girls Only: New Year’s Resolution
Girls Only: Pajama Party
Girls Only: Pool Party
Girls Only: Stay
Girls Only: Sybian Sorority
Girls Only: The Hairdresser
* * *
MODERN WICKED FAIRY TALES
A Modern Wicked Fairy Tale: Alice
A Modern Wicked Fairy Tale: Beauty
A Modern Wicked Fairy Tale: Bluebeard
A Modern Wicked Fairy Tale: Briar Rose
A Modern Wicked Fairy Tale: Frog Prince
A Modern Wicked Fairy Tale: Goldilocks
A Modern Wicked Fairy Tale: Gretel
A Modern Wicked Fairy Tale: Peter and the Wolf
A Modern Wicked Fairy Tale: Pinocchio
A Modern Wicked Fairy Tale: Rapunzel
A Modern Wicked Fairy Tale: Red
A Modern Wicked Fairy Tale: The Frog Prince
A Modern Wicked Fairy Tale: Wendy
* * *
POWER PLAY
Power Play: Bailey and the Professor
Power Play: Donnie and the Maid
Power Play: Emily and the Priest
Power Play: Ivy and the Cop
Power Play: Jodie and the Billionaire
Power Play: Katie and the Dom
Power Play: Kelsey and the Executive
* * *
TEMPTING HIS BEST FRIEND
Aaron
Brian
Cameron
Daren
Dustin
Evan
Finn
Gavin
Hayden
Ian
Jason
Kevin
Logan
Mason
Nathan
Owen
Preston
Quinn
Ryan
Sean
Tristan
Upton
Vaughn
Warren
Xavian
Yaron
Zayn
Anna
Becca
Christa
Clara
Darla
Eva
Fiona
Georgia
Hanna
India
Jenna
Kayla
Leila
Maya
Nina
Olivia
Paula
Qesa
Raina
Sara
Tina
Ursula
Viola
Willa
Xema
Yasmina
Zinnia
Baby Kisses
Baby Love
Baby’s Big Night
This Time, Baby
Welcome Home, Baby
* * *
AUDIO
Audio Series – The Baumgartners
A Baumgartner Reunion
Adventures with the Baumgartners
Babysitting the Baumgartners
Baumgartner Generations: Henry
Baumgartner Generations: Janie
Baumgartner Shorts
Crazy About the Baumgartners
The Baumgartners Plus One
Baumgartners Empty Nest
Letters to the Baumgartners
* * *
Audio - Paranormal
Bear Necessities
Blind Date
The Song of Orpheus
The Surrender of Persephone
* * *
Audio Series – Divine Vampires
The Blood of Angels
The Kiss of Angels
* * *
Highland Wolf Pact
Compromising Positions
Blood Reign
* * *
Audio – New Adult Romance
Forbidden Fruit
Hussy
Yank
* * *
Audio – Menage
Bluebeard’s Wife
Taken
The Sybian Club
Unfolding
* * *
Audio – BDSM
Heidi and the Kaiser
The Real Mother Goose
The Surrender of Persephone
Unfolding
* * *
Audio – Taboo
Back to the Garden (Revised)
Naughty Bits (Revised)
Step Beast
Under Mr. Nolan’s Bed (Revised)
* * *
Audio Series – Girls Only
Girls Only: College Days
Girls Only: First Time
Girls Only: Girl Scout Trip
Girls Only: Moms’ Night Out
Girls Only: New Year’s Resolution
Girls Only: Pajama Party
Girls Only: Pool Party
Girls Only: Stay
Girls Only: Sybian Sorority
Girls Only: The Hairdresser
* * *
Audio – Stories
A Different Angle
Garden of Eden
Hunting Season (with Blake Crouch)
Lost Souls
Second Chance
Starving Artist
The Flintstone Experiment
* * *
Audio Series – Little Brats
Little Brats: Anna
Little Brats: Becca
Little Brats: Christa
Little Brats: Clara
Little Brats: Darla
Little Brats: Eva
Little Brats: Fiona
Little Brats: Georgia
Little Brats: Hanna
Little Brats: India
Little Brats: Jenna
Little Brats: Kayla
&nb
sp; Little Brats: Leila
Little Brats: Maya
Little Brats: Nina
Little Brats: Olivia
Little Brats: Paula
Little Brats: Qesa
Little Brats: Raina
Little Brats: Sara
Little Brats: Tina
Little Brats: Ursula
Little Brats: Viola
Little Brats: Willa
Little Brats: Xema
Little Brats: Yasmina
Little Brats: Zinnia
* * *
Audio Series – Modern Wicked Fairy Tales
Modern Wicked Fairy Tales: Alice
Modern Wicked Fairy Tales: Beauty
Modern Wicked Fairy Tales: Bluebeard
Modern Wicked Fairy Tales: Briar Rose
Modern Wicked Fairy Tales: Gretel
Modern Wicked Fairy Tales: Goldilocks
Modern Wicked Fairy Tales: Pinocchio
Modern Wicked Fairy Tales: Rapunzel
Modern Wicked Fairy Tales: Red
Modern Wicked Fairy Tales: Wendy
* * *