Carnal

Chapter Thirty-One - Exposed

He placed my cup of water into the cup holder and handed me the straw as the woman passed him his card.

Thanking her, he began to drive away.

I started to dig through the food and shoved a few fries in my mouth before I noticed that Cain made no effort to eat or drink.

Realizing that I was hogging the bag of food, I apologized and handed it to him to grab his food out.

He shook his head and pushed it back to me.

"It's all yours."

My eyebrows furrowed as I looked at how much food was there.

"You ordered all of this for me?"

Cain nodded as he turned the SUV back out onto the street.

"Food doesn't have a taste to me," he said.

I realized then what he was referring to and I spoke quickly to keep the conversation from going south.

"That's a shame. These fries are perfectly crispy."

I saw a slight smile tug at the corners of his lips.

With the way I ate, one would have thought the food was going to be taken from me. In the end, I had eaten both boxes of nuggets and nearly all of the fries.

"I'm going to be sick," I told him, holding a hand on my stomach like I was pregnant.

"I think you might have eaten a little too fast."

I looked at him incredulously.

"Well duh."

He laughed before pulling onto the narrow path that led up to the castle.

I observed Cain's home as we drove up to it, remembering that it had only been about two weeks since I'd last been there. Although, it felt like a lifetime ago.

I was yanked out of my reminiscing as the narrow and winding roads that Cain drove up the mountain began to make me feel like I was going to hurl.

He pulled up to a large iron gate and the two men standing outside opened it for him, earning a head nod from Cain as we drove through.

"It's freezing outside," I said. "Why do you make them stand out in the cold?"

Cain shrugged as if the thought had never occurred to him.

"That's their job. They don't complain."

Maybe I was just dramatic, but I certainly would have complained if I had to stand outside in below-freezing temperatures, waiting for someone to drive up so I could open a heavy gate for them.

Cain drove up to an open garage door and pulled the SUV inside, parking between several other cars just like it.

He reached over me to grab the empty food bag and I stopped him.

"Thank you."

Cain nodded as he took the trash.

"You're welcome."

"Not for the food," I said.

His eyebrows furrowed and I shook my head, realizing how that had sounded.

"I mean, yes, thank you for the food but I was really trying to thank you for... you know, saving me."

"I know what you meant," he said. "But you don't have to thank me for that."

"I am, though."

I reached out and put my hand on the back of Cain's neck and pulled him towards me, letting my lips find his.