Alpha Ember (ALPHA KANE BOOK 2)

16. Breakdown

Ember

Breathing was fast becoming my least favorite thing on Earth.

Kissing Kane was flying straight to the top of my favorite things.

I wrapped my arms around his neck- mostly to hold on more than anything- as he continued to kiss the sanity right out of me. Each brush of his lips against mine felt like gasoline was being thrown at the fire in my stomach until my insides were melted butter and even my lungs were against breaking free to take a breath of air. I was spiraling round and round, lost in his touch and grateful I'd listened to myself and hadn't scurried back like a coward-

"Gross, I did not need to see this before breakfast," Helen said, disgusted voice shattering my thoughts like fragile glass.

I jerked my head back. Kane- surprisingly or maybe not so surprisingly- tried to pull me back to him but I clumsily untangled myself from him and hopped off the counter, breathing hard, my face flaming.

"I'll remember this interruption later when I find you kissing Tom," Kane told Helen, wiping my mouth with the sleeve of his shirt and pressing a lingering kiss at the corner of my mouth.

The small contact sent a bolt of fizzling current all the way down to my legs but I ignored it, retrieving my forgotten plate while sneaking a peak at Helen. She was wearing a different outfit from last night and pouring coffee into a mug (the one my mom had said she hated). Her pink floral dress was angel-like but the stink eye she was giving Kane was the polar opposite of angelic. "I'm not going to be kissing him later," she said.

Kane gave her a mock pitying look. "Sad. I know I'll be kissing Ember later."

I bit my lip before I could ask him when exactly 'later' was, taking my breakfast to the table in the other room instead.

"Aren't you glad I never let you fall in love with me for real?" Kane asked Helen.

Helen narrowed her dark blue eyes. "Let it go or I'll send Ember a video someone recorded of us making out in public last year."

I covered my wince by sipping my coffee, but was unable to look away from them. Curiosity wanted to see how Kane would treat Helen now, it wanted to see if there was any hint of lingering affection on Helen's part- whether or not she'd just found her mate.

Kane gave Helen a measured look. "Delete the video and I'll never talk about Tom again," he said, pulling out a chair beside me and sitting down.

"It applies to Ember too," Helen said, seating herself in the chair across from me. "Or no deal."

I pursed my lips. "You spent two years being a pain in my ass and now you want me to promise not to tease you in exchange for not seeing something I've already gotten used to seeing?"

She paused, gave me a reluctant nod. "If you had finished that line with an insult it would've been perfect. You're learning."

"Stop trying to teach her bad things," Kane said, standing up with another plate of food. "I'm taking this to Tom in case he's awake."

I shot out of my seat. "I'll come too. He could use the company."

Kane gave my untouched pancakes a pointed look.

I picked them up with my coffee. "I'll eat there."

If he knew my eagerness to be social was partly a means to get away from Helen- a poisonous snake that hadn't bitten you yet still had venom- he didn't call me out on it. "Okay."

I followed him out without another glance in Helen's direction, wondering if I'd have to hang out with her eventually and dreading the prospect. Especially if she was going to keep dredging up past make-out sessions with Kane. That part of my life was something I had no intention of revisiting.