Tainted by Jamie Begley

other friends, she had often found herself at a loose end.
    “What did you do to keep yourself occupied?” Kaden questioned her perceptively.
    “I cooked. Vida constantly studied, so I cooked when I became bored. I would take what I made to the homeless shelter down the street.” Sawyer didn’t realize she had let it slip that she didn’t live in one of the safest areas of Queens City.
    “I see. You didn’t want to go to college with your friend?”
    Sawyer shook her head regretfully. “I hated school. I was never good at it and was happy to get out of high school. I didn’t want to tie myself down to four more years of misery.”
    “You’re planning on being a waitress for the rest of your life?”
    “No, smartass, I don’t. When Vida graduates this semester, we had plans to travel. I was going to learn about different cuisines. I planned on going to cooking school once we decided where we were going to settle down.”
    “How were you planning on supporting yourself when you went to school?” Kaden asked her.
    “I took care of all the bills while Vida earned her degree. She was going to take care of expenses when I went to school. We had it all planned out.” Sawyer’s lips trembled as she thought of the many nights they had sat planning their future together.
    “What if one of you met someone and decided to go your own way?”
    “We wouldn’t do that to each other. We both want to travel too much.”
    “You’re getting to travel now ,” he reasoned.
    “It isn’t the same. No one let s me cook, and when I do, Jordan gets in trouble.” Not so subtly she was letting him know she hadn’t appreciated his interference last night.
    “Ms. Jordan didn’t get in trouble for your helping to cook. The guy’s were too starved for that. What I don’t want to see again is you serving anyone.”
    Sawyer frowned up at him. “It’s what I do . I enjoy it. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”
    “So it’s just my orders you don’t want to take?”
    She didn’t think his twist on her words was funny.
    “Let me up.” Sawyer tried to get up from the lounge chair , but Kaden—who had continued sitting by her hip—put his hand beside her opposite hip to pin her to the lounger without touching her, effectively preventing her escaping back into the house.
    “Why is it that you’re always running away from me when you don’t have any trouble talking to Ax, D-mon or Sin?”
    As h is hand reached out, his thumb brushing her cheekbone, she jerked her face away from his touch.
    “Did I give you permission to touch me?” This time it was Sawyer throwing his words back in his face.
    Kaden gave a low, seductive laugh. “Did that make you angry, Sawyer? I didn’t mean to make you angry. Which do you appreciate more: something easily given, or something you have to ask for, something you crave?”
    “I didn’t notice that woman sit ting next to you last night asking to touch you.”
    He shrugged nonchalantly. “Did you see me touch her back?”
    Sawyer had to admit to herself that she hadn’t seen him touch the woman back.
    “Do you want to know if I fucked her last night , Sawyer?” Kaden asked, leaning down to whisper his question in her ear.
    Sawyer trembled under his seductive spell. She had never been so intensely pursued by a man before. She ’d had several that had flirted with her—even Rick when he had been luring her into his sick web of lies had made her feel wanted—but she had always been aware that he would forget about her five minutes after leaving the restaurant. She had eventually agreed to go out with him because he had discovered her desire to eat at one of the finer restaurants in town whose chef had recently won a prestigious cooking award.
    “ N— no, I don’t,Kaden. I— I don’t care who you fuck,” Sawyer lied to both of them.
    “I didn’t . I believe Alana ended up in Sin’s bed after he finished with Megan.”
    “How benevolent of him to share himself