Yield by Jenna Howard

her.” The guy pressed a hand over his chest. “Gotta remember we have little people around.”
    A snort made her look and stare. She wanted to scramble back and find a hiding place. She wanted the safety of under her bed. Because he was big. The biggest man she had ever seen. He had no hair on the sides of his head and his black hair shot up in sharp, angry spikes. She knew mean eyes like his. It meant fists. Mom had eyes like that. They narrowed and he crouched down, bracing a hand on the floor so they were eye level.  
    “Who are you?” His voice was so low it added to that urge to hide. The smells, the noise, those mean eyes. She wanted to go home. She wanted Mom.  
    His eyes were just mean looking. They were black with red in the white. She knew what that meant too. Eyes just like Mom. Mom had hated it when Kate hadn’t answered her questions and since he looked like he could crush her with one hit, she decided to answer.  
    “Kate Jace Jennings,” she whispered, her throat too dry from fear for her to speak any louder. Something ugly came into his eyes and she hunched a bit, waiting.
    She twisted one of the knots holding her ribbon from side to side.
    “Fuck, you look just like him. Don’t you, Katey Jay?”
    He sounded like that was a bad thing so she kept still. A grunt came from him. When someone called, “D” he turned around and walked away.
    Kate tried to make herself as small as possible as she watched Cyanide. Her gaze locked on Jace, hungry for the sight of him even as she wished he had been the one to call her Katey Jay.  

Chapter 8
    There was something to be said about waking up to a warm, naked body in his bed. Rising up on one arm, he caressed the slightly flushed skin on Kate’s back. He hadn’t hit hard enough to leave a mark, but there was definite evidence he had been there. Nice. His stomach let out a not so subtle rumble and he slid out of the bed.  
    His internal clock was still syncing up with the real world. Naked, he walked into the kitchen, leaving the lights off. All remnants of the party on Friday were gone. They had the best cleaning crew. The pantry was once more stocked with non-perishables while the fridge was filled with everything from milk to soda to wine. He grabbed the milk and a box of Cheerios. Once his snack was ready, he leaned against the island and looked out the wall of windows.  
    “How can you be naked with so many windows?”
    He held the spoon in his mouth as he studied Kate wearing one of his shirts. Her hair was messed up from his grabby hands and her lips were a little redder than usual, swollen from his kisses. Sex-rumpled Kate was a thing of beauty. From the fruit bowl she picked up an apple, washing it off in the sink.
    “First, they’re reflective and second, it’s liberating. If someone gets a peek, well, look at all this.” A soft chuckle escaped from her when he waved his hand over his body. He picked her up, set her on the island and leaned between her legs. A foot rubbed his hip while the crisp sound of her taking a bite of her apple filled the growing silence. Juice squirted onto his shoulder and fingers wiped the specks away. “I should make you wander around here naked.”
    Her fingers stilled against his skin and his cock went heavy at the idea of watching a naked Kate. Something to ponder when she wasn’t expecting it.
    “This place doesn’t even look the same.”
    He nodded as he braced his hands on either side of her thighs. Everything sparkled. The cleaning team who came in the night after the party earning the fat pay check they received. “You mentioned support groups,” he said and he glanced over when she rested her cheek on his shoulder, gazing out the windows. “What made you go?”
    She was quiet and he waited as his thumb caressed her knee. “I heard about Edge but knew…it’s hard fearing something you want. That bad sex I told you about? He was an online hook-up through a kink site.”
    “What is it with you