Page 49

I wish he’d bite me, that he’d leave a mark on my skin, proof for me to see that this really happened.

He suddenly dips his head, and I tilt my chin up to meet his mouth. One breath, my body coils, about to spring into action. I want it so badly that I ache for it. Then his lips are on mine, and a million nerve endings fray as everything gets hot.No matterhow many times I’ve daydreamed about kissing Uri, the reality far surpasses the fantasy.

His mouth takes control of mine the same way he has taken control of my body. I feel like he’s going to eat me up, open me and taste me. I’m lying here, bare for him to use however he wants. The feel of his cold tongue piercing rubbing around my mouth makes me shiver with desire, and I plaster my chest against his, rubbing my nipples over his pecks, needing more friction, more closeness. Why are we still wearing clothes?

Is it possible for a moment to last forever? Because if there’s any moment I want to continue to infinity, it’s this one, with him surrounding me. One kiss, and I feel like my body and soul are his.

But how did he get this good at kissing? The bitter emotion is back, and I bite his lip and pull on his piercing in retaliation. He pulls back, licking the small drop of blood forming on his lower lip with a smirk.

“Stick out your tongue,” he orders me; I like how his voice deepens when he gets horny. It makes my stomach quiver.

He grabs my tongue with his fingers, stroking it between his knuckles before letting it go to suck deeply and hungrily on it.

I tear my mouth away, breathing hard. My eyes are drowning in his incredible light ones flaring with intensity. Is this really, really happening?

“I forbid you to go to clubs and bars unless I’m with you.”

“Why?” I ask; hope glimmers inside me.

“Because trouble finds you when I’m not.” Once again, his overprotectiveness kills my stupid expectations.

“God, Uri!” I push against his chest, moving back to my seat. “So, what the hell was this?” The deep annoyance I’m feeling bursts out of me. “Your way to keep me happy? To protect me, and from what? You know what would really do that? Letting me go free!”

“Let. You. Go?” he growls the words menacingly.

If I wasn’t high as a kite, I might’ve been able to tell Uri why, but I can’t draw my thoughts together enough to figure it out.

What comes out is: “There are times I wish you’d turn your gaze away.”

I hear a cracking sound, but when I look up, I only see Uri’s hands holding the wheel.

“Never. After tonight you never leave my sight,” he hisses.

He always says things that open my heart and break it while still beating inside my chest.

The silence turns heavy as I feel tears welling in my eyes.

“Put your seatbelt on,” he orders abruptly.

I suddenly feel like my stomach is hosting…a scurry of chipmunks dancing the rumba—like Lori would say.

When I don’t oblige, he does it for me gently, calmly. I hate it—how controlled he can be while I’m feeling sick. The dancing rodents want to get out. Oh, oh, they are getting out.

“I think I’m going to throw up,” I warn him, pushing on the window button, willing it to slide down faster.

“Hold it in,” he says, unimpressed.

I make a very noncommittal sound before uttering, “Too late.”

six

SARIEL

At first, it feels like I’m dreaming. Everything is fuzzy around the edges. A door opens and closes quietly. Then the mattress dips under someone’s weight before he spoons me.I exhale, feeling all languid and sleepy. Despite my sore throat and sense of anguish, the tension melts away as soon as Uri’s familiar scent envelops me.The weight of the arm around me isn’t as familiar as it used to be when we were kids, but it soothes me the same, and I fall into darkness.

When I open my eyes, pain hits me hard like a knife slicing my frontal lobe. The blazing sun sends another stabbing pain straight through my eye sockets. I throw an arm over my face as my stomach rolls. My throat hurts and my mouth feels dry.

Oh God, where am I? I push myself up on my elbows first, letting my heavy head adjust, then I sit. I’m in a place that I don’t know that well, but somehow recognize. Uri’s bedroom. I’m wearing one of his long-sleeve cotton shirts—it smells like him—and underneath, my blue panties. I was wearing the cream pair yesterday, wasn’t I?