Page 109

With a flood of lust and anger, I shut the radio off.
Fuck Diana.
And fuck every asshole getting laid right now.
A heavy tension and the quiet rustle of fabric as Elena crossed her legs filled the car. The nervous gesture bared more of her tan, smooth thighs, and my heartbeat pulsed in my dick.
A grimace pulled on my lips and I wiped it away with a palm. I knew what was beneath that dress now. The mental image was burned into my fucking brain. Not only did she have the hottest little body I’d ever seen, it was those dark eyes, soft and innocent, that pierced a hole through my chest. She’d only sat on the island, as though she would let me do anything I wanted to her. Submissively. Dutifully. Fuck me.
She wiped her hands on her dress, pulling it back down, and a dark part of me got off on the idea that I was unsettling her. Tit for tat and all that.
I could make her do whatever I wanted.
I could take it all.
I even knew she would like it.
But something arcane and deeply rooted held me back. Something that gave me the urge to smoke every time I thought about it.
I had to know I wasn’t a substitute for some lost love. Had to know she wasn’t pretending I was someone else. Had to know it was what she wanted and not due to some kind of obedient trait or sense of duty.
When I found her talking to Sebastian Perez, for a split second I thought she’d let him in, that he was responsible for the ring on her finger. Acrimony had burned in my throat and tasted acidic in my mouth. She was mine. And I’d kill anyone who told me otherwise.
She was staying with me until the wedding because I couldn’t stand the thought that Salvatore might try to keep her from me. The idea made my chest ache with something foreign and hollow, and fuck if I was going to sit around for two weeks feeling it.
Nevertheless, I was glad I didn’t shoot Sebastian.
I liked the way he did business.
As soon as we pulled into the drive, I turned off the ignition and got out of the car. If I had to sit in there with her for another millisecond I’d crack.
She followed me to the back door, and I couldn’t help but to be aware of her every move. Her heel must have gotten stuck in a divot in the walkway, because she started tipping. I took a step back to reach out and steady her but was unprepared for her to fall into me.
I gritted my teeth at the impact. Her entire body pressed against my side, from her tits to her hips, and fuck, did it burn.
Jesus, this girl.
If I lasted the night, it would be a goddamn miracle.
The click of my heels echoed off the wooden floorboards, and my heartbeat replayed each reverberation against my breastbone.
It had only been days since I arrived here and stood in front of this door. The uncertainty I felt was the same, but something had shifted. The ache in my lower stomach had bloomed to fill every available space in my body. I could feel it—him—everywhere, and he wasn’t even touching me.
Nico typed something into the security system as I slipped off my heels. Stopping before the stairs, he glanced at me. His gaze was dark, shimmering, with an unfathomable depth.
“You good?”
“Good,” I breathed, though I felt close to bursting at the seams if he didn’t touch me.
He nodded once before he took the stairs one at a time and left me there, engaged and alone. Infatuated and burning. I stood there for a moment, with nothing but the sounds of a settling house for company.
Padding into the kitchen, I filled a glass of water and set it on the island, not taking a sip. I grasped the edge of the counter, closed my eyes, and let the pressure of what I needed from this man build until it felt like it was all I could breathe.
The stairs creaked beneath my bare feet, and I stopped at the top when I heard the shower running from his bathroom. Indecision ate at me, bit by bit, until I felt raw and naked. It would be so easy to let my dress hit the floor and slip into the shower with him. He wouldn’t turn me away, though that was never the reason for this waver inside of me.
So instead, I went into the hall bathroom. I turned the shower on hot and washed my hair with some other woman’s shampoo. And then I dried it with her hair dryer. In nothing but a towel, I paused in the hallway, the indecision strong enough it vibrated under my skin.
My bedroom door shut behind me and I leaned against it, stared at the ceiling and breathed. My heartbeat played a melody of fear, uncertainty, need. I slipped into a t-shirt and shorts and stood in the middle of the room.