Page 41

CHAPTER 41

Lalo

There was no proper way to explain how Lalo felt at that moment. He was on fire and plunging through a pool of ice simultaneously.

She tasted like life itself. Like the earth after the rain. Like summer mornings when the temperature was just right. She tasted like autumn and laughter. Like honey on the tongue.

Flashes of Carolina’s life flitted through whatever magic he was trapped in. He saw Carolina and Nena giggling in a field of poppies. Saw her arguing with her papá over him not letting her saddle up like her brothers. Dancing with Luz Elena in her room and forcing the woman to move and laugh.

Lalo gripped her tighter, groaning in pure pleasure as he drank more of her.

Faintly, he thought he heard Carolina gasp.

But then other memories lured him into a brilliant haze.

Their first meeting in the dark. She had him pinned and saw his face. She thought him handsome. Strikingly so. He saw them in the empty grave, embracing. Them kissing in the coach. He could feel the desire thrumming through her. Could feel the yearning.

Gods, he wanted her so desperately.

He wrapped his arm around her body. He wanted her pressed against him. All of him.

“Lalo,” he heard her say. She sounded distant. An echo in the very back of his mind. “Lalo, you’re hurting me.”