Page 13

EIGHT

AUDREY

I back up until the cold marble counter presses against my spine.

“Reign.” I swallow hard. “I—I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Clearly.” He takes a step closer, his massive frame making the spacious bathroom feel suddenly claustrophobic. “You left without saying goodbye in San Diego.”

Heat crawls up my neck. “I had a plane to catch.”

“And a fiancé waiting?”

The words slice through the air between us.

“He wasn’t my fiancé then.”

“But he is now.” Another step closer. I can smell him now. He smells of cedar and something darker. “That happened fast.”

“It was arranged. The engagement was finalized when I got back from California.”

“Arranged.” His mouth twists around the word like it tastes bitter. “What century is this?”

“You don’t understand how my family works.” My fingers twist together nervously, the diamond on my left hand catching the light. His expression hardens as his eyes track the movement.

“Then explain it to me.” He plants his hands on the counter on either side of my hips and cages me between his arms. “Explain why the woman who came apart screaming my name is wearing another man’s ring.”

“That night was a mistake,” I lie.

“I don’t think so, Princess.” He leans closer. “Your body remembers me. I can see it in the way you’re breathing. The way your pupils are dilating. The flush spreading down your neck.”

My tongue darts out to wet suddenly dry lips. His eyes track the movement with predatory focus.

“Why are you here, Reign?”

“To find out the truth.” His voice drops lower. “Who are you, really? The woman in San Diego who talked about art for hours? Or this society princess engaged to a mobster?”

Pain lances through me at the question that has haunted me since returning to Cooper Heights.

“Both. Neither. I don’t know anymore.”

Something shifts in his expression. His eyes search mine with an intensity that makes me want to look away. I don’t.

“Why him?” The question contains a depth of emotion that catches me off guard. “Why Vega?”

I look away, unable to bear the weight of his gaze. “It’s complicated.”

“Uncomplicate it.” His fingers capture my chin, forcing my eyes back to his. “Make me understand why you’re with a man who doesn’t deserve to breathe the same air as you.”

Surprise flickers through me. “You don’t know anything about my relationship with Gio.”

His thumb traces the line of my jaw, the gentleness of the touch at odds with the tension radiating from him. “I know he doesn’t see you. Not the real you anyway.”

“And you do?” I challenge, desperate to regain some control. “After one night?”

“Yes.” The certainty in his voice steals my breath.

“I see you, Audrey Worthington. The woman who sketches with her left hand even though she writes with her right. Who talks about color theory with more passion than most people feel in a lifetime. Who has a small scar on her inner thigh that makes her gasp when it’s kissed. ”

“Reign, please stop.”

“Why?” He leans closer, and his lips brush my ear. “Because I’m right? Because Vega doesn’t know these things about you? Because he’s never taken the time to learn what makes you come apart?”

“Because I’m engaged.” My voice trembles. “Because what happened in San Diego can never happen again.”

“Yet here we are.” He pulls back enough to meet my eyes. “Locked in a bathroom while your fiancé mingles outside. That doesn’t strike me as the behavior of a woman committed to her engagement.”

Anger flares in my chest. “You followed me.”

“And you ran.” He counters without hesitation. “Straight to the one place where we could be alone. Interesting choice for someone claiming our night together was a mistake.”

My hands press against his chest, and I feel the solid wall of muscle beneath expensive fabric. I tell myself I’m preparing to push him away.

I don’t.

“What do you want from me?” I ask him.

“Everything.”

“You can’t have everything. I just told you that I’m engaged.”

“Do you love him?”

He’s so close now I can feel his breath on my face, see the flecks of gold in his dark eyes.

“I respect what he’s done for my family’s company.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

I swallow hard. “No, I don’t love him.”

“Have you fucked him?”

I should be offended by the question, should tell him it’s none of his business. Instead, I find myself desperate to reassure him.

“No. I haven’t.”

Relief flashes across his face, quickly replaced by something darker. “Good.”

“Good?” I repeat. “There’s nothing good about this situation. This is a disaster.”

His hand comes up to cup my face. “The only disaster here is you marrying a man who isn’t me.”

My heart hammers against my ribs. This is insane. Completely reckless. I’m engaged to another man, standing in a bathroom with Reign’s hands on my face while my fiancé waits outside. The guilt should be crushing me. Should send me running back to Gio’s side where everyone says I belong.

But there’s this tiny part of me that’s practically glowing at his words. At the raw possession in his voice when he says I should be marrying him instead. At the way he’s looking at me like I’m something precious he’s found after searching forever.

“You don’t mean that,” I whisper.

“Don’t I?” His thumb traces my bottom lip, and I can’t stop the small shiver that runs through me. “I’ve been going out of my mind since you left. I hired a private investigator to find you.”

My breath catches. “You did what?”

“You heard me.”

“But we only spent one night together.”

“One night where I learned every inch of your body.” His eyes hold mine. “One night where I made you come four times, and you still begged for more. One night that I’ve relived every day since.”

He lowers his head until our lips are a breath apart.

“Tell me you don’t think about that night. Tell me you don’t remember how it felt when I was inside you. Tell me you don’t wake up reaching for me instead of him.”

Silence stretches between us. Any denial would be a lie, and we both know it.

“Reign, look I?—”

“Kiss me.” Reign slides his hands to the nape of my neck, and his fingers thread through my hair. “Kiss me and tell me that night was a mistake.”

My heart pounds so hard I’m sure he hears it. His eyes search mine, demanding honesty I’ve never allowed myself.

“One taste, Princess. That’s all I’m asking for.” His fingers tighten in my hair just enough to tilt my face up to meet his. “If I’m wrong, you can go back to your fiancé, and we can pretend that this never happened.”

Time suspends between one heartbeat and the next.

“Okay, fine.” My hands slide up his chest to his shoulders, my fingers digging into muscle as I rise on my toes. “One kiss.”

Our lips meet with none of the hesitation of our first kiss in San Diego.

This is desperate. Hungry. My mouth opens under his without prompting, seeking the taste I’ve tried and failed to forget.

He growls into the kiss, the sound vibrating between us as his free hand grips my hip, pulling me against the hard length of his arousal.

I moan, and Reign swallows the sound as he backs me up fully against the counter. His hand slides down to grip my ass, and he lifts me so our bodies align perfectly. Even through layers of clothing, the heat of his body against mine sends fire racing through my veins.

The kiss turns savage. His teeth catch my lower lip, tugging until I gasp. Reign breaks the kiss and rests his forehead against mine. His voice comes out rough and wrecked.

“Still think it was a mistake?” he asks.

I open my mouth to answer, to tell him yes, that this changes nothing. But no words come. My mind has gone completely blank, overwhelmed by the heat coursing through my body.

All I can focus on is the way he’s looking at me, the way my skin burns where he touched me, the ache between my thighs that’s growing more insistent by the second.

“I...” I start, then stop. My thoughts scatter like leaves in the wind.

“Sit back on the counter.” Reign’s eyes darken as he studies my face.

Heat floods my cheeks. I’m so turned on I can barely form a coherent thought.

“Why?”

“And spread your legs.”

“I asked why?”

His eyes burn into mine. “So I can make you come.”

My heart stops, then starts again at double speed. I know that I should tell him no, but I find myself sitting back onto the marble counter and spreading my legs anyway.

Reign’s hands slide up my thighs, and he pushes my dress up higher. “That’s my good girl.”

He hooks his fingers in my panties, and I lift my hips to help him slide them down my legs. The scrap of lace disappears into his pocket.

“These are mine now,” he says. Then he yanks my thighs apart.

The first touch of his fingers against my center makes me gasp. He’s gentle at first, exploring, relearning what makes me respond. When he finds that perfect spot, my head falls back against the mirror.

“Look at me,” he orders. “I want to watch your face when you fall apart.”

His fingers work me with devastating skill, building the pressure until I’m trembling on the edge.

When he drops to his knees, and his mouth joins his fingers, I have to bite my lip to keep from moaning out loud.

The combination of his tongue and fingers pushes me over the cliff, pleasure crashing through me in waves.

Before I can recover, Reign stands up and positions himself between my thighs. I hear the tear of foil, then he’s pushing inside me, filling me completely. We both freeze at the sensation, adjusting to being joined again after two weeks of desperate longing.

“Fuck, you feel perfect,” he groans against my neck. “Like you were made just for me.”

He sets a rhythm that’s both tender and demanding as he drives into me. Each thrust hits exactly where I need him, building the tension again until I’m gasping his name.

“Come for me again,” he demands, his voice strained with his own need. “I want to feel this pussy clench around my cock.”