Page 55 of Thorns of Silence

She cut herself off and her cheeks turned crimson. I thought back to all the times I watched her through the night as she made herself come and a sneaking suspicion niggled at me. Why would she have a folder for Orgasms if she seems to be orgasming just fine whenever I watched her from the shadows?

“Do you think about me when you touch yourself?” I asked, unable to contain my satisfaction. She clenched her jaw, clearly indicating she had no plans to answer me. “I could give you more,” I offered.

A shuddering breath escaped her as she shook her head, but her eyes betrayed her. They shimmered with dark desire. The same kind I felt. Maybe that was the reason the two of us fit together so well.

She didn’t answer, but I sensed the walls around her slowly crumbling down. “We’ll dance through life together. You’re it for me, dandelion.”

The lust left her ocean blues. She took a step back and glanced at the picnic before she returned her attention to me.

I saw the rejection in her eyes before she signed the first word. “I don’t want to have a picnic with you. I don’t want to see you. I don’t want to be around you. You and your family need to keep away from me and mine.”

It wasn’t how I envisioned this going. My heart twisted painfully as I stood and watched her walk away, my thoughts reeling. I bit down on my lip harshly, feeling unsettled, the buzzing underneath my skin like a constant current ready to spark off a violent rage.

Except, it refused to surface as long as I had her within my sight.

I couldn’t explain this need to own her, keep her, and never let her leave me, even if it meant sacrificing a limb for it. Even if she hated me because of it.

She calmed the monster hiding beneath the surface and those circling in my mind. She was my calm in a chaotic world.

She turned on her heel and left me staring at her back. Fucking again! This was like déjà vu.

I ended up having a date with Cesar. He lacked in beauty and humor big-fucking-time.

Looking at his face, all I could do was drown one glass of wine after the other. I had no fucking idea how many bottles we went through, but some hours later, an Uber picked us up. I found myself in my brother’s apartment, fumbling with my key to open the door.

Then, magically, the door swung open. “What the fuck, Dante?”

I straightened, coming eye to eye with my brother. “Hey, grumpy.”

“Fuck, are you drunk?” His eyes flicked behind to where Cesar was leaning against the rail, trying not to tumble down the stairs. “Again?”

I waved my hand as Cesar said, “We’re not drunk.”

“Nix is hard to get,” I muttered, breathing hard. Fuck, my chest hurt. “She’s not even playing.”

“Huh?”

“You think a broken heart could cause a heart attack?” I asked my brother, who stared at me like I had two heads. Really,hewas the one with too many heads, and they were all currently dancing in my vision.

“What the fuck did you drink?”

“Wine,” Cesar answered. “It was expensive and disgusting.”

“It was,” I confirmed.

“So much that you got drunk off of it…?” Amon stated dryly, then moved aside. “Do you two think you can manage getting inside or do I need to carry you?”

Cesar uttered something and the two of us laughed, although I wasn’t sure that I knew what it was he’d said. Something about a grape and an elephant standing on it.

After we stumbled into Amon’s apartment, he handed us each a bottle of water. “Drink it all,” he ordered.

“So fucking bossy,” I muttered.

“What’s gotten into you?” he gritted.

“You,” I said, pointing at him with my index finger and trying to push him. He didn’t move an inch. “Why did you have to end it with Reina?”And ruin my chances with Nix, I didn’t say. His expression darkened, just as it did every time her name was brought up. “I could have helped her with orgasm troubles.”

He glanced at Cesar who’d already thrown himself on the couch. “Don’t ask. He’s been talking about weird shit for the past hour.”