Page 50 of Unveil

“You gonna finish that sentence?”

The first droplets of rain hit the top of my head, but my position protects her from the chilling moisture that drips down the back of my neck. I tower over her, nearly a foot taller, and with my leather jacket open, I easily shelter her small frame.

“I-I won’t… marry?—”

I cut her off by slipping my knee between her thighs and planting my foot on the running board, lifting her up and forcing her to straddle my leg. She clutches my shirt for purchase, onesharp nail digging into my abs. I shift to press my cock against her hip, and her pretty river eyes flutter closed as I let her feel the full extent of the want I have for her. TheneedI have to taste her again.

“Orion,” she breathes, andfuck, do I want to claim her right here and now. But I’ve already waited this long, I can handle another day.

I can’t help taking a little for myself, though. I haven’t stopped wanting her since I almost came at the taste of her last night. Having her only a few feet away the past several hours but being unable to touch her was a special kind of torture. The truth is, from the moment I arrived in New Orleans the day after her eighteenth birthday, when I finally saw her in person, I’veonlywanted this rebellious girl.

My hand drifts down her body, the other gripping the rack like it’s the only thing stopping me from hoisting her onto my cock. There’s a purpose for what I’m doing right now beyond taking what I want, and the only way to keep her safe is to hold back and remember that.

Ruby red flushes up her chest, but she doesn’t stop me, not even when my fingers trail down her tulle skirt. Our gazes lock in this battle of wills. I’m testing how far she’ll let me go. She’s daring herself to keep pretending not to care.

When my fingers brush her thigh, she breaks, grabbing my shirt and scratching my abs with one of her sharp nails. I groan at the sting and hike her leg around my waist, pinning her against the SUV to fully cage in my little bird. She bites her plump lip, and her thigh tightens around my hip.

I stroke over her garter, stopping at the crease of her hip, right over the stunning ink staring up at me.

“You’re gonna keep fighting me, and I crave it. But what you don’t realize is you’re already mine. You wear my mark.” I squeeze the tattoo hard, earning a gasp.

Her eyes go from half-lidded to angry in an instant. “Skulls are theBordeauxmark.”

I nod. “Furys too.”

Letting go of the rack, I tug down my shirt’s neckline, revealing the birthmark above my heart, a skull marred with a scar through its crown.

Her mouth parts as she studies it.

“The Fury birthmark,” I explain. “An odd phenomenon that’s lasted generations. Anyone born into it has one, and anyone sworn in—married or otherwise—gets a skull tattooed. You’re ahead of the curve, pretty bride. And isn’t it soveryinteresting that yours…” I brush my thumb where the blush roses and wildflowers highlight the crack through the skull’s crown. “Isexactlylike mine? Down to the eyes. Almost like someone planned it.”

I circle my thumb over each eye, one a swirl of dark green ringed around brown, the other its mirror image.

“No…” she breathes, gaze darting from my birthmark to my eyes, then down to her tattoo and back.

“Just putting it together? Bet you thought my eyes were familiar fromsomewhere,didn’t you?”

“But… how—” She tries to push me away with her closed fists. “What thefuck?”

I chuckle. “You were reckless that night. Raising hell on Bourbon, swearing you’d go to anyone brave enough to tattoo you. So I called a girl Hatch knew up the bayou and told her what to give you. Once you called the rideshare, I helped you get there.”

“But you couldn’t have known where I was going! The driver got lost and took me to a different artist…”

“Or maybe he knew exactly where he was going.”

She groans. “That was you too?”

I nod. “Youreallyshould double-check your rideshare info. Any ol’ depraved bastard could drive right up and steal you.”

“There’s nowaythat was you,” she scoffs. “That was forever ago!”

I lean in, sneaking my fingers under her garter as I whisper against lips I’m already addicted to.

“You’re right, that wasforeverago. Imagine how hard it’s been to keep my hands off you all. That. Time. I only slipped twice, but goddamnwere both times worth it.”

I roll my hips into her, like I will when we fuck, and she whimpers.

“You’re so responsive,” I growl. “I’m barely touching you.”