Page 81 of Shadows of Justice

I was so, so very wrong about him.

“This was a mistake,” I say quietly, my voice nearly drowned out by the storm.

I turn and run down the two steps off of the porch, making a direct line for my car. The rain greets me, cutting into my clothing like a sheet. The lightning and thunder are so loud now I can’t hear if he yells after me or not—either possibility painful in its own way. The flashes and booms follow in quick succession, the sky pounding again and again, one strike after the other.

I just want my misery to swallow me up. I feel like such a fool. How could I think I was healing? I’m still right where I started.

A firm hand wrenches me around by the shoulder, and dark, roiling pools of anguish are all I see before Leo crashes his lips to mine. He presses me against the side of the car, his body perfectly molded against mine.

I forget who I am, who we are, and the reason to every why that I had. I wind my arms around his neck and pull him closer.

The rain pelts our skin, but the world is silent to us.

Nothing in the world is noticeable to me other than every inch of this man’s body that is touching mine.

He pulls away, his hold on me still strong enough to bruise. He traces down the side of my cheek with a shaking hand, droplets pouring down his face.

“You shouldn’t be here because it’s not where you should be,” he says. “I stayed away for you. You deserve something better. Someone . . . better.” Shame shutters his eyes, the pain there harmonizing with my own.

“The FBI cleared your name. You can be whoever you want to be,” I argue, brows drawing together.

“And so can you! You really think your fresh start and shiny new life has room for an ex-criminal?” He drops his hand and steps away from me, and the loss makes me shiver. I grind my teeth, anger flaring again.

“You don’t get to decide that for me, Leo! Who I allow in my life is my decision, not yours!”

“You almost died because of me!” he yells back. “Your father almost died!”

“I almost died because of me! Because I fucked up! Because I was running from myself, trying to be someone I’m not. Chasing something that isn’t there!” I choke on a sob as tears pour down my face, mixing with the droplets of rain. “Now every time I look at my dad, I’m reminded of how stupid I was. Every time I see that fucking chair he’s tied to for the rest of his life, the memories come back. The bullets. I still see their faces. The hours of being chained . . .”

Leo’s jaw flexes as my words break off. His fists clench and unclench and he takes a half step towards me, but I watch him stop himself before he reaches me. I draw in a shaky breath, trying to steady my voice.

“You can’t blame yourself for choices that I made. It was my idea to try and be a hero, to do it without help. And yes, I almost died, but I didn’t! I survived! And as soon as I was able to look around and start living again, the person I wanted to share that with most wasn’t in the room.”

Leo’s chest heaves as he watches me break down, his T-shirt sticking to his caramel skin. He comes closer to me—excruciatingly slow. My body screams at me to grab him and pull him close, like it needs it to survive. He’s the antidote to the poisonous fear eating away at my insides. He chases all the shadows away and remains, steadfast, always withstanding.

He returns the hand to my cheek, droplets sticking to his dark eyelashes. A crack of lightning strikes nearby, shaking the ground beneath our feet. Even the car at my back shudders with the force.

He runs his thumb over my bottom lip, eyes boring into mine—seeing me.

“I don’t deserve you, esmeralda,” he says, an inch from my lips. He lingers there, just out of reach, the thought of his taste like torture.

“Then start trying, coward.”

His eyes sparkle with a delight that makes heat pool in my belly. His other hand joins his first, cupping my face. He moves me, positioning me where he wants me, and pulls my mouth to his. Our tongues tangle, teeth colliding, the feverish desperation that burned so brightly between us before returning tenfold. Thunder rumbles through the valley, its power like the force that’s pulling us together.

How appropriate that it’s storming, as it reflects exactly what Leo and I are.

Destruction before calm. Chaos before renewal.

His hips press me harder against the car, and I feel how hard he is through each layer of our jeans. I’d take him right here, in the rain, but the nagging voice in my head says there’s a young and probably confused boy in the house, just a window away. I slow the kiss and his chocolate eyes open, watching me with the familiar wildness that makes me tremble. I take his hand, leading him around the side of the house, where we’ll be out of the pelting storm and out of sight.

Just before I can reach the side wall, he grips my elbow and spins me. He lifts me effortlessly until my back is against the siding. He kisses me again, groaning into my mouth as he kneads my breasts through my soaked tank top. He breaks the kiss only long enough to lift it over my head and pulls one of the cups of my bra down, sucking one of my hardened nipples into his mouth. I can’t help the explicit noise that escapes me, the feel of him like ecstasy. If I died right here, right now, I’d die with a smile on my face.

Leo reaches up to muffle my moans, which are quickly turning into breathy cries. He switches to the other breast, squeezing my ass with a bruising grip as I'm pressed against the wall. He lifts his head to meet my eyes, the animal inside visible there—just beneath the surface.

“Silencio, Genevieve,” he says with dark amusement on his face. “If you can keep quiet, I’ll let you come.”

Defiant irritation flashes through me, mixed with raging desire. His fiery words are punctuated by a sharp snap of lightning, his power over me as moving as the elements raging around us. He’s waiting for an answer, for me to comply. I hold his gaze and nod, willing to do almost anything to have him.

---