Page 44 of Beautiful Dangerous

He slides a grilled cheese sandwich onto a plate and holds it out to me. “Take it. Eat it. You’ll feel better for it, I promise.”

I take the plate and look down at the sandwich. It smells amazing, because he’s added a dash of mustard powder to the cheese, and used sea salt to season it, just the way I like it.

“Because grilled cheese is going to solve all our problems, right?” I put the plate down, and I look at him. Right into those ice-blue eyes.

“Is that what we have here? A problem?”

“Whatdowe have here, Lucca?”

“A situation that was always going to happen.”

I lean back against the counter and cross my arms. My body language is still telling him to stay back, but that isn’t what I want. “You sound very sure about that.”

“You don’t think that’s the case?”

“I think it’s been a long and emotional day, and, maybe we’re overthinking everything, that’s all.”

He arches an eyebrow, his arms also now crossed against his chest. We’re both giving off somewhat defensive body language, it’s almost like we’re facing off against each other, but there’s also an electricity in the air that’s hard to ignore. And I don’t want to. I don’t want to ignore it, not anymore.

“I’m not overthinking anything.”

He moves a little closer to me, and once again I breathe him in and allow my stomach one more dip. One last flip. And when he reaches out and cups my cheek, the palm of his hand ever-so-gently resting against my skin, it’s like all the air is slowly being sucked from the room.

“You could’ve turned tome, Olivia. We don’t need anybody else.”

“I was scared,” I whisper, my fingers closing around his wrist. “And I thought nothing could scare me anymore, but this…”

I trail off, breaking the stare, but I keep my fingers wrapped around his wrist.

“I’m scared, too.”

I look up, my eyes once more locking on his, my fingers tightening their grip on his wrist. “Then we’re really in trouble.”

We both smile, and suddenly the atmosphere changes, it feels lighter. And I let go of him, and reach for the sandwich. “It’s been a strange day. I think we just need to get some sleep, things will…”

“… look different in the morning?”

I stare at him as he finishes my sentence for me.

“What? That wasn’t what you were going to say?”

“I… Yes, it was, but…”

He takes the sandwich from my hand and puts it back down, and before I can get another word out his mouth’s on mine, his body pressed up against me, his arm circling my waist. And all I can think about is pushing him away, even though it’s the last thing I want, but I don’t. Instead I bury my fingers in his hair; I let him lift me up onto the counter, the sound of crockery crashing to the floor as he sweeps it away, and I know it’s only a matter of time now. Seconds. And I close my eyes and take a breath, biting down on my lip as he pushes into me, that line, it’s crossed now. It’s too late to change anything. So I drop my head, my forehead resting against his as his thrusts pick up speed, I can feel him inside me, and it’s so different to fucking Angel. That was just a test I had to put myself through, to see ifthiscould actually happen, so I need to stop fighting it. All of it. We aren’t doing anything wrong, any guilt is misplaced, surely Javier would think Lucca was the perfect person for me. He trusted him, loved him like a brother, and he knew that Lucca would never let any harm come to me. So this, it isn’t wrong. No matter what I might’ve thought before, this isn’t wrong.

His hand rests against the side of my neck, and I wrap my legs around him as he thrusts deeper; harder. It’s building, I can feel them, those tingles that are already working their way through my body, growing in intensity until they explode out of me, and I throw my head back and let it all out; all the frustration, all the pain and fear, it’s spilling out of me as I hold onto him. And when it’s over I keep my eyes closed; keep my forehead pressed against his, my fingers still digging into his upper arm, and all I can hear is the sound of our breathing and the faint voices of the guards outside.

My legs fall from around him and he lets me go, stepping back as I slide down from the counter.

“Are you okay?” he asks, his eyes locking on mine, and my stomach lurches; my heart beats that little bit faster, every fucking cliché in the book is running wild inside my head, and when he looks at me all I want is for him to pull me into his arms and hold me. Protect me. Keep me safe from the life I’ve chosen to live, I need that from him. Or do I just needhim? “And that, what just happened there, I don’t regret it. I don’t.”

I tilt my head slightly, giving myself a second or two to think. To get my messed-up head straight.

“Doyou, Olivia? Doyouregret what we just did?”

I shake my head, because I don’t regret what’s just happened. I think it’s something that’s been waiting to happen for longer than either of us wants to admit. “No.” I glance down at the broken crockery and grilled cheese sandwiches strewn all over the floor. “We should probably tidy this up. Best we don’t have Celine asking questions when she gets here in the morning.”

“I’m sorry.”

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