Page 61 of Desolation

“So when were you going to tell me Marianne? Or is that even your name?”

With every statement from Landon’s mouth I find myself sinking deeper into the pool. The water cresting over my lips and I am positive I want to sink into the bottom of the pool.

He crosses his arms and my eyes go directly to the muscles that flex across his chest. “You know I really thought we made some progress last night. You were finally letting me in. But turns out it was all a lie. Every word that comes out of that sweet mouth of yours is a lie.”

“It wasn’t all lies.”

“Then tell me the truth, Mari. Tell me,” he pleads.

“I told you this was only for fun. You know I am married.”

“You are getting a divorce. I wouldn’t touch you if that wasn’t the case. Is that not true?”

How the hell am I supposed to explain that it’s complicated. He knows about the blackmail but the rest of it is even more fucked. “I am.”

He scrunches his brow and pinches between his eyes. “Fuck, Mari. I was ready to open up to you. Let you in. I didn’t care if it meant I only got you for a few days. I felt a connection between us and I know you felt it too. But I can’t be with a liar. I can’t be with someone who doesn’t give me all their truths.”

“Sometimes truths are too much to handle and the lies are easier to swallow.”

He shakes his head and starts to walk away. I scramble out of the pool and wrap a towel around me. “Landon,” I beg.

He turns and faces me. “One truth. Give me one truth.”

“Mariela,” I whisper.

“What was that?” he asks, taking a step toward me.

“Mariela. My name is Mariela but I go by Mari.”

He starts to walk toward me and I step backward to the pool house. “Mariela,” my name, a breath on his lips and I like the way it sounds too much. I close my eyes and let it sink in.

He steps closer to me as I back into the door. “Tell me something else, Mariela.” The coarseness of his voice making my name sound like smoke in the wind, sending chills down my arms. “Is whatever this feeling between us real?”

I bite my lip as I look into his dark eyes. They seem fathomless like the ocean, like you could drown in them. And I want nothing more than to drown in this man.

I push my shoulders back and dart my tongue across my lips. “Yes, Landon. All of it was real.”

He’s on me before I even have time to realize it. His lips pressing hard into my own as he frames my body with his against the door. I grab his shirt and pull him closer to me, needing to feel the heat of his body against me.

I inhale the smell of the ocean on him as his lips move down my neck, caressing the goosebumps invading my skin, lower and lower until they reach the swell of my breasts.

I should stop him. Stop all of this. But I want this man so bad. More than I have ever wanted anyone before. Guilt overtakes me as his lips move across my collarbone. Can I do this with him even though he doesn’t know the entire truth?

My mind stops thinking about my guilt the second he presses his hips into mine. I blame the little daze that’s left from the alcohol when I go wild on him. I wrap one of my legs around his hips and grind hard against him. He moans into my neck, leaving tiny bites along my flesh.

“Mariela,” he whispers into my ear. That one word has me pulling his mouth back to mine. I’ve never had a man say my name in such a way that makes my stomach twist, my thighs clench, my mind reckless.

He grabs my ass and lifts me up so both legs are wrapped around him. He fumbles with the door handle behind him but somehow gets it open while his lips are sucking my bottom lip into his mouth.

He kicks the door shut and presses me into it with his hips letting me feel how hard he is. I dig my nails into his scalp as I grind against him. His lips make their way down to my breasts again but this time he uses his teeth to pull my bikini top away. He sucks my nipple into his mouth and a rush of heat lights up between my legs. I groan into the air, gasping for breath as this man brings me so close to the edge just by sucking on my nipples.

“Landon,” I moan as he swirls his tongue around the hard peak.

He answers by biting down and I scream from the pleasure. A new indulgence I’ve never felt before. My hands make their way to his back, my nails digging into his t-shirt hard enough to leave marks on the skin underneath.

He sucks and licks his way back up to my mouth, his tongue delving in, his hips pressing hard into mine, so much pleasure I can barely breathe. “I need you,” I gasp.

“Princess,” he moans into my mouth. He pulls us away from the door, stumbling over the side table as he makes his way into the bedroom.

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