Page 6 of Unwrapping Deviance

Now, eyeing the sleek beast parked a stone’s throw away, I can’t help the flutter of nerves in my belly, a weird tangle of excitement and dread. The way Daniel talks about him, Christian doesn’t mince words. He doesn’t hold back his thoughts, and I’m terrified he’ll take one look at me and ask what the fuck Daniel is doing with me.

In our bubble, it’s just us. What little of the world we let in never matters. I have no one except Daniel and Daniel only has Christian. We don’t socialize, so we’ve never come across the side-eyes or whispers I know we’d get.

Christian will say something. He’ll tell Daniel he’s being an idiot saddling himself up with someone damaged and broken with abandonment issues and trauma, because Daniel could have anyone he wants. And when Christian tells him, I will have no choice but to agree because he deserves better.

“You’re overthinking.” He drags my hand across the console and sweeps his warm lips across my knuckles, sending jolts of lightning down my arm. “He’s going to love you.”

“I hope not,” I whisper.

Disapproval curls his eyebrows over his eyes. “Mira.”

He knows the drill. He knows no one else can come into my circle. I can’t afford more blood on my hands. But I also know he’s going to disagree and press that I need more people in my life.

I cut that off promptly. “How long has it been since you’ve seen him?”

He’s not stupid. He knows I’m changing the subject, but he’s also a smart man and picks his battles wisely.

“Three years,” he grumbles. “He was my witness when Sam and I got married. It’s the longest we’ve been apart. I know he loves his job, but I hate it.”

“Well, I’m excited to be here for this reunion.”

Daniel chuckles. “I’m honestly more nervous about him meeting you.”

I stiffen even as my stomach knots. “Why?”

His laugh ricochets off the cabin walls. “You’re exactly his type. He might try to steal you.”

Not sure how I’m supposed to feel about that, I offer a weak chuckle. “He’s not you,” I murmur quietly.

The fingers of his free hand slip beneath my chin and my face is tilted to his, tilted until I’m captured in the warm gold of his eyes. “You are both the two most important people in my life. I want you to get along, but Christian has a way of testing a saint.”His thumb brushes my cheek, dips into the hollow the way it always does when I’m upset. “But you need to promise me that you will tell me if he makes you uncomfortable.”

I’m trying to process his implication, but my skin feels too warm and he’s so close, and I want so badly to lean in and capture his lips that are inches from mine.

“Okay,” is the best I can offer with only half my brain listening.

I feel Daniel’s hand release mine, leaving an unwanted chill prickling my skin despite the mild temperature. He kicks open his door and I hurriedly gather up my bag. My phone is snatched out of the cup holder and tossed inside, as is my paperback. I loop the strap over my shoulder, careful not to crush my flower as Daniel appears at my door and yanks it open.

“Okay?”

I accept his offered palm with a nod and let him help me down. Ribbons of pain coil down my thighs and across my lower back. I groan as my knees pop and wobble.

Daniel chuckles when I whimper and hobble slightly. “Want me to carry you?”

I shoot him a wrinkled nose despite desperately wanting to sayyes.

He keeps a light hold on my hand not still holding his flower and leads me down a dark path that winds downwards across heavily uneven dirt. Knobby roots protrude beneath our feet, catching my sneakers and nearly crippling my ankles. Low branches smack our faces and claw at our clothes.

“Was it always like this?” I ask.

Daniel shakes his head. “The lawyer said the place hasn’t been maintained for a few years. Dad lost a lot of mobility after his second stroke and let the place fall apart, apparently. There was a nurse who used to come by and help him around thehouse, but she stopped coming after he passed so I can only imagine the inside is equally neglected.”

“Are you okay being here?” I ask softly, stopping to peer up into his heavily shadowed features.

Daniel’s a big man. Easily six-five of pure, raw muscles and a trim waist that ends at long, toned legs to my barely five-two without heels. He terrified me in the beginning. Everything about him is just so intense, so ... masculine and solid. It’s hard to stand so close without wanting to press my face into the center of his chest — the only part of him I can reach at eye level.

But it’s his scent. The hot, musky cologne I bought him for Christmas that he wears every damn day. It makes my core pang and my nipples harden. Smelling it on him first thing in the morning after he’s showered and dressed for the day in his suit and tie ... and that smell...

Fuck...

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