Page 31 of The Devil Can Be Kind

A second ticked past and then a loud groan filtered through the walls.

Why now? I’m shit tired!

I buried my head under the duvet and smothered myself with a pillow. Unfortunately, it did little to dampen the sounds that were growing louder as the minutes ticked by, and I crushed the pillows closer until all I could hear was the thudding of my own heartbeat.

Eventually, I gave up trying to dampen the sounds, knowing there was little chance of falling asleep suffocated as I was under the heavy pillows.

Right that fucking does it!

I lunged out of bed and threw open my door in frustration, half expecting the sounds to be coming from the living room area, they were so graphic and loud. Thankfully they weren’t. The noises were coming from the room adjacent to mine and the only room Jesse hadn’t pointed to earlier…which meant it could only belong to one person.

Fantastic.

Anger fueled by alcohol had me marching over to the door and pounding violently against the wood.

“Tell your motherfucking donkey to shut the hell up, Marco! Some of us are trying to fucking sleep!” I yelled.

Probably shouldn’t have said that.

Immediately, I heard heavy footsteps heading toward where I stood, and I braced myself against the inevitable onslaught.

The door flung open forcefully, revealing a very angry… and verynaked, Marco. My eyes involuntarily wandered over his body, and I tried unsuccessfully to force my gaze away from his sizeable length standing to attention through his boxers.

It was only then that I realized that he was literallycoveredin tattoos. Two full sleeves and a huge chest piece that stretched down one side of his rib cage camouflaged his skin in large swirls of rich black images. His long-sleeved shirts certainly hid more than perfectly chiseled abs, that was for sure.

Fucking hell.

I audibly gulped and arrogance glistened in his eyes.

“What did you say?”

I crossed my arms, trying to regain my composure. “I said, ‘tell your motherfucking donkey to shut the hell up, some of us are trying to sleep.’” I recanted, meeting his eyes in unquestionable challenge while keeping my voice sickly sweet.

“Hey bitch, fu—” a woman’s voice started to say behind him.

“Quiet.” Marco barked over his shoulder.

The woman’s mouth snapped shut and a smug smile lined my face as his attention focused squarely on me.

I suddenly felt hot and keenly aware of thelackof clothes we were both wearing.

Shit.

“Go back to your room.”

Surprisingly, it was exasperation that lilted his voice instead of the familiar anger I was expecting. Marco stepped back and slammed the door in my face not a second later, the lock clicking into place on the other side.

I stared angrily at the wood for a second longer than was entirely necessary before stomping away.

The moaning started up again the second my door closed, only this time louder than before.Hisgroans were more audible than hers now and I found my cheeks smoldering at the sound. Something akin to excitement pooled in my belly with each of his loud grunts and I couldn’t help but imagine the actions that went along with those intoxicating sounds…

Lord help me.

CHAPTER

SEVEN

MARCO

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