Page 147 of Brutal Legacy

“The least dusty one.”

“So, you don’t know where we’re going either?” A laugh escaped me.

He chose a room and put me down, backing me into the wall and cupping my face.

“Is this going to be a pattern? Sassing your husband?”

I nodded solemnly, and his face creased in a smile.

“Good.”

Then he kissed me. Long and hard, soft and melting, he kissed me until my knees were weak, and the only thing holding me up was his strong, solid body against mine.

His hands fell to my jacket, and he slipped it off my shoulders.

“I’ve thought about what you told me… I had time, plenty of time on the flight. And it sounds like you’ve been waiting for me.”

Always.

“You’ve loved me and waited for me all this time, haven’t you?”

His deep voice sank through me, comfort like I hadn’t felt in a lifetime.

I fought a roll of my eyes at his words. “No. I wasn’twaiting. I didn’t think you were coming. You left me, remember… you didn’t love me like I loved you, and after that, I wasn’t interested in loving anyone ever again. Once was enough.” My breath grew short when he pulled my T-shirt up and over my head.

“Loved. Past tense,” Elio said. “So, you stopped loving me,cara?”

I swallowed hard and raised my chin. “No. I could never manage it. I loved you then, just like I love you now. I don’t think I can stop.”

He inhaled deeply at my words. I felt more naked than I’d ever been in my life.

“What about you, though… you stopped, didn’t you? You blamed me for all of it all this time… don’t you hate me?” How could he forget the way he’d felt about me all these years? The stain of my father’s meddling had marked us both so deeply.

My bra was next, and it fell to the floor, immediately replaced by Elio’s hands. Thick, calloused fingers tugged at my nipples and sent heat spiraling through me.

He let out a satisfied sigh and moved closer, pressing his forehead to mine, even though he had to bend to do it.

“‘Beneath the frozen river, currents still run…’Those lines were prophetic, I just didn’t know it.”

He stroked my breasts until I was panting. I held onto his arms when he bent and sucked one nipple into his mouth, rubbing his tongue across it.

He moved to the next one, and when his mouth left me, the dueling sensations of cold and heat exploded inside me when the air touched my wet skin. I shivered. Fully alive and awake. Feeling everything all at once, after years of feeling nothing.

He kissed the corners of my mouth. “I didn’t understand then that loving you would be the most enduring emotion I’d ever have. Stronger than hate, more undeniable than anger, more persistent than despair… You’ve been with me through it all.”

I opened my mouth to speak but didn’t trust my voice not to break. He slid his hands downward, unbuttoning my jeans and pushing them off my hips.

“You were my ghost, Georgia… you’ve haunted me, and honestly, it was enough. You lived like a nun, and I — I stopped doing anything but surviving.”

Now it was my turn to be shocked. “So, you really were waiting for me, too?”

“Not just because I was waiting for you, but because hating and loving your ghost was enough. Your memory was enough for me… even if we never met again.”

His hand glided into my panties, and I died a little at his possessive, confident touch. He handled my body like it was his own… like he had every right to it, and he did. He always had.Heat burned inside me at his caress, even as my heart hurt for the things he’d endured alone, thinking I’d left him.

“My father did this, didn’t he?” I murmured, sadness and resentment colliding inside me.

Elio nodded slowly and then tilted his head to the side. “You want me to kill him for you?”

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