Page 50 of Red Hot Harmony

“But seriously.” He took my chin. Kissed it softly. “Was it okay?”

“Don’t do that,” I whispered, dragging myself to rest my chin on his chest as he rolled onto his back. “Don’t let yourself think that just because of what happened to you, you’re somehow less of a man.”

Something flashed in his eyes, but he blinked and it was gone. “I’m not… Everything used to be easier. Effortless. Now it’s like going up a hill with a backpack full of bricks, and it’s fine when it’s just me, but...when it’s not...when it’s another person, when it’s you, it seems like I’m not meeting the expectations.” Words turned to slurs. His body shifted slightly and he looked away and up for a moment. “I don’t fucking know what I am anymore.”

He said it on a gasp, so quietly that I wasn’t sure if I’d imagined it or read the thought directly from his mind.

“You’re many things and they’re all wonderful, Dante.” I touched his face and traced the shape of his lips.

“You say that now, but you should’ve seen me before I ODed. I wasn’t a nice person. As a matter of fact, I was the biggest jerk ever.”

“But we’re here now and I like what I see. I like it very much.”

“You do?” He nuzzled my hair.

“I think that deep down, beneath all this ink and smirking and excessive use of cheesy terms of endearment, there’s a really good person. I wouldn’t be with you otherwise.”

He was quiet for a few seconds. Then he muttered, “I don’t smirk that much.”

“Oh, yes, you do.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Yes, you do.”

He flipped me, the movement so swift that I didn’t get a chance to react until I was on my back.

“I love when you argue with me, Camille.” His mouth slid against mine.

“Why?”

“Because, usually, no one dares.”

“Joke’s on them. They’re missing all the fun. Dante Martinez is best served bothered.”

We were exhausted and not ready for round two, but that didn’t stop us from sharing deliciously slow kisses until we both passed out.

6 Dante

There was a warm body next to me on the bed when I came to, and the world felt different. I couldn’t explain how different. Just unlike anything I’d experienced before.

Bigger and brighter and fuller.

Those were the only words that popped into my head.

The last time I’d woken up like this—naked and sated and half-hard—I was hung over and couldn't remember the name of the woman lying by my side. But right now, I knew exactly who she was, and the realization that it was Camille, the one I’d been wanting for so long, only reinforced the intensity of all these emotions crowding my chest.

I waited for a change.

Waited for that dark feeling I hated so much, the one that took over when the drug eased its hold on me, to make its appearance. Waited for it to waltz into my peaceful bubble and paint everything blood red. Then the woman would be escorted out and the sheets would be replaced and more drugs would be consumed.

But it never came.

On the contrary, one thought of not hearing Camille’s voice, not seeing that imperfect smile light up her face shriveled my insides. This was new and I didn’t know what to do with it except for kissing the side of her face to ensure she was real.

She was and she was here with me, and somehow, that made everything okay. Not knowing Malik’s whereabouts. The bruises on my brain. The fears curling around my heart.

She made everything okay.

---