Page 44 of Pretend
“You don’t mind, do you?” Her teeth chatter, and it’s taking all of me not to just pull her into me so that I can warm her up with my own body heat. I’ve never been so jealous of my damn passenger-heated seats. Her ass should be on my face.
Shit.
Control yourself, Creature.
“Of course not—“ I’m close to the gas station when I see a red, slightly light, bruised handprint on her bicep, and that stops me from saying anything more. I press the brakes, making the car come to a full stop in two seconds. Her body jolts forward, but she is smart enough to buckle herself in.
Who the fuck put their hands on her so hard that it left bruises?
Who the fuck caused her pain that didn’t come from me? From the day she was assigned to me, I’ve dreamt about giving her marks. Marks that she asks for,begs for. I want her to be mine so I can do all those things to her. Only me. And God, how I want to mark every part of her with my teeth.
Fuck, it’s been a while since I’ve fucked a woman. Too long. Maybe I need to get it over with. Maybe it’ll help the fatal temptation to devour the lovely divine soul next to me.
“Alessia, what happened to your arm?” I growl, softly pulling her bicep to me so I can examine it further. I make sure to hold her gently but stern enough for her to know how desperate I am to know everything.
There’s clear fingerprint bruising like someone had her pinned with their hand tight. It’s fresh and new. She didn’t have this earlier at El Devine. It couldn’t have been Frankie because I had eyes on him all night.
“It’s n-nothing…” she stutters, whispering softly. The windshield wipers are disguising my heavy, rage-filled breathing. That’s when the red and puffy eyes come into view.
She’s been crying.
Now I’m fucking livid.
Control, Creature…control.
She frowns, retracting her arm back to her side, and looks out the window. She rubs her triceps to keep warm. I take off my leather jacket without another thought and place it on her lap like a blanket.
Still, she doesn’t move, and I don’t know why, but it bothers me. I want her to let me in.
What could have happened from El Devine to now? Did she find out about Jack?
I was too busy with Frankie to keep tabs on her. I stopped by her home earlier to find her place empty.
I need to know who did this.
“I’m not driving until you tell me what happened to you,” I demand, my voice joining the sounds of harsh rain hitting the windshield. I’m cold, my tone emotionless.
She shakes her head, still unable to look at me. I don’t know what gets a hold of me, but I reach out to touch her. I’m on the side of the road again. Seconds later, I’m unbuckling my seat belt, letting the cold parts of my heart warm up because her presence does this to me. She taints me, and I do everything I can to fight it. At the end of the day, I’m only a man capable of human errors. I just hope this isn’t an error to let myself indulge. I can’t cross the lines that have been in place since I found out who she was. A devastating error that could wreck both of our careers.
I lean over the center console and push her hair off her shoulder. Long green trees sway in the wind in the back of her, darkness floods the scenery, and lightning strikes the sky again.
“Valentine,” I call out again.
She finally turns to me, and with the most heartbroken voice, she tells me. “Can we just pretend for this one moment?”
I don’t say anything. My eyebrows pinch together, confused by her request.
“Can we pretend that Ravenmore is not your boss’s boss for tonight and that you’re not my bodyguard and maybe just…” she hesitantly asks. A solace pauses between us. “Please, hold me?”
The ends of my mouth tilt upwards comfortingly, “I can pretend.”
“I know you’re not happy about being assigned to me, and?—“
I put my thumb to her mouth, hushing her.
She wants to pretend with me?Well, I can pretend all fucking night if she wants me to.
She’s doe-eyed, blushing, as I brush her soft, pink bottom lip back and forth, with my thumb. She blushes bright red, clenching her thighs together, and grips my leather jacket hard underneath her hands.
