Page 72 of Where Quiet Hearts Scream
Andreas opens his mouth and an actualgrowlcomes out. “He wanted to fuck you.”
My head jerks back in shock. “What? No, he didn’t. We were just talking.”
“He wasdrooling.”
“You saw him for ten seconds, max. You can’t tell if someone is drooling in such a short timeframe.” And ofcourse, he’s gay, but I’m not telling my husband that because that’s not the point.
The lines on his brow furrow deeper and I can tell my defense is pissing him off, but I don’t care. I don’t want our marriage to be like this—me following him around at events like a puppy on a leash not breathing a word to anyone should they wish to punctuate the conversation with sexual intercourse. I want to be able to talk to someone other than Viola, get to know people in the city,have fun.
“He’s a red-blooded man.”
I throw my arms out to the side. “And what’s wrong with red-blooded men?”
His shoulders round and he towers over me. He presses a large, hot hand to my bare chest and pushes me back until my spine hits something hard. I look around to see we’re out of sight in a deep-set doorway, and my heart is pounding.
His voice has lowered to a deep snarl. “They can’t be trusted.”
“And what about me?” I whisper up at him. “It takes two, doesn’t it? Don’t you trust me?”
His throat bobs as he stares down at me. His hand slides up from my chest to the base of my neck and he curls his fingers around it gently.
He shakes his head. “I want to trust you.”
His words feel like a sharp slap. “So why don’t you?”
With his hand still wrapped around my throat, herakes his gaze over my body and licks his lips, making my knees tremble. “Because…look at you.”
I swallow, dryly. “What?”
“Fuckinglookat you.” His gaze swims with something bordering on insanity. It is so wild and dark and needy I would fall back against the door if I were not already rammed up against it.
I close my lips and swallow. “I’m not going to stray, Andreas.”
He releases a short, bitter laugh and shakes his head.
My stomach drops along with my voice. “And you know why I won’t.”
For a moment, his dark gaze searches mine, then it stops.
“The scars,” he says.
I let my gaze fall to the ground, then the heat of his forehead presses against mine.
“I don’t want that to be the reason you don’t stray, Sera.”
My hearts stutters. He hasn’t used my abbreviated name since we got engaged. “What other reason would I have?”
His hand slides up my throat to cup my chin, lifting it until my eyes cannot escape his. “Me,” he replies. “Iwant to be the reason you don’t stray.”
This very second, I see it. A vulnerability he lets no one have sight of. Only me, in this moment. He wants me to want him, the way I used to when I thought he was someone else.
I’ve made it very clear since then that I’ve wantednothing to do with Andreas Corioni. But gradually, as the weeks have passed and the more ‘well’ I’ve become, the deeper he has slid beneath my skin. Without realizing it, I’ve begun to fall for my husband.
His gaze skates about my face, searching for any reassurance that I wouldn’t stray, because of him and not the scars I engraved in my skin.
I lift up onto the tips of my toes and press my lips to his. They’re warm and soft. His gaze bores into me so intensely I have to close my eyes for fear this kiss won’t be reciprocated.
Then, finally, he presses his full weight against me and I sigh into his mouth. His lips part, taking mine with them and he draws my tongue into his mouth. He licks across it, and I feel it everywhere. Both his hands reach up to take hold of my face and he sets to work on a kiss that has my body melting into the floor. He tastes every corner, nips gently at my lips and licks at my tongue. He groans into my mouth and I swallow every sound, mirroring his hunger with my own.
