Page 55 of Blood & Lace
Onyx wasthe most beautiful creature I'd ever seen.
My husband sat across from me at the dining table, a glass of wine and papers with various bios and faces staring up at him.
"Stop staring and help or you will go to the corner," Onyx said while taking a sip of his wine. He tossed another paper into the pile and grabbed another random one.
I had some guy in my hand that my family had a running into a few years back. He'd suffered from broken ribs and legs. He was currently wheelchair bound, and apparently, it was my fault. According to my husband, everyone on the table hated my guts and either wanted me dead or to never hear my name again.
"Sorry, bella, you're just so gorgeous I couldn't help myself."
A light pink hue colored Onyx's cheeks but he refused to look at me. "Work. Remember this is why we're here."
I nodded. It was why he'd agreed to dinner but it wasn't why I was here. All I wanted was to have him. The words on the page blurred, everyone looked the same and had the same kind of vendetta against me. I was over reading the moment we'd started. Instead, I held the paper up a bit more and went back to my favorite pastime: watching Onyx.
His feather light hair was pinned back by two pink bows with little frills on them. They looked adorable on him. I might have snuck a few pictures when I first saw him sit down. Gold-rimmed glasses sat perched on his slender nose, magnifying his eyes and lashes.
Onyx licked his lips, a habit he did anytime he was deep into reading something. I'd seen him do it plenty of times while enjoying a book and contemplating work. However, I didn't have a picture with him dressed like this with his tongue out. I made quick work of pulling out my phone. My coordination was off and I hit the table with the back of my hand so hard it jostled the entire surface.
"Are you okay?" Onyx looked up from his paper, concern written all over his cute face. His lips were red from the abuse he'd been laying on them while concentrating. His gaze looked me over as if he was searching for whatever had been hurt on me.
"I love you." The words came out of me before a solid thought took up root. How was I so lucky to get a man like Onyx?
"Idiot." He was around the table and next to me within seconds.
"What happened?"
I lifted my hand that was still clutching my phone. While I had the chance, I snapped a few pictures. The sound of the camera shutter gave me away.
Shit, thought I had it on silent.
"Lucero, give me your phone."
I locked it and moved it to my other hand. "My hand hurts really bad. I might need ice."
Onyx gave it a single glance before he was focused on my phone again. “What did you just do?”
“I told you, slammed my hand?—”
“No. Stop playing stupid.”
I tilted my head, smiling up at my dear husband. “No clue what you mean. Is it time for a break? There is that new bakery around the block that we should try.”
Onyx took his glasses off and really stared me down. If I was a weaker man, which I, in fact, was for Onyx, I would be on the ground belly up for him. However, I knew my husband. He’d delete the photos the moment he saw the endless folder of them.
“Lucero.” There was a warning in his tone that had the hairs on my arm standing straight.
I smiled. “Yes, bella?”
My stomach clenched and unclenched the longer he stood there next to me. He held out his hand. Those elegant fingers called to me. I wanted to slide my tongue over each one, tasting him in ways no one had ever done before.
“Hand it over now.”
“What?”
“Don’t ‘what’ me. Now.” He had the same tone my parents adopted whenever they wanted me to listen when I was younger.
I was up and out of my seat. I barely avoided colliding with him as I moved back. “They have a lemon dish that has great reviews. Even some of the girls at the club have been gushing over it.” I kept moving, creating distance between us.
“Lucero Elvis Marino?—”
