Page 148 of The Slayer
She was still shaking from it when he pulled out of her and rolled her over so that she sprawled out on the bed. The sex didn’t stop like it did with other men; it just got more turbulent as he dragged his tongue all the way up from the base of her spine. It was slow, indulgent, as he crawled over her. She felt his low moan against her ear as he touched her, sliding his hand between her sticky thighs and teasing her until she was begging again.
Then he kicked off his jeans and shoes and took her from behind, the two of them bare save her high heels. He clutched at the headboard; she did too, and the sex sounded like a heartbeat, hard, thumping, until they were both completely spent.
Nothing about it was pretty, soft, flowery.
It was all so stark, but still undeniable.
Chuito pressed a kiss to her sweaty temple and pulled her into his arms so that he was curled around her like a protective blanket. “I love you, mami,” he whispered into the darkness, soothing all the rough edges of their romance with the absolute sincerity in his voice. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry.” She threaded his fingers with hers and held on. “Don’t apologize for loving me.”
He was quiet for a long time, because there wasn’t anything else to say. She dreamed of a marriage proposal from him. Now it was an afterthought, like the gun, tossed around by men who were discussing her destiny like the plague.
She decided not to bring up the conversation in the kitchen.
Alaine just lay there instead, curled into Chuito’s arms on an old mattress without sheets. She looked at the gun resting on the edge of the bed, studying the way it glinted in the moonlight.
She could hear dogs barking somewhere, the monotony of it broken up only by the sound of sirens wailing in the distance.
There was just noise.
Lots of noise.
As if the entire city was caught in chaos, and she found she couldn’t pass out like Chuito did. His breathing fell into a slow, steady rhythm, and she knew he was sleeping deeply because he probably hadn’t closed his eyes once since the last time they had ended up like this. Garnet seemed so far away, like a dream that was hard to remember.
She wasn’t sure how it could all disappear so quickly.
She still had her shoes on, and she finally decided to make good use of them. It took her a while to slowly and carefully crawl out of Chuito’s arms, because his hold on her was tight, as if even in sleep it was difficult for him to release her.
She fished Chuito’s phone out of his jeans pocket. Then she grabbed his hoodie off the floor and slipped her arms into it. She zipped it up and looked down at herself, seeing that it hung almost to her knees.
Good enough.
Hopefully she wouldn’t see anyone.
She made her steps light, wincing at the sound her heels made against the wood floor, but she didn’t dare take them off. The stairs creaked, which was unfortunate, but another siren roared by, and she used the opportunity to dash down the rest of the stairs.
She had left her bag in the car.
Maybe she’d charge Chuito’s phone with the car charger, since Tino still had her phone and they depended on these things so desperately while they stayed here cut off from the rest of the world.
“Ciao.”
Alaine jumped and turned toward the sound of the voice, finding Nova sitting on the floor in the living room, looking out the window that faced the warehouse. The light from his phone coated him in shadows as he took a drag of his cigarette, doing it like a movie star from days gone past. He had abandoned his jacket and tie. The top three buttons to his dress shirt were undone. The vest he wore made his muscled arms and broad shoulders look even more imposing. He tilted his head back, blowing out the smoke, and Alaine thought the next time she dreamed of the devil, he was going to have a different face.
“Still going through a thing, I hear,” he observed in that low-pitched, sardonic voice that was cynical enough to give her chills. “Now weallknow why Chuito gets so fucking irrational when it comes to you.”
“That was rude of us,” she admitted, feeling her cheeks heat when he stared at her, his gaze running over her wearing nothing but Chuito’s hoodie. “I apologize.”
Nova held up his hand, as if it was the least of his concerns. “Fuck it. I’m starting to think I need to have the water in Garnet bottled. Look at my brother. Romeo lost his mind for Jules. He’s still nuts for her.”
“Do you resent that?” she couldn’t help but ask.
“I resent the two bullets Rome took because of it. All that shit could’ve been avoided. I’d like to avoid a similar situation with Tino. My brother can’t go to prison, Alaine. I will turn into something completely unholy if Tino goes down for this bullshit, and to be honest, I don’t want to see Chuito go down either. He did save Tino’s life. I’m indebted to him for that. I have a lot of fucking regrets in my life. What happened to Tino is number one on the list, and it was Chuito who pulled him off the ledge.”
“How did Chuito save his life?” Alaine asked, because she had been wondering about that earlier.
Nova turned to her in disbelief. “You don’t know?”
