Page 55 of Skin Deep

Everyone left but Nicodemo. He was staring at me with a look I didn’t quite understand. But I knew he was waiting for me to nod or shake my head. Did I want him to let Harrison stay or clear him out?

Nicodemo was a friend of the family and exactly what my cousin was—a very dangerous man. I was starting to realize that Harrison went much deeper than I thought. He wasn’t fucking around. He was going to kill that man.

For me? Or because of his anger at what I’d done?

I nodded once to Nicodemo. He nodded back. He stopped when he got close to Harrison, nodded once at him, and then left.

Everything went quiet.

Harrison turned toward me. We stared at each other from across the water, and then he turned and rushed toward the house. It was like he was on a mission to grab something, and he was possessed by it. When he came out, he had the picture of my hand in Elias’s, the one Elias had given me as a gift.

“Fuck ELIAS!” Harrison roared. “FUCK his brother, too!” He took the picture and slammed it against his knee, breaking our hands apart. He flew past me with long-legged strides and flung the two pieces off the side of the cliff. He turned toward me. “You heard what I just said? Fuck them both! And FUCK all the people who were just here. Those aren’t your people. You’re so much deeper than what they give you credit for.”

I was stunned into silence. Until I found my voice. “Why?” The word came out much stronger than what I expected. “Why did you do all of this?” I motioned around, thinking of last night, and the party, but I wasn’t sure how to put it all into words.

“Why did you lie to me? Why did you tell me Mari was coming when she wasn’t?”

A rush of something hot seemed to surge inside of me. It felt like the moment tears would burst from my eyes, but none came. I hardened against the feelings, because all night he’d been checking the door, anticipating a different face than mine.

I gave him a nonchalant shrug. “Fun,” was all I could find the courage to say. But it felt like I’d lifted the weight of the world onto my shoulders when I did.

It was clear he felt betrayed. But the truth refused to come. What if my answer didn’t matter to him?

“Fun, is that right?” He shrugged, mimicking me. “If that’s all this is, then—” He slipped out of his jacket and flung it to the ground. With those same long strides, he made it to me in a few steps.

I looked up at him, but it was hard to hold his stare. His eyes reflected the silver moon that lit the night sky, but I could have sworn it was cold fire.

“Your neighbors,” he said. “It’s good they’re so far.”

He read the questioning look on my face.

He leaned down. His mouth was close to my ear. His cologne drifted in the air around me, and I closed my eyes. “They won’t be able to hear you scream when you come for me all night,principessa.Because right now. You’re still mine. And I. Don’t. Fucking. Share.”

A shiver stole over me when the heat from his body pulled from mine. Our eyes met and held as he slowly moved away from me, but he didn’t go far. His hand slipped around my neck. His thumb settled against my lips. My breath rushed out at his touch, but I refused to look away.I needed to understand the thoughts behind his eyes.

You have my thoughts.

You are the most beautiful woman in my eyes.

You’re the only woman who runs deep beneath my skin.

You’re mine—not just for tonight, but for always.

It was hard to tell what he was thinking, though, and if none of those words were his, I couldn’t stand the rejection.

Instead of speaking, I started to unbutton his shirt. His skin was smooth and hot underneath my palms. I slid the shirt from his wide shoulders, and he stopped my hand from moving after it fell to the ground. His hand wrapped around my wrist, keeping it in place.

A few heartbeats passed between us, and what started out slow became something else entirely. Our week together, all the desire we’d been denying, seemed to rush us at once. His hand came to my hair. He pulled the pins from it, letting it fall around me in black waves. I started unbuckling his pants as he unzipped the dress. The gold shimmered against his black suit on the ground. The breeze had taken his boxers and socks and flung them all over the patio.

We were so close to the door, but we couldn’t make it. The desperation we both felt seemed to rule us.

His teeth ripped the sticky petals that covered my nipples. I hissed out a breath when he started to suck me so hard that my knees almost went weak. He made quick work of the silk panties I’d been wearing. The heels were still on my feet.

“Fuck,” he said, standing back a little, taking in my entire body.

I wanted to say something similar—that when he started to fuck me, we were going to be beautiful together—but I couldn’t find my breath. I couldn’t find it because his mouth came against mine and our tongues started to swirl. He was kissing me so deep, and so hard, it was like he was stealing my breath.

I needed him in the same way. I needed him to fuck me until I couldn’t breathe. Until I couldn’t remember who I was.

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