Page 19 of Make Me Lie (Rich Demons of Darkwood 1)

“We can make it better—”

But I was already heading out of the random frat room we’d taken over, and I let the door bang shut, cutting off her words.

As I headed down the hall and went up the stairs to the third floor, thumping music greeted me. There were kegs lined up in the hallway, and there were girls everywhere in bikinis, gyrating to the DJ’s pounding music. Every party that the Gamma Delta Chi frat had was somehow themed to invite girls in either bikinis or school girl costumes.

The frat was boring, but then, they all were after being part of the secret society. The frat life seemed like child’s play but at least it was child’s play with beer.

I was on my way to the den where the other guys had been hanging when a door off the hallway opened, and Aurora stepped out. She was wearing a tight mini dress that hugged those gorgeous curves. She seemed unsteady on her long, coltish legs, and her long hair cascaded over her shoulders. She glanced toward me, her cheeks flushed and her lush pink lips slightly parted.

When those violet eyes met mine, I saw Delilah. She could change her hair. She could change her face. She was curvier than she had been in high school. But those eyes. Even from across the room they sparkled and caught me: a brilliant shade of lavender flecked with silver.

There was no one else like Delilah, and there was no one else who had those eyes. I'd been debating over and over again since I met her if I could be imagining it. I’d convinced that maybe I was, just because I so badly wanted to get my hands on Delilah and twist her beautiful little neck until I found out exactly what had happened to my sister.

But the way she looked at me, her eyes widening before she glanced away, felt familiar. It was her.

Cain came to the doorway behind her. His big body filling the entryway, one of his hands braced on either side of the doorway. He was watching her with a bemused expression on his face.

He’d just fucked her. The thought shot through me, accompanied with white hot rage.

How dare he fuck the girl who held all the secrets about what had happened to my sister. I was instantly furious, but I held onto a shred of common sense.

I had to know, had to know for absolutely sure, and I couldn't help but think there was one way that I could know. As ridiculous as it seemed, I would never forget what it had been like the first time I kissed Aurora...or Delilah as she’d been known then.

It had been raining, and she'd been over at my house, hanging out with my sister Sophia. She had meant to get started home earlier. When she'd noticed the time and the rain, she freaked out, saying that her father was going to be unhappy. My sister, who needed to get to dance class, had seemed to understand something about what that meant to her. She’d turned to me, asking if I’d drive Delilah home so she wouldn’t be late or have to walk home in the rain.

I was always such a fucking gentleman, I'd agreed. Maybe part of my willingness to be a gentleman was based on the fact that I saw the way sweet little Delilah looked at me, all full of innocence and desire mixed together, a dangerous little package.

But I’d always told myself I wouldn't take the bait. It was a bad idea. She was my little sister's best friend, and there was some kind of code against doing that as a big brother, no matter how much I had enjoyed tormenting my little sister in other ways.

When we stopped at a red light on a long country road, she started complaining about my playlist and trying to get to a song she liked, but she accidentally dropped my phone into the crack between our seats. She leaned over, searching for it. I'd twisted to talk to her, warning her that she wasn’t going to find any of the bubble gum pop like my sister loved on my iPhone.

She'd looked up at me, our eyes meeting from inches apart. Her lips were soft and pink, incredibly delicious looking with a rounded lower lip and pronounced bow. I had thought about kissing her, then rejected the idea, but she apparently didn't get the memo, because the next thing I knew her lips were on mine.

She caressed my lips with hers, and my cock jumped; I raised my hand to put it on her arm, to pull her close and deepen the kiss, and then I realized what the fuck I was doing.

I pulled away. “This isn’t a good idea.”

She pulled back, her brow furrowing above her adorable little nose. “I know.”

The next minute, she was throwing her door open. The light had turned green and I’d just picked my foot off the brake; the car lurched forward a foot before I mashed the brake back down, and she stumbled but caught herself. The rain pelted her as she stormed off down the road.

“Delilah!” I shouted to be heard over the roar of the rain.

She stalked along the side of the road, her hair now clinging to her shoulders, her t-shirt drenched and almost transparent. I stared at her with my jaw ticking. Was she really going to make me chase her down and throw her into the car?

“Delilah, don’t be an idiot!” I wheeled the car over to the right, threw on my hazards and got out of the car myself.

She was ignoring me and the rain.

I stormed after her, with no idea what I was even going to do. Pick her up and throw her over my shoulder like a barbarian?

“Delilah!” When I reached her, she pretended that she didn't even see me or hear me and just kept marching through the rain.

I grabbed her arm and spun her around. She looked up at me with her violet eyes blazing.

I grabbed her around the waist and kissed her hard. My lips seared against hers in a claiming kiss, and for a moment, even the rattle of the rain around us faded. Her body swayed against mine, her nipples sharp little points pressing against my chest. She resisted my kiss for a fraction of a second, then her lips parted against mine, welcoming me in.

The two of us traded quick, wild kisses. I sucked her lower lip, my thumb sliding across her lip as I pulled away. She was breathing hard as her gaze met mine, her chest rising and falling.

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