Page 95 of Prodigal Son

“I have, but I always come back. My family’s here. We don’t always see eye to eye, but I need to be close to watch over them.”

He was such a loyal brother and son.

She turned to face the wall and he played with her hair, twisting it into loose braids and lifting it into a bun. She’d never been with anyone who enjoyed touching her so much or did so so freely.

“How did you get this mark on the back of your neck?”

“It’s a stork bite.”

“A bird bit you?”

She laughed. “No. That’s just what people call it. I was born with it. It’s a birthmark.”

“Oh.”

“They usually fade by adulthood, but mine never did.”

He kissed the mark. “It makes you unique.”

“You really don’t get hung up about a girl’s flaws, do you?”

“What flaws?” he joked.

“Extra weight, looks, style, all of it.”

“Those things aren’t flaws.” He unraveled her hair and spread it over her shoulders. She shut her eyes, loving the feeling of his fingers touching her. “Do you ever think of moving to Portugal with your family?”

“Sometimes.”

“Why don’t you?”

She shrugged. “My job and my brother are here. If I go back to Portugal, my mother will marry me off to some family friend, and I don’t want that.”

His hands curved possessively around her hips, drawing her closer to his front. “What is it you want, Destiny?”

She shivered whenever he said her name. “Passion. Love.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Loyalty.”

His hand slipped over her stomach and cupped her breast. “The one who betrayed you, did you have passion with him?”

“Some, but it wasn’t worth the lack of loyalty.”

“And you still loved him?”

“Sometimes love is just an easy convenience that helps you escape the loneliness.”

“That’s not love, Destiny.”

“Then what is?”

He flattened his hand over her stomach, pressing her back firmly into his front. He was aroused, but comfortable simply lying close to one another.

“Love is a void you feel when it’s missing. It takes up space inside of us and drives us to do unpredictable things. Love challenges us and makes us experience emotion so acutely even the good feelings can feel excruciating. It’s feeling so fulfilled, you have no choice but to live in terror that one day it might all disappear. So you live through the fear, and live as if time were endless and every challenge were somehow an intentional gift moving you exactly to where you’re meant to be.”

“Live like you’ll live forever, and you’ll only be wrong once.” She knew nothing of the sort of love he described.

“Or misguided for an eternity.” His palm flattened and his fingers pressed between her thighs. “Why am I so addicted to touching you?”

Sliding her knees apart, she leaned back. “I’m just as addicted to your touch.”

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