Page 63 of Tempt Her

My teeth grab my bottom lip. “You’d want that? Me meeting your family?”

He turns, facing me, taking both my hands. “I want a lot with you, Stacey.”

“I’m still a married woman. I won’t disrespect your family like that.”

“Then we’ll wait.”

I nod, overwhelmed by the image. After I get through hell, this heaven might be waiting for me. Me and Mateo and his family. Luke fulfilling his service but coming home safely to us.

I know it’s not traditional, but tradition sucks. It’s tried to siphon away all my power and pride, so fuck the rules.

If you didn’t help make them, you can’t win playing by them.

“Can I askyousomething?” he says as the sunlight forms a halo around him.

“Yes.” It’ll always be my answer to him. But he pauses like he doesn’t know how to ask. “What is it?”

“I don’t wanna pry, but it’s been bothering me.”

“What?”

“When you’re with me. Or you’re with Luke. You flinch if we touch your breasts.” He shuffles. “I mean, it’s your body, and I get we all have stuff we don’t like, but there’s more going on with you; I can sense it, and it makes me worry.” Concern slides down his face. “Is he hurting you there?”

Burning boulders choke my breath. “Not really.” Burning tears too. “He’s just mean about it. Like, I don’t judge what gets people off. But he gets cruel. It’s not about sex with him. It’s about control. He doesn’t care about my pleasure. He likes that I hate it. That I fight back tears while he does it. Because he knows I’d do anything to protect my dad, which makes it sick.”

“Fuck, I want to hold you right now,” Mateo mutters, holding my hands hidden by the balcony, and I want it too.

I want to crawl into his embrace and discover depths of emotions I’ve only skimmed the surface of. With Gentry, feelings aren’t safe. They’re a liability.

With Mateo, feelings are why you breathe. Why you go through pain so you can cherish the pleasure.

Without words, I lead us back inside. Sliding the glass doors closed, I turn to him, and I don’t know how long he does it. How long do his arms stay wrapped around me while I rest my cheek on his chest? Breathing in his scent—spice, orange, and sage—it’s so Mateo. His heat envelops me like a warm bath. The weight of his arms submerges me, letting me float happy and safe in his world.

He whispers into my strands, “Can I try?” His fingertips linger down my spine. “Can I show you how you deserve to feel?”

What would my life be like if Mateo, all those years before, had stayed with me at his locker? If we went out? If we became girlfriend and boyfriend? Maybe, I never would’ve met Gentry.

It’s a sweet question about an innocent time, and I’m right back there with Mateo, answering, “Yes.”

Because it’s also more.

It’s now, as he gently slides one strap of my dress off my shoulder, then the next, letting it flutter to the floor. The sunlight through the windows warms me, but Mateo’s gaze heats my skin, making sweet prickles rise on my flesh.

“God,” he sighs, “I can’t believe it every time I see you.”

“Believe what?”

“You’re with me.”

“I always wanted to be with you.”

His kiss finds me so fast, soft lips with a strong tongue, reaching inside and rearranging my breath, my life. Lacing his hands in my hair, I’m dangling in his grasp until he huffs, “Gimmie just a few minutes. I wanna see if you have something here.”

I sigh back, “What are you looking for?”

“Other than you?” He grins, walking away. “It’s a surprise. Trust me.”

And I do.

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