Page 68 of Bad Men

That was quite literally the last thing I wanted. Having her there, even temporarily seemed to fill a void I hadn’t realized existed. It made me aware of the little things I fought so hard to forget, to not let myself want. She was changing everything, and she had no fucking idea.

I went to her, my feet carrying out a directive my brain hadn’t placed. I watched her head tip back, following my approach without breaking the weight of our connection and marveled at how someone so small, so incredibly fragile could absolutely destroy me and not even lift a finger.

“Hi,” she whispered once I’d backed her into the frame of the doorway, our bodies inches apart.

“Hi,” I murmured, acutely aware of the husky cadence of my voice.

Her enormous eyes watched me, too big and innocent on a face crafted to make a man beg. She’d left her hair unbound around her shoulders. The dark riot slipped over the bare stretch of skin where the thin spaghetti straps of her tank didn’t cover. They hung in seductive coils over the full hills of her breasts. It took all my will power to keep my focus fixed on her face, on her high cheekbones, her full mouth, the dusky fans of her lashes. It took even more strength not to touch her when she was right there, inviting me to do just that.

Stay, the voice in my head begged me to say. It had already weighed the pros and cons. It had done the math, mapped out the floorplan. It had done all the work in the time it took my heart to pump a full beat. It had decided I needed her, that Dav and I needed her, needed her to stay and nothing was going to convince it otherwise.

But how could I just ask her to leave her parents and move in with two men she barely knew, men who were no good for her, men who dealt on the wrong side of society? Her name linked to ours would ruin her, ruin her parent’s good name. How could I ask her to give up everything for us?

“Nero?”

My turmoil must have shown on my face because she reached for me. Her soft fingers brushed the side of my cheek, grazing the line of my jaw. Her thumb skimmed my bottom lip. The feather light caress was void of sensuality, yet it was intimate on a whole other level.

Goddamn it, stay! My mind wailed, releasing a wave of desperation through me. Don’t go. Don’t leave us.

“What is it?” she whispered. “What’s wrong?”

I kissed her.

I kissed her because I didn’t know what the fuck else to do. The raft I’d been drifting on my whole life was flooding and I was going down fast, and if I had her, if she was in my arms then maybe death wouldn’t be such a terrible fate. But the moment I tasted her, the moment my lips collided with hers and she submitted with a sultry groan I knew it wouldn’t be that easy.

It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her I was fine. It was a cowardly lie, an avoidance of the quicksand nearly at my throat. But the not knowing was killing me.

“Why did you come back?” I asked instead.

She blinked. “What do you mean?”

“After what happened with Alejandro earlier, why did you come back? Most women would have known what a bad idea it was to be with us and run. Why are you here? If it’s about your father’s debt, I think we can all agree it’s been paid in full, plus interest. You had no reason to return.”

Her shoulders rose and fell with her breath. “Maybe I thought I did.”

“Thought?”

She shrugged again. “I like being with you and Davien. I like how you both make me feel.”

“Even if no one can ever find out about us?”

“I don’t think it would be a good idea if anyone ever did.”

“So, you just want to sleep with us forever?”

A ghost of a grin turned up her lips. “Would that be a bad thing?”

“I mean nothing else. We just call you when we want to fuck. Our personal booty call.”

Her smile vanished. “Sure. I’m okay with that. No strings means I can keep my options open. Maybe find someone—”

I kissed her to stop her from finishing. The thought of her with anyone not me or Davien made me see red in a way nothing else ever had.

“No,” I bit out against her mouth. “That is not an option.”

She quirked an eyebrow with such sass, I had to restrain myself from putting her over my knee. “Well, you have no say on the matter. You’re just a fuck buddy. I can have as many men as I want.”

My fingers tightened around her upper arms. “Don’t.”

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