Page 55 of Inescapable Darkness

I jerk back, breaking the kiss.

“I’m sorry,” I blurt out.

Shaking my head at my own stupidity, I quickly get to my feet and turn to leave.

But before I can, her hand shoots out and wraps around my wrist, stopping my retreat and turning me back to face her.

I can almost see the war raging behind her eyes. As if she is fighting the same battle with her own emotions as I am. Her fingers remain locked firmly around my wrist. I just look back at her, my heart beating erratically in my chest.

She draws in a shuddering breath while those conflicting emotions continue warring behind her eyes. Reaching her other hand hesitantly towards her face, she draws her fingers over her own lips. Where mine were pressed just a few moments ago.

Then complete determination flares up like burning flames in her eyes, and she yanks me back to her.

21

ISABELLA

Maybe it’s because I’m annoyed that I had to lose an ambush on purpose. Or because I’m rattled by the realization that I liked having someone in my corner. Someone who has my back. Or maybe it’s simply because both of us are living fake lives and, for once, we need something that is real.

Because I know now, without a doubt, that Rico hasn’t bought my act for a second. He knows exactly who I am. That internal battle he just went through was clear as day on his face. Which means that he didn’t kiss me as some kind of twisted way to get me to let my guard down. He did it because he wanted to, even though he knows that he shouldn’t.

He knows that I am an assassin who was a part of the group that killed his parents. And he still wants to do this. Hestillwants me.

Probably for the same reason that I desperately want this too with every shred of my soul even though I know that it’s stupid and dangerous as hell.

He knows who I really am. And I know who he really is. He knows that I know. And I know that he knows.

Even though almost every single word out of our mouths when we speak to each other is a lie, we are the only two people on this entire campus, apart from Kaden and Jace, who know the truth about us. We can never admit it to each other. But it doesn’t matter. All that matters right now is that this is real.Weare real.

His lips crash against mine as I yank him back to me.

Releasing his wrist, I lock my hands around the back of his neck, holding him firmly to me as I return that kiss he started that shocked me so much that my heart stopped for a second.

He braces his knee on the edge of the couch between my legs and slides his hands through my hair while kissing me back deeply. Violently. As if he has waited years for this.

I draw my hands down from his neck and over his chest. A low rumble comes from his throat as I trace my fingers over the sharp edges of his abs before brushing them along the top of his pants. Slipping my hands underneath the dark fabric of his shirt, I start pushing it up his stomach. His skin is soft and warm against my palms.

When I reach his chest, I swear I can feel his heart pounding underneath my hand. It makes my own heart skip a beat.

Rico breaks the kiss.

I blink, disoriented, only to realize that he did it so that he could pull his shirt up the rest of the way and yank it over his head. The shirt flutters through the air as he tosses it aside.

Heat pools at my core as I stare at his half-naked body. At his firm chest. At the way the muscles in his arms shift when he flexes his hand. At those defined abs that I just want to trace with my tongue. At his tan skin that betrays his Italian roots and his dark hair that I just want to run my hands through and his warm brown eyes that burn with need as he looks down at me.

Fuck, it should be illegal to be this fucking hot.

His gaze sears into mine as he locks his eyes on me. “Take your pants off.”

The words pulse through the air like a shockwave. It’s not a request. It’s an order. And it makes my pussy throb and my breathing hitch.

Reaching behind me, I unclasp my bra and toss it to the white cushions next to me before I start unbuttoning my jeans shorts. Once I’ve slid the zipper down, I lie back on the sofa and lift my hips so that I can push both my shorts and my panties down.

I only make it halfway down my thighs before Rico grabs the garments and all but yanks them the final bit off me. He tosses them to the smooth wooden floorboards next to where his shirt is. Pushing myself up on an elbow, I move to get myself back into a sitting position.

Rico just plants a hand against my chest and shoves me back down on the couch.

A yelp slips past my lips as he grabs the back of my knees and yanks my body closer. Once my hips are right at the edge of the sofa, his strong hands slide upwards. With a firm grip on my thighs, he spreads my legs wide.

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