Page 119 of Lies like Rubies, Part Two (Savage Jewels)

His face fell. Goddammit, I was such an asshole.

“I’m sorry,” I muttered, as useless as I’d accused everyone else of being.

His clean, citrusy scent enveloped me as he took a step closer, watching me carefully.

My sharp intake of air drew a quirk out of his lips, as if he were about to smile, then changed his mind. When I didn’t move, he wrapped his arms around my torso and dragged me against him. I licked my lips and was shocked by the disappointment I felt when he slid a hand around my head and drew my face against his shoulder, hugging me tight instead of locking his lips to mine.

“She’s going to be okay,” he promised, scratching at my scalp. Tentatively, I brought my arms up to wrap around his waist, taking comfort in the nearness of his body, the warmth that radiated off of him.

“You can’t promise that,” I muttered, sullen and resentful of his optimism.

He yanked my head back, and instead of the anger I expected to find in his eyes, I saw only pain and vulnerability. “I have to—” He shuddered. “I have to believe she’s coming back. I have to believe she loves us as much as we love her. I have to—” His voice cracked. “I have to believe inus.”

I should have been thinking about Sofia. I should have been focusing on how to get her out. I should have been worrying about Lizzie. But all I could think about was this beautiful man baring his soul to me, and instead of comforting him, I gave into my instincts and brushed my lips against his.

Nick groaned my name, and our kiss turned carnal as we found solace in each other.

He yanked his head away from mine, a trail of spittethering the two of us, drawing my attention. Fuck, that was hot.

“This can’t be about her,” he murmured.

“Why not?”

Nick raised an eyebrow and stepped back. I trapped him in my arms, curling my fists in the back of his shirt, refusing to let him walk away from this, not when I’d finally admitted to myself what I wanted from him.

He cupped my jaw, his fingers smoothing over my five o’clock shadow. “It has to be aboutmorethan just her.”

“I think—,” I cut myself off, wanting to say the right thing, not just the easy thing. I didn’t want to fuck this up like I’d fucked it up with Sofia. “You and I are complicated,” I said, finally, as I ran his hands up his back, “in a way we can’t be with her.”

Nick stared into my eyes, his mossy green eyes darkening as we shared breaths, our bodies rock hard and pressed against each other.

He slid his thumb along my lips, and I nipped it.

“Bad puppy,” he murmured.

I took it into my mouth and sucked.

He hummed. “Good puppy.”

“Fuck you, Nick.”

“I certainly hope so.”

He nipped my jaw, then pulled me toward the house, grinning wildly. “Let’s get clean. Together.”

The heat of the shower scoured us as we washed each other, our touches soft and reverent, hands brushing over skin, snagging on scars, tracing tattoos, until all I wanted was for him to slam me against the tiled wall and take what we both wanted.

When I caged him against the tile, he just stared at me with a smirk. “Patience, grasshopper.”

Fuck. I pushed myself up, not missing how his eyes watched the muscles of my arms bunch, and lathered myself down, drawing his gaze along my tattooed stomach.

My cock jutted out proudly, brushing against the cheek of his ass as I leaned forward to grab the shampoo. He moaned softly, then turned around to drag me down into a kiss. Water ran over us as our need turned frantic, pressing our bodies together, until Nick pulled back, leaving both of us panting.

“Now who’s impatient?” I teased him.

“Rinse faster, so I can fuck you like you deserve,” he ordered, and I’d never gotten so clean so quickly in my life, all my doubt washing down the drain. We stumbled out of the shower, a mess of tangled limbs and lips and cocks. Fuck, I wanted this man who cared so deeply about everyone in his life, never taking, always giving.

Even to broken sinners like me who didn’t deserve it.

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