“W-what? Raf, what are you talking about?” Noelle blinked, confusion swirling in her gaze.
He didn’t answer her, merely raised his brows at her in a challenge.
Holding his gaze, she brought her fingers to the zipper of her dress, pulling it down before sliding the garment off. It pooled at her feet, leaving her too naked for comfort.
“No underwear,” he noted as his eyes roved down her body.
“N-no,” she whispered, the need to shield herself eating at her. But she didn’t. She tipped her chin up, meeting his gaze with defiance.
She didn’t know what his game was—she didn’t know howthisRaf operated at all. Yet regardless of the drug’s influence on him, he was stillherRaf—the man that she loved. This was just another side of him for her to fall in love with.
Before she knew what was going to happen, he turned her around. She braced herself against the wall, her palms touching the cool concrete.
“Who hurt you?” His words were accompanied by a low growl as a finger skimmed the surface of her lower back where the majority of her scars were. “I remember feeling these. But seeing them…” he trailed off abruptly. “Who hurt you?”
“Sergio,” she whispered, blinking away tears.
“What did he do to you, Noelle? Tell me,” he demanded, still caressing her flesh and getting intimately acquainted with the worst of her scars.
seventeen
She gulpeddown against the sudden wave of discomfort.
Why was it that she could be so strong at times yet so weak at this moment? Maybe it was the fact that her scars represented her weakness—the time when she’d been unable to defend herself.
“He beat me,” she uttered in a low voice. “He beat me repeatedly.”
He spread his palm over her back, the heat from his skin transferring into hers. One moment, she felt his touch searing into her flesh, the next it was gone. Yet just as she was about to protest the absence of his touch, she felt something else—his mouth.
He was on his knees behind her, his lips on her skin as he peppered kisses all over her back and the swell of her bottom.
“Raf,” she whimpered, her breathing growing labored.
“What else? What else did he do to you?” he asked in a barely subdued voice.
His hands were now tracing the contours of her waist, moving down her body sinuously, reverently. Yet it wasn’t long before he turned her to face him, this time switching his attention to her stomach—the other place riddled with scars.
“What else did he do to you, Noelle?” His voice was anguished, desolate.
He brought his cheek to her stomach, nuzzling her flesh and breathing her in.
Her entire body trembled from his proximity and the mesmerizing effect of his touch.
“Raf,” she said his name breathlessly, her head falling back as her eyes squeezed shut.
He was attacking her senses with his caring words and slow caresses, and she didn’t know if she could bear it—not when no one had ever touched her in such a manner before.
“Tell me, Noelle,” he demanded. “Tell me and I’ll tear him apart limb by limb.”
Her mouth hung open as she looked down at him. He was watching her, his eyes consuming her with the intensity of his gaze.
God, but the mere fact that he offered despite being locked in such a place warmed her heart like nothing else.
Bringing her hand to his cheek, she caressed him slowly before dropping to her knees in front of him, close to him, so close his air became her air.
“Do you hate me?” she whispered, fear making her voice shake. “I’ve been a duplicitous bitch and I’ve treated you like shit. Can you forgive me?”
“You’remyduplicitous bitch,” he replied smoothly. “My fucking anchor. You think I don’t realize how many times you’ve risked yourself for me? How many times you putmywellbeing above yours? You think I don’t realize I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you?” His voice picked up in intensity, just as he grabbed onto her shoulders, holding her tight.