The quiet purr of an engine broke through my thoughts. My eyes flew open. Swimming toward the side, I grasped the edge of the pool and watched a shiny black car park next to Ryan’s truck. I didn’t know who it belonged to, but soon enough, the door opened, and the worst person who could show up stepped out. A cold sweat drifted through me. Disaster loomed in the distance. More blood. Young, lifeless eyes. No. It wasn’t going to happen again.I pulled myself out of the pool and headed toward the front of the house, ignoring the itch to go in the opposite direction. Nicolas held a manila envelope in one hand and shut the car door with the other. My skin buzzed with a cool sensation, and my bare feet paused at the end of the walkway. I stood there in a white bikini, soaking wet, while my heart beat a mile a minute. When his gaze finally came up to me, he stopped in his tracks. We stared at each other. He was only wearing black dress pants and a white short-sleeve shirt. I swallowed. It fe
I stopped Adriana midway and closed my eyes in disbelief.“Papà is going to kill you,” I told her.“Good,” she muttered, adding a long arc with her paintbrush to the canvas that leaned against the wall.The painting would be a rainbow if it weren’t all black. My sister had been brooding since Ryan came over. She went to her classes but otherwise stayed in her room. The week crawled by with her casting a black cloud over the house with her emo paintings and sappy music. I was beginning to feel guilty again, but there wasn’t a part of me that wanted to put myself in her place. I’d rather have a husband who wasn’t so rude, wasn’t as womanizing as I’d heard, and was truthfully less handsome. Maybe that sounded odd, but to me, it made perfect sense.Laughter filtered up the stairs, and I closed my eyes once more. Adriana’s engagement party had started five minutes ago, and she currently sat cross-legged on her floor in overalls, covered in paint. I could see Papà’s temper not far in the di
“Mira.”Warm air brushed my skin as the front door shut, and I longed to be on the other side. But instead, I smiled politely. “Oscar.”Mid-thirties, with dirty blond hair and expensive suits always worn with a colored tie, Oscar Perez was handsome in a classic and charismatic way. He never lacked female attention, yet he always lavished his on me. He worked for my papà and was often around for parties, but since we’d had nothing going on I hadn’t seen him in months, since before the incident. It was one of the biggest reliefs, but unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end.“Don’t you look as beautiful as always,” he told me, giving me a kiss on each cheek and lingering too long. “Demasiado hermosa para las palabras.”I didn’t know what he’d said, but I assumed it had something to do with my symmetrical face.I stared at his light blue tie, the color of his eyes.I hated it.He was the fairest Colombian I’d ever met, and for some reason I resented his blond, comely appeara
There was nothing wrong with her, in fact, the quiet seemed to eat at me the entire drive. And the worst thing about it was his car smelled so damn good. The events of today hit me like whiplash, leaving a numbness behind that only his masculine scent seemed to penetrate. Instead of the prickling feeling of panic, his close proximity and the idea of his hands on me were driving me insane.It was as though my body focused on the primal aspect I’d been craving so I wouldn’t be traumatized by the event. A protective mechanism.I was equating marrying Nicolas to severe trauma.Truly, it didn’t seem far apart.There was a difference between lusting after a man and wanting him to be the father of your children. The idea pulled me in two resilient directions: thrill, and terror.The feelings were so tenacious I remained only numb, leaving room for one thing. Warmth hummed between my legs, my skin a nesting ground for electricity and ice.My mamma had watched me walk out the door with Nico ca
I grasped the edge of the counter on both sides of me, trying to ground myself to earth somehow, while he worked my neck with slow kisses and scrapes of his teeth. As his presence consumed my own, my reservations dissolved into smoke.His large hands ran down my sides, from underneath my breasts to low on my hips, his thumbs brushing bare skin beneath the band of my shorts. It was a maddening sensation, and I was dying for him to go a little further, up or down. To just freaking pick one.His erection pressed against the inside of my thigh, and if he would only step forward a few inches, it would be right where I wanted it, needed it.I swayed, my eyes heavy-lidded, when a solid grip came to the side of my neck to hold me still while he pressed hot, wet kisses to my throat. My head fell back on a moan, my hair skimming the countertop with the next nip of his teeth.His hips lined up with mine, his hands grasping the top of my ass, and then his hard-on pressed against my clit in a slow
I couldn’t make love to him and then watch him do it with someone else. And I already knew he had no desire to remain faithful, from what he’d told me in the alley that night. I couldn’t share myself with someone so carelessly and indifferently, especially now, after my past mistake. So I could only give him a part of me—the only one he would want—and hope I would survive.I didn’t expect him to argue or to even care about my refusal. Kissing was romantic in a way, and I couldn’t see him wanting to share that with me.My hands still gripped the counter on either side of me, and when he glanced at my left, the one with the ring, his gaze turned black with contempt. I could taste his sudden animosity on my tongue. Anger wasn’t a reaction I’d expected from him, but I guessed telling this man he couldn’t have something was only a way to make him want it more.“Spread your legs.” His command was cold, rough, and rattled the existing fear.With an unsteady inhale, I complied.His palms ran
When his hands ran up my thighs, nerves came to the surface. Did he want me to reciprocate? Or did he expect sex?A shyness overcame me as I sat up, and I was sure, as he braced his hands on the counter and met my gaze, that he could see it all. He’d yet to even shed his tie while I sat naked in front of him. After the heat settled, it all appeared so much more obscene.“You’ll call me Nico from now on. No more of that Nicolas bullshit.” I nodded hesitantly.All my pleases still echoed in the kitchen, his words cutting through them with an abrasive knife. I didn’t know what I expected then, but I knew it wasn’t for him to turn his back on me, leave the house, and then shut the door behind him. I exhaled, falling against the countertop. Merda. I was in over my head.The tick of the clock brought my gaze to it as I slipped off the island. I’d been engaged to Nico for only one hour, yet I already felt turned inside out, as if he’d stolen a few of my layers and I’d never get them back. I
My brows pulled together. “Why wouldn’t you?” His gaze turned to ice. “Good question,” he said, letting out an outrageous smirk. Something was definitely off about him, and I didn't like any part of it one single bit.I knew I’d walked myself into that and sort of deserved it, but I still bristled from his insinuation. If this was how all of our conversations were going to go, I would go insane before we even got married.I hesitated, not understanding any of this. “We won’t do well together,” was what came out when I wanted to say, You’re the only man I’ve met who could do me permanent damage.“You seemed agreeable enough to me earlier.” His expression had kitchen island and naked written all over it. His statement, on the other hand, couldn't be comprehended by myself, and it all looked strange, to be honest. I couldn’t stop the heat from rushing to my cheeks at his crass reminder, but also because I was quickly losing control of this conversation and growing more flustered by the