“It would have been inevitable. I wouldn’t have cared whether you wanted it or not.”
I didn’t believe that. But I barely got a chance to think about it before his body was inches from touching mine as he put his hands above my head and boxed me in against the tree. I stared off into the distance, not able to look him in the eyes. The moment was too intense, and eye contact would only magnify it to an uncomfortable degree.
He leaned into me until I felt his lips graze my ear. “You have no idea what I have imagined doing to you,” he said roughly. My breath caught at his words as shivers ran down my spine.
“Maybe I should show you.” He gripped the side of my throat in a firm hold. Just enough pressure that it was pleasurable in a consuming way. His lips skimmed from my ear down the side of my throat.
I shivered at the mind-hazing heat the soft touch of his lips brought with them. His rough hand and lips on my neck were all-consuming and more pleasurable than even the Latent had made me feel. There was no comparison. I realized it was because this was more than lust. At least for me. My body liked him . . . probably too much. But my mind was conflicted.
“You ready to lose that precious innocence of yours? You begged me for it once. I know you remember. You’ve never been a good liar, Princess.”
I shuddered as his lips brushed against my neck with every word.
His lips skimmed up and over my cheek until they stopped at the corner of my lips. I was breathless as my mind and vision were consumed in a haze. All I had to do was turn my head an inch and my lips would brush against his. There was no other thought in my mind and nothing I had ever wanted more.
“Decide what you want and decide now,” he ordered, his rough voice slithering down my spine.
My heart fluttered out of control as I stared straight ahead. I couldn’t make a major decision with a haze over my mind like this, and I believed that he might have done this for that very reason. But I couldn’t seem to care because his lips were so close to my mouth. I was drawn to them like a moth to a flame and couldn’t stop myself from slowly turning my head until my lips brushed his.
I felt tingles in every inch of my body, and my skin was in flames as my lips touched his smooth, full ones softly. There was a loud rush in my ears, but I could still hear the soft groan he let out against my mouth. That small noise had me pressing my lips against his firmly. My bottom lip fit in between his, and I moaned as he pulled it in between his teeth.
He roughly gripped my thigh and pulled me up against his body while his other hand grabbed a fistful of hair at my nape and pressed me firmly against the tree. His lips worked mine open slowly. Teasingly. Softly. The heat of his tongue touched mine, and a sizzling pulse went through me from the tips of my fingers to my toes. I wrapped my legs around him and grabbed his bicep to brace myself, my hand sliding down the stickiness on his arm.
I pulled my lips away from him and looked at the red covering my hand. The blood that he seemed to enjoy drawing too much. He was someone who had motives that I was sure were selfish. Someone who could snap my neck before I could blink. Someone way out of a simple farm girl’s league. And someone who didn’t care about me.
I looked up into his eyes. His lips were still so close to mine that it was hard to focus on anything else, but I pushed through the haze and turned my head to gaze blankly at the water lapping at the beach.
“No,” I breathed.
He held me up against his body for a moment with only our heavy breaths filling the silence. His forehead rested above my ear, and his whisper had goose bumps covering my arms. “I’m glad to see you do have some sense.”
He slid me down his body and walked away, disappearing in the fashion he was known for. I leaned against the tree for many minutes, breathless while I tried to get my senses back. I began to walk to shake off my hazy thoughts.
The breeze blew my hair around my cheeks, and the sun was warm on my skin.
You have no idea what I have imagined doing to you.
Weston’s words replayed in my head like a husky-voiced mantra. My body tingled everywhere from only a short kiss. I never expected him to kiss as he did. I always imagined it would be hard and intrusive. But instead, it was soft, teasing, and so seductive. I had to force my feet away from the camp and down the beach as my body wanted to turn right around and demand Weston finish what he started.
I wanted him to be my first. I wanted him to show me. More than a lot of other things. And that made me nauseated because I wanted it too much. It would have meant more to me than it would to him.
I couldn’t forgive him for everything he had done. For everything he wanted to do. I could only see myself spiraling down into a dark hole if I chose to be with him.
I wiggled my toes in the sand while I walked down the beach. My body froze as I heard a whisper on the wind.
“It’s time . . .”
Goose bumps covered my skin.
I spun around in a circle, and my heart jumped out of my chest when Weston appeared in front of me.
“What . . .” I tapered off when I looked up into blue eyes.
Blue?
I looked at Weston’s brother with wide eyes, but the moment he gripped my shoulder and I saw the blade in his hand, my heart pounded forcefully; it stole my breath as every muscle in my body screamed at me to flee.
As he plunged the cold steel into my stomach, panic no longer existed. Pain overrode it.