He tilted his head, stripping his jacket off slowly as he closed the distance between us. I backed away a step, forcing a smile to my face as my butt connected with the railing at my back. I put my hand on top of the sleek glass half-wall, feeling the bite of it as my hand slid along the top and it dug into my skin. "You're back," I said, making a show of dropping my purse to the floor.
With my phone gripped in my hand, I watched his eyes fall to the purse at my feet. They trailed up over my bare legs, over my body encased in the camisole dress he'd put me in for the club. When they landed on my face, his mouth tensed as he clenched his jaw. Darkness like I'd never seen swirled in his gaze, taunting me. Daring me, as if he knew everything going through my head.
The man I loved was gone, replaced by a cold-blooded murderer as he transformed in front of my eyes. Nobody would look at this version of Rafael and question how he could kill someone.
"Were you going somewhere, Princesa?" he asked, the name feeling like a mockery of everything I'd thought was sweet in that cold, expressionless voice that was so unlike Rafe.
I shook my head, staring straight at him. I held up my phone, deciding to let my self-preservation take over. "I've just been trying to get in touch with Chloe and Hugo. They aren't answering the phone, so I'm worried about them." He took another step toward me, and I made myself stay casual as I dropped my other hand onto the glass railing and my phone lay balanced on the surface precariously within my grip.
He closed the distance between us, his body nearly against mine as he stared down at me with those haunting eyes. One of his hands raised, touching my cheek under the eye with the heterochromia in it. "You wouldn't lie to me, would you Isa?" he asked, his voice dropping lower as he touched his forehead to mine.
My heart pounded in my chest.
My breathing came ragged as I closed my eyes and tried to will myself to suddenly be a better liar. But I wasn't, so I did the one thing I'd gotten skilled at over the years. I deflected. I answered his question with a question of my own, easing the tiny margin of guilt I felt by not lying again. "What reason would I have to lie?" I whispered, opening my eyes to find his intent on mine. He touched a hand to my shoulder, sliding it down to caress the skin of my arm as he wrapped his fingers around my wrist. My hand twitched in response to the shiver that wracked my body, sending my phone teetering over the edge of the balcony.
I stared back at it in horror, watching as it disappeared into the darkness below. There was no chance it had survived the fall, and I'd officially lost all my contact with Chloe and Hugo in a moment.
"That's a shame," Rafe said, watching my face as I dragged my gaze back to his. He didn't say another word about the phone, sliding his fingers through mine as he guided me away from the balcony and toward the bedroom. I swallowed my fear as I eyed the closet with my belongings, remembering the words he'd spoken at the waterfall.
He'd follow me. He'd chase me if I walked away.
"You haven't asked what happened at the club," he observed, guiding me over to the bed where I sat on the edge cautiously. His fingers worked open the buttons on his shirt slowly, methodically undoing each and every one while my eyes narrowed in on the movement and the smooth expanse of skin he revealed.
"You told me not to ask questions if I'm not ready for the answer. This feels like an appropriate time to be cautious of what I ask," I said in response. He chuckled, pulling the shirt out of his pants as he slid the sleeves down his arms and tossed it to the side. His rippling muscles were at eye level with me, but for the first time, the overwhelming attraction between us was the last thing on my mind.
"That's probably wise. You look as if you've seen a nightmare," he said, toeing off his shoes and kicking them to the side as his hands went to his belt.
Not a ghost.
A nightmare come to life.
"I'm sure your friends are fine," he said, sliding his pants and boxer briefs down his legs so that he stood entirely naked in front of me. I bit down on the edges of my tongue, trying to decide what I could do to get away from the tension in the room.
How I could escape the fear that permeated every single pore.
"I'm sure you're right," I whispered. They weren't the ones trapped in a bedroom with a supposed murderer.
Rafael touched my face, his eyes knowing as he stroked a thumb over my cheek. "So beautiful,mi princesa," he murmured, his voice finally softening from the demonic echo of evil that had resounded through him since he walked into the room.
A chill crept up my spine as he slid his hand down my face and over the front of my throat. That darkness played in his eyes the moment his fingers touched the front, teasing with a light caress before he moved on to the straps of my dress and pushed them off my shoulders.
I sat frozen in place, unable to find the strength to move. Part of me knew the smartest choice I could make would be to pretend everything was fine. To pretend I didn't know any better and that he was still the man I'd thought I fell in love with.
But I couldn't move as his hands trailed over the skin of my chest and pushed the dress down to reveal my bra. He slid a hand inside to cup my breast, dragging the rough pad of his thumb over the raised nipple as I shuddered in response.
Desire filled me despite my fear, something darker and more forbidden taking over my body as he watched my reaction. "Is something wrong?"
I shook my head, knowing that I had to choose between two impossibilities. The fear of my own forbidden desires as they crashed over me and he took me when I didn't want to want him, or the possible consequences when he found out I knew what might be one of the secrets he'd kept from me. "I just don't like secrets," I told him. Trying to skirt my way around the real issue in an attempt to diffuse the situation, I brushed off my lack of response to his touch in a way that would make sense given the circumstances.
"Sometimes a relationship means protecting one another from the truths they aren't prepared to handle," he murmured, reaching around my back to unclasp my bra and guiding it down my arms.
"Relationship?" I asked stupidly.
His hands stilled on my body as his nostrils flared lightly. He licked his lips slowly, sinking his teeth into the plump flesh of the bottom one before he spoke. "What exactly do you think this is between us?" he asked, enunciating every word and wrapping his hand around the back of my neck. The pressure at the base of my head made me tilt my head up to look at him, my lungs heaving as he gripped the sides of my neck harshly.
"I'm not sure what to call it," I said, licking my dry lips as he used the hand at my neck to pull me to my feet. His free hand shoved the dress down my body, the slinky fabric pooling at my ankles as the air touched my skin. My body overheated with his proximity, the air feeling like he absorbed all the warmth into his skin.
Like a phantom from hell, come to drag me to the fires kicking and screaming.