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Would I be able to not?
“Vasile.”
Priest pulled me from my thoughts as he approached.
“Not a friendly visit,” I said.
As usual, Priest’s demeanor was closed, mysterious, but he didn’t drop by for social calls. This was about business.
“I hope all of my visits are friendly, but I’ve come with a message. Or rather, a request.”
He had my interest. Priest was no errand boy, so this had to be important, and I thought I could guess the subject.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Vargas asked me to extend a dinner invitation. He’d like to open his doors and welcome you into his home, an apology for his intrusion. He hopes to bury any animosity between you and Ashmore.”
I couldn’t tell what Priest thought of all this, but it was a bold move on Vargas’s part, either an attempt to further solidify his position among the Peruvians or to test me. Probably both, but I wouldn’t be Vargas’s pawn. If I rejected the invitation, it would be a sign of disrespect. If I accepted, it could be seen as a sign of weakness. But an idea sparked, and I nodded slowly at Priest.
“There’s no animosity. And I accept.”
“Good. We wouldn’t want anything to disrupt operations.”
“Always worried about the bottom line, Priest. What about honor?” I asked.
That got what passed for a smile from him. “There’s no such thing. You know that by now, Vasile.”
* * *
Fawn
When he came home, I didn’t bother to pretend I was asleep. It felt…dishonest, and he’d have seen through it anyway. And, there was the fact that I wanted to see him, wanted to get back something of the connection we’d shared, if only for those brief moments.
But doing so had proved difficult. He’d been different, more distant, and I wondered if it was something I had done. I’d quickly come to feel comfortable here, safe, and I didn’t want to jeopardize that. And though I tried to pretend otherwise, I was attracted to him. Stupid because I knew what he did, what he was, but I wanted him, and I thought he felt the same.
I tried to avoid those thoughts, recognized he wasn’t prone to sentimentality, that whatever I’d felt that night had no reflection on what he had. It may have meant nothing to him, been a few moments of amusement. That felt wrong to me somehow. I was sure I’d seen something in his eyes, but as I’d proven, I was hardly a person who could rely on her perceptions. And Vasile’s actions, his lack thereof, didn’t clarify things one way or another. He hadn’t touched me again, and I wasn’t too proud to admit I’d missed his touch, craved it.
He went to the kitchen, not looking at me as usual.
“Vasile?” I called before I could stop myself, voice so weak I would not have been surprised if he hadn’t heard me.
He looked toward me quickly, and I could see the tension in his face, in his stance, and it called to me. And I answered. Using courage I hadn’t known I had, I walked toward him, my heart pounding with both fear and anticipation. I stopped when I stood in front of him, the heat from his body, his spicy, masculine scent making me want to touch him everywhere, breathe him in until he was all I felt, smelled, tasted. I didn’t, though, and instead lifted my hand to his stubbled jaw. His eyes flashed, but he stayed still. I stroked his jaw, the coarse beginnings of the beard that he always seemed to sport rough against my fingers and making me imagine how it would feel on other parts of my body.
Brimming with boldness, I let my thumb graze his bottom lip, surprised by its masculine softness. He turned his face into a scowl, and pulled back.
“Don’t, Fawn,” he said, his voice a rough, husky whisper.
I ignored him and dragged my fingers lower, down his strong chin, the powerful column of his throat, a little trill flittering through me when he swallowed, and then lower over his collarbones, across his shoulders, over the tattoos that covered his biceps.
He grabbed my wrist and pulled my hands away, his eyes piercing mine. “You can’t take this back, Fawn. We do this, and you’re mine.”
ELEVEN
Vasile
What I’d intended as a warning, she took as permission. A fact that became clear when she laid her free hand on my chest and tilted her head, slightly parting her full lips. I’d half hoped she would deny me, save me from my own desires because I was powerless against them. But now that she hadn’t, I tossed aside my reservations about what this would mean for her and for me, and gave in to the need that had been building since the very first moment I laid eyes on her.
I dropped her wrist and snaked my arm around her waist and pulled her to me, her lush, soft body warm and full against me, a perfect fit. Then, breath coming in increasingly harsh exhales, I moved toward her and captured her mouth with mine. Her lips were softer than I’d imagined, warmer, and that first touch had me anxious for her, so I deepened the kiss, moving my lips over hers with increasing speed.
