After a few minutes of stiffened silence, he releases a deep exhalation of air. It expresses way more than any words ever could. He's hurting as much as I am.
"It's not what you think.” His tone is flat and brimming with uncertainty.
I scowl. “How do you even know what I'm referring to? Unless guilt is on your conscience.”
When he growls again, it rumbles straight through my body before clustering in my stupidly excited core.
“You left my shirt on the floor, Kitten. I’m well aware of your reason for being angry.”
He moves back to his side of the bed before pulling on my shoulders, forcing me to roll over. Even with the room shrouded in darkness, the moonlight shining through the cracks of the curtain is bright enough I can see all the fine details of his face. His eyes are full of torment and shadowed in darkness.
He stares me straight in the eyes before muttering, “It isn’t what you’re thinking.”
Seeing the hurt in his eyes doesn’t lessen mine. “Don’t insult me, Enrique. How else could lipstick get on the collar of your shirt unless it was put there by a pair of female lips?”
My anger accelerates to never-before-reached levels when Rico throws back his head and laughs. “You think I cheated on you?” he mutters between vigorous bouts of laughter. “I thought you were angry because. . .” I can’t hear anything he's saying over his hearty chuckle.
Gritting my teeth, I throw my clenched fist into his chest. “It’s not funny, Rico. Stop laughing.”
He laughs even harder. “I can’t help it. I love seeing my little kitten with her claws out,” he says, still laughing.
The only thing that simmers his body-shuddering laughter is when he spots tears welling in my eyes. He runs his hand down his face as he struggles to regain his usual composure. His efforts are fruitless. Nothing can wipe the glint of happiness sparkling in his glistening eyes.
“Let’s see who is laughing when I return the favor,” I sneer under my breath, my tone callous. “In a house full of men, I’m sure I can find a suitor for the night.”
All the laughter in his face vanishes in an instant, as does my ability to breathe when his body pins me to the mattress. His pulse rages through his body as he stares down at me with his nostrils flaring and his eyes blazing with anger.
“I don’t share, Kitten.” His voice mimics my earlier tone.
“Neither do I!”
I move my fists to pound his chest, only to have them snatched and clamped to my side. Normally, his hold would frighten me, but even dealing with the wrath of jealousy, I know he’d never harm me. My heart. . . that's an entirely different story.
No longer able to hold in my devastation, tears trickle down to my temples, my heart beyond shattered, my body inconsolable. Spotting my devastation, the fire raging in Rico's eyes switches from angry to remorseful. He stares at me, seemingly at a loss on how to handle my weeping.
“Kiss me, Blaire,” he requests a short time later, his tone less angry, his eyes shimmering with hope.
I inhale a ragged breath, beyond shocked. “What? Are you insane? No!”
When he smiles a seductive smirk that sets my heart racing, I twist my head to the side, needing to look at anything but his sinfully handsome face. I'm not strong enough to deny his advances with his thicken cock pressing against my aching core, let alone when he smiles at me like that.
The nape of my neck prickles with goosebumps when the stubble on his chin scratches my jawline as he mutters again, “Kiss me, Blaire.”
When his teeth graze the lobe of my ear, an erotic purr topples from my lips, and my walls crumble. Giving into the fact I’ll never be strong enough to reject his attention, I lick my lips, preparing for our kiss. Like he can sense my submissiveness, he slants his head to the side, so our lips are better aligned. With my arms pinned to the side of my head, and his body gloriously pressed into mine, I kiss him with everything I have, showing him what he has lost by playing me for a fool.
Although his hold is rough, his kiss is nothing but gentle. He kisses me with so much passion, when he pulls away, I can barely remember my own name, let alone what we were fighting about. A tightness spreads across my chest when he stares down at me with lust-filled eyes. The tightness has nothing to do with him pinning me to the bed—he's holding his weight with his elbows—it's the peace in his dark and stormy eyes that causes my heart to stutter.
After releasing one of my wrists from his hold, he runs the back of his hand down my blemished cheek. “Perfect, Kitten. Why would I settle for anything less?”
Even though I can see the truth in his eyes, I can’t leash the pain slicing my heart in two. “Then why is there lipstick on your collar?” My breathlessness is unable to hide the pain laced in my words.
A flash of hesitation sparks through Rico’s dark gaze before he murmurs, “It isn’t lipstick.”
All the anger his heartfelt kiss washed away returns in an instant. “Don’t treat me like an idiot, Rico! I know a lipstick stain when I see it!” I fire back, my loud voice gaining momentum.
An involuntary moan ripples through my lips when he rocks his hips forward before he re-confirms, "It isn't lipstick."
Snarling at him using my sexual attraction to him to his advantage, I kick and buck against him, endeavoring to get free. Stupid tears well in my eyes, hating that he can make me feel special and worthless within seconds of each other.
