I stand up, towering over her petite frame. “Okay, Snow.” I place my hands on her hips and drag her a little closer to me. “Let’s go for a swim,” I rasp in her ear.
Her breathing picks up as she places her hands on my forearms for support. This is going to be too easy. I look into her dark eyes, and they are bright with something . . . excitement, uncertainty, arousal, perhaps? I notice her nipples poking through the thin material of her bathing suit top. I am going to suck the shit out of those two little points.
“Pool or ocean?” she asks a tad bit shakily. I definitely affect her.
“Whichever. Wet is wet.” I let go of her and pull my T-shirt over my head, tossing it onto the couch.
The expression on Kira’s face is priceless. It’s clear she enjoys looking at me as much as I enjoy looking at her.
“I was thinking the beach, but now I’m reconsidering.” She’s staring straight at the tattoos on my chest.
“Why?” I ask.
“The pool is closer.”
I beam. “Faster for me to get you wet?”
Yup, that statement was littered with innuendos.
The exhilaration that flares in Kira’s eyes hits me straight in the gut. Her gaze is so penetrable, I swear to God I can feel it everywhere. Slithering all throughout me like a savage serpent.
“Ky.” She places a hand on my chest, right where the writing dips below my collar bone.
“Kira.” I grab her arms, locking her close to me. “Don’t say anything.” I lean in to kiss her, unable to escape the avalanche of attraction burying me alive. But the second before her lips touch mine, a ringing sound breaks the spell. It tears our moment apart, and we trip over reality.
“That’s mine.” Kira looks at where the sound is coming from. The charging station set up on the kitchen countertop next to the refrigerator. “I should check that.” She steps away, and I reluctantly let her go. My heart is pounding, and my head is light, and my dick is on fire. I need a minute.
I never take my eyes off Kira as she scurries across the palatial room and grabs for her phone. She is ball-breakingly beautiful in that barely there bikini. This phone call better be fast. I’m tuned up now, impatient, and ready for more.
I saunter over to where she’s standing, unbuckling my pants as I go. No sense wasting time.
I eavesdrop on Kira as she answers the phone. “Mom? Hello?” Her voice elevates excitedly. In the three weeks I’ve been here, I don’t recall Kira ever talking to her mother. “Oh? Gerard? Hi, how are you?” Kira turns to look at me, and my blood runs cold.Myfather is callingher.
Kira continues with her conversation while I shoot laser beams at her and the phone. “No, everything is good. How is Paris? Is everything okay with my mom?”
I watch her intently as her facial expressions change. I’m not close enough to hear exactly what he’s saying to her, but I am close enough to hear his deep timbre. “Yeah, the alarm has been giving me some problems. I called the company again. I’ll figure it out,” she assures him.
Yeah, the problem is that alarm system is an expensive piece of shit. I had Hawk come over and take a look at it while Kira was at school. He did all kinds of tests and diagnostics and came to the same conclusion as the company. Nothing is friggin’ wrong.
“I know, I miss you. Both of you.” She looks right into my eyes as she tells him that, and my blood races from negative one degree to a thousand degrees in a nanosecond. “I love you, too.” There’s so much reverie in her voice my head nearly explodes.
I love you, too . . .
Those four words rock me to the very core. Rage, resentment, and jealousy claw up my throat like a deranged demon hunting for blood.
Kira hangs up, and I can barely stomach being in the same room as her. That one phone call reminded me of everything I lost and everything she gained. Everything she and her mother took from me. The one person I loved most, needed most, depended on most.Myfather.Myrealfather. Not hers.
Illogical anger alters my existence. It rings in my ears and pulls at my fingernails.
“Ky?” Kira hums my name, and it is the softest, sweetest sound, but it does nothing to vanquish my beastly temper.
“What?” I hiss maliciously.
“Are you okay?”
Am I okay?Am I fucking okay?
“No,Kira,” I spit out her name. “I am not fucking okay.” I storm off. I need air. I need space. I need to go fucking beat the shit out of something.
