“Here?”
“Yes.”
“With you?”
“Yes.”
“What about tomorrow?”
I climb off the couch and pull her to her feet before attacking her mouth with mine in a kiss meant to claim. To possess. To mark. To distract her from the fact that she’s not juststaying with me for the night or the period it’ll take to get rid of the cartel. There will be no leaving. Ever. When I pull back, her eyes are dazed with lips swollen from the kiss and she doesn’t seem to remember her previous concerns. Instead, she lets me guide her to the bathroom and later, to bed. She falls asleep in my arms, the only place she’ll forever remain for as long as there’s breath in my lungs.
Chapter Three
Iris
If given the choice, Ghost would not leave my side for one second, and maybe that should scare me. The man is possessive and gets visibly irritated anytime a man approaches the bar and tries to flirt with me. This kind of attitude from a man whose actual name I don’t even know should terrify me but instead, all it does is light a fire under my skin.
It should terrify me that even when he’s not around me, I can feel his eyes on me as I work. The cameras in the bar never bothered me before but I’ve found myself awfully conscious of them and knowing Ghost is on the other end watching me doesn’t exactly make working easy.
It makes me uneasy but not for the reasons it should. His gaze, even when I can’t see him, feels like a physical caress. In the days I’ve been living in Ghost’s apartment, I’ve experienced so many ways a man’s touch could drive a woman into madness. From waking up to kisses in bed and being brought to orgasm with his mouth and hands to showering together and repeating the process all over again day after day. He touches me every chance he can get. In the kitchen while I make us breakfast or dinner, by the door first thing when we step into the room andyesterday, he backed me into a small alcove and kissed me until my legs were weak.
How in the world does one go from never kissing a man her entire life to experiencing several body-shattering orgasms in a single day?
Christ, I’ve almost forgotten what it is that pushed me in this position in the first place. Almost.
Outside the haven of Elysium, there are dangerous men out there looking for me. The fact that there have been no more sightings of anyone known to be associated with the Víboras Gemelas doesn’t exactly put me at ease. Not when I still haven’t heard from the US Marshall assigned to my case.
“Your boyfriend’s here.”
My eyes shoot up and move straight to the entrance, seeking out Ghost but I come back empty. When I turn back to Tracey, it’s to find her eyes swimming with laughter. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say, taking a sudden interest in the rag I’m holding.
“Too late for that. I saw the look in your eyes when you thought Ghost was here.”
“Ghost who?”
She chuckles. “Really? You’re going to pretend nothing is going on between you two?”
I twist the rag around my hand, avoiding her eyes. “What makes you think something is happening between us?”
“Hmm, let me see,” she hums, leaning back against the counter. “You’re always seeking him out when you think he’s in the bar and you should see your face when he walks in. Also, someone saw you guys kissing the other day in the alcove close to one of the poker tables.”
Christ. “I still have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Hmm, so does that mean I can shoot my shot with Ghost?”
The jealousy that churns my stomach at the thought of Ghost touching another woman the way he does with me must show on my face when I turn to look at my coworker because she laughs. “There, see. You look like you’re seconds away from strangling me.” She wipes an invisible tear. “You don’t have to glare at me. I was just kidding. Besides, Ghost is not my type. Wait, isn’t he a little too old for you?”
“I’m twenty-four!”And he’s thirty-eight, but our age gap is none of her business. I like that he’s older than me.
“Anyway, I think the biggest thing is that he’s too…” she visibly shudders, rubbing a hand down her arms like she’s cold. “Dark.”
“Everyone who comes in here is dark,” I argue.
“Not like him. The man barely talks. He doesn’t even drink and the way he looks at you… I mean, he’s good-looking in a daddy kind of way, but I would never be able to overlook the darkness that seems to loom over him all day, every day.”
I want to argue and defend the man but it’s not like I don’t see the dark cloud either but unlike Tracey, I don’t mind it. I like the intensity of his gaze on me. His intensity in general and how it also manifests in bed when it’s just the two of us. Granted, he still refuses to cross that line and make love to me. It seems that something’s holding him back and I can’t figure out what it is. The man rarely talks about his past before the Steel Sinners and I can’t help but wonder if that’s what’s affecting him. It also didn’t exactly seem to help my case when I mentioned to him that I was a virgin. The confession only made him more withdrawn.
“Say I like him,” I start, moving to serve a customer who walks up to order a cocktail. When I’m done, I turn back to Tracey, chewing my lips and wondering what’s safe to share with a coworker. “Hypothetically….”
