Page 36 of No Merciful Corruption

She smacks my shoulder playfully. “I doubt he was up there that long.”

“I know my brother. He’s prone to getting himself into bad situations.”

She hums to herself, still grinning from the memory. “We had so much fun those first few months.”

“You say it like it’s in the past tense.” I tell her. “There are still memories to be made and had. If that’s what you want.”

Dahlia goes very quiet for a moment. She gathers the blanket around her and covers herself before turning to me. “We didn’t finish.”

I lift a brow. “There is biological evidence to the contrary all over the sofa, the floor, and probably that blanket too. We finished. Numerous times, might I add.”

Her cheeks flush with color. “Alejandro, don’t be vulgar.”

“I’d wager there’s still evidence between these thighs of just how many times we finished…”

She smacks both my hands away. “Alejandro Narvaez!” She’s flustered and blushing. “I meant our conversation.”

“We’ve spoken enough to last ourselves a lifetime. I’m done talking. We don’t need to talk it out anymore. We need more of this,” She tries moving away but I loop an arm around her waist and cup her breast with my freehand. “This can solve any problem in the world. It’s like a form of physical therapy.”

She squirms the second my lips find the pulse in her throat. “Sex is not a form of physical therapy.”

“It’s physical and it’s therapeutic. Semantics.”

Before she can utter another word I stroke my fingers down the length of her pussy and find she’s already wet and ready. A little gasp leaves her when I plunge a finger inside and she quivers against me, sore and sensitive but still desperate for the pleasure she knows only I can give her. I’m hard in seconds and ready to thrust balls deep inside of her when she presses against my chest and pulls away. Her eyes are the same burning amber as the fire roaring beneath the mantle but their gold is rimmed with the silver of tears.

“I…I haven’t…” She expels a shaky breath. “I’ve been with other people.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“I don’t believe you. It must hurt…part of you must feel hurt even if we were broken up.” She swallows and attempts to steady her voice. “Just the thought of you with someone else…she’s not even real and I want to rip her throat out with my bare teeth and⁠—”

“Dahlia,” I take her face between both hands and urge her to look at me. “Escúchame bien. No me importa. I don’t care, it doesn’t matter.”

“Don’t you hate me? Even a little bit.”

“Never.” I say quietly. “I have no right to pass judgment. A better man would’ve gone after you. A better man wouldn’t have let you leave in the first place.”

Dahlia cries and I let her. There’s no use in trying to console her and keep the tears at bay when it’s so clear she needs this release. She needs a way to let go of all of it and maybe this it.

She cups my cheeks and kisses me everywhere. “Please, I want to start over. You were right, we’re going in circles and it’s getting us nowhere. I don’t care, I don’t care about any of it anymore. I just want to be with you. I love you, I love you⁠—”

I take her into my arms and lift her onto my lap. I kiss everywhere she’ll let me, everywhere I want to.

“Te amo, Alejandro. Te amo tanto, tanto, tanto…” she whispers it against my skin and sends a shiver down my spine. “I’ve loved you from the moment you met my gaze across the lounge and I was so nervous I pretended to take photos of the glasswork on the ceiling. I have loved you every moment since.”

I drag the back of my hand across her cheek and chase away the tears. “You pretended to take photos of the ceiling.”

She laughs despite herself. “Karina was convinced you guys were staring at us.”

“She was right. I laid eyes on you once and haven’t looked away since.”

“I told Kay, I’ve never seen a man that pretty in real life before.”

A smile tugs at my lips. “Really?”

“Oh, yes.” She recalls. “Diego was really something el⁠—”

I kiss her before she can say another word and her chest vibrates with silent laughter. She melts into me and I relish in the delight of simply holding her against me, something I haven’t done in so long.