Page 46 of Chris

Now, he didn’t wonder at all.

“I’m not here for your husband,” Chris said quietly, meeting Valeria’s stare again, but not dropping his hand to stop from touching her. He liked the heat of her body, and the silkiness of her skin, and considering the way she trembled, and her breaths came out harder while she watched him, he could tell she liked it, too. “Despite what they might say, I didn’t come here for them. I came for you.”

“What does that mean?”

He didn’t have time.

It was a long story, and they didn’t have the minutes needed to tell it. Time was already running out for their little moment here.

“Who did this?” he asked, his fingers sweeping over the bruises.

“Take a guess.”

“Jorge?”

“Regularly.”

“Last night?”

“This morning,” she breathed.

The dark, violent urge that swept through him seemed destructive, and reckless. He wanted nothing more than to feed into it and hurt the man who put his hands on his wife. Whether she was property to Jorge didn’t factor in at all—no man should hurt their spouse, ever.

Full stop.

“I’m sorry,” Chris said, his thumb sweeping to the side, across her collarbone. That shiver in her body followed the same path, and her lips parted again like she might say something to him. All he wondered was what it might be like to kiss this woman—something else he had no business doing.

Well, so much for that.

He had broken all the rules, now.

“I want to kiss you,” he said. “Can I?”

She sucked in a hard breath, but nodded once. Chris closed the distance between them in a blink, catching Valeria’s mouth with his own in a soft, yet still burning kiss. She never hesitated to kiss him back, her lips working against his, like she found something that was pure heaven to her senses. His tongue struck against the seam of her lips, demanding more, and she gave it to him willingly.

Beautifully.

Her fist found his shirt, and she dragged him closer as a war raged on between them. It was strange, in a way. Kissing someone had never been a battle before, to hand over himself to her, and see what happened after that.

And yet, that’s what it seemed like. She tasted of cherries, and vanilla. Sweetness, and sin.

Chris backed Valeria into the stable wall again, the horse shifting beside them as her palms found his jaw, and he dragged her closer with his. There was something intoxicating about this woman, and he wanted to find out what. Not that he had enough time to do it.

The sound of boots crunching against gravel had Chris taking a wide step back from Valeria. He didn’t have a clue what came over him, but as he stared at her still pressed to the wall, her fingertips hovering over her lips like she wanted to feel his kiss, he didn’t regret what just happened.

Even if it was dangerous … and stupid.

The questions in her eyes stared back at him. He couldn’t answer them now.

“Chris?”

He gave her a pointed stare and took two steps backwards out of the stall to find the man from earlier—Jesús—glancing down the stables. He smiled at the man, thankful that he learned how to mimic his twin’s, Corrado, natural ability to remain calm in all situations. Even when his heart raged out of control.

“Just admiring the horse,” Chris said. “Can we get that drink, now?”

Jesús nodded. “Absolutely, and Jorge called, too. He invited you to dinner with him if you’re hungry.”

Chris headed for the man, forcing himself not to glance back into the stall at Valeria as he did so. “Food would be great.”

And so was the flavor of Valeria Lòpez still lingering in his mouth.

Fuck.