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“Of course not, Daniel. I—”
His head lowered until his mouth brushed mine, feathering across my lips as a groan escaped. The sweetness of the liquor he drank danced across the seam of my mouth, begging for the taste I’d just imagined. The tease heightened my senses a few seconds before his tongue circled my parted lips. I wondered if he intended to sample me like an expensive wine, to let the flavors burst upon his tongue and mingle, enhancing the experience.
My heart pounded faster, if that were possible, threatening to break through my chest, and I wondered briefly if he could feel the uncertainty and fear that threatened to consume me. It had been so long since I felt genuine affection, not something conditional or forced upon me. What I felt now didn’t compare.
Daniel’s face slanted across mine, his tongue sliding past my teeth, dipping deeper, and sweeping across the interior. No sloppy, gagging, dominating kiss men had shoved upon me in the past. His exploration was unhurried, uncurling the stiffness in my belly, coaxing a need in my core to blossom—a hint of a lust that I hardly recognized because of its unusualness.
When he pressed me firmly against the roof, I didn’t care. All coherent thought fled. Only the connection between us lingered, heightening the exquisite tenderness of his touch. And then everything pouring out of him seemed to flow into me—the desperation, a loneliness that matched my own, the sadness and ache of loss, and even the guilt he felt for not saving Cindi. Whiskey and longing dallied on his lips.
A whimper found its way up my throat, exiting on a low moan. I didn’t know being with a man could be this intimate and beautiful. That passion like this ignited when two people desired one another so completely, consenting to their agreement for more.
My mind greedily absorbed this moment to the point of gluttonous consumption. I never wanted to forget. I couldn’t let this sweet torture end and never return. A part of me locked this moment away, committing his kiss to memory where no one could ever unlock or destroy it. I’d covet and protect it because few things in this life were beautiful, but this was one of them.
Daniel suddenly pushed himself away, breaking our connection as his nostrils flared. In his eyes, I saw something dark and sinister stirring in the depths. Something devilish. Dangerous. I couldn’t quite describe what reflected in his gaze, but a monstrous hiss escaped his lips as he scrambled backward, almost feral as he skidded across the shingles toward the ladder with haste.
“Daniel?”
He didn’t answer.
“Daniel!”
Spinning around, his gaze locked on mine, revealing flickers of regret or disgust. I didn’t have room in my head to decide on which one. Gutted by the thought that he didn’t want me or hated the kiss, I stayed silent.
His stern brows pinched together, refusing to betray his thoughts. “Go to bed, Skyla. Forget this night and its mistakes.”
He believed our kiss was a mistake—that hurt.
“I’m a monster,” he continued. “Stay far away from me. I’ll only hurt you.”
He was probably right, but it didn’t stop me from wanting to lay my head against his chest, willing to defy our past, seeking something we both needed.
Escape. Forgiveness. A second chance.
I knew monsters. Daniel was nothing like those men who took without asking and inflicted pain and suffering for enjoyment. Men like my father who sold the flesh of others to build his wealth.
“You’re not a monster, Daniel. You—”
“Babe, you don’t knowshit. Stay. Away. I can’t be responsible for what happens if you don’t.”
His body tensed with anger; Daniel climbed down the ladder, stomping inside the clubhouse as I slowly followed. Long into the night, I wondered what I said or did to piss him off before finally deciding it wasn’t me at all.
Daniel was lost to the darkness and shadows of his past. I knew this because I’d been a slave to my own for years, and nothing ever seemed to change it.
But there was also something warring within him, almost like two separate entities residing in the same body. A duality vying for control, spawning in the darkness with an unquenchable hunger. Aggressive. Ferocious. A beast.
Not a monster, but a devourer, a glutton for pleasure.
Daniel warned me to stay away . . . but I only craved him more.
