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A girl I’d spent two hours with.
A girl who didn’t know my last name, my past, or a damn thing about me that could risk my future.
My heart screamed to refuse.
My cock begged to agree.
But it was my mind that made the decision.
Calculated and frankly rather cold, I knew what I wanted. And I wanted to get rid of my virginity before it drove me even more insane than it already had. Tomorrow, when we drove back to Port Douglas, I wanted to return to Neri with the knowledge that I’d been with someone else.
Therefore, I couldn’t love her as much as I thought I did because how could I physically touch another, kiss another, fuck another...all while I was supposed to be head over fucking heels in love with her?
This was a test.
A perfect test and the perfect fucking cure.
Bending a little, I pressed my cheek to hers. “I’d be honoured to go back to your place.”
Her sharp inhale made me harden and I steeled myself from checking my phone as she placed her hand in mine and guided me to her bed.
Chapter Twenty-Six
*
Aslan
*
(Moon in Swedish: Måne)
“DO YOU WANT A DRINK?” RHEA ASKED as she shut the door to her tiny apartment.
I stood on the white-washed wooden flooring that did its best to freshen up the drab walls, unmade bed wedged in the corner, small table pressed against the wall, and dated kitchenette beneath the only window.
“Bathroom is through there if you need it.” Rhea pointed at the only door in the entire place. I didn’t need to go, but...my stomach hadn’t stopped clenching as we’d walked here.
I’d put one foot in front of the other and did my best to leave Neri behind.
Yet she just kept haunting me, following everywhere I went.
Gripping my nape, I nodded. “Just water would be great. And I’ll be back in a moment.”
“Okay.” Rhea gave me a shy smile as I opened the door and slipped into a bathroom the size of the one on The Fluke. At least The Fluke had a window and a view of the ocean. This was a black box with a flickering neon over a chipped mirror, a sorry excuse for a sink, a shower with a torn curtain, and a toilet that was clean but discoloured.
Grabbing the sink, I hung my head and fought myself.
Get it together.
She’s super sweet. Super pretty. And super keen to get you naked.
I looked up and caught my eyes in the mirror.
I didn’t often look at myself because my features reminded me too much of my father. I shared his straight nose, stern eyebrows, and distrusting black eyes. My hair was lighter these days from the sun and tussled over my forehead with no respect for neatness, and the oak leaf-shaped birthmark on my left ankle constantly reminded me of what I was.
Glowering into my stare, everything I’d been running from snarled and hurled itself at the walls inside my mind. I hated my height. My lips. My jaw. I looked just like my fucking father...and that is not a good thing.
The image in the mirror morphed into an image of Neri.
Her gorgeous mouth, her glacial eyes, her stunning eyebrows and cheekbones and smile. I hardened faster from a single glimpse of her than I did at the thought of fucking the lovely girl outside.
I groaned under my breath.
What would it take to stop being haunted by that girl?
I’d seen her as a twelve-year-old. I’d watched her parade around, flat-chested and gangly. Yet all I could seem to remember was the graceful curve of her spine, the perfect roundness of her chest and ass, and the indecent glimmer in her gaze whenever she looked at me when she thought I wasn’t aware.
My cock twitched painfully.
I wanted to punch the mirror.
To shatter myself and her.
I want to stop feeling this way.
Spinning around, I yanked out my phone and opened the messages she’d sent.
Neri: What do you mean you’re not alone?
Neri: Who are you with? You don’t know anyone.
The last one was sent just a few minutes ago.
Neri: Who is she?
My heart hurt.
It physically ripped down the middle.
My fingers hovered over the keypad.
I typed.
Me: She’s not you—
I deleted it without sending.
I waited for something appropriate to say, but in the end, I typed absolutely nothing.
There was nothing I could say.
Shoving my phone back into my pocket, I yanked open the door and slammed to a stop. “Fuck.”
“Hi.” Rhea tucked glossy black hair behind her ears, her hands shaking a little even while she stood naked in the middle of her tiny apartment. The bed behind her had been hastily made. A condom rested on the light pink blankets.
My eyes feasted on her flawless honey-brown skin. On the dark pucker of her nipples and the trimmed hair between her legs. She was shorter than Neri and curvier. Her complexion darker and lips slightly fuller.
