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“True enough.” He stood on the other side of the falls, peering at me. “So show me. Let me see you. Then you won’t be so skittish about it anymore.”
I looked away. This was stupid. He was my kidnapper. The butterflies in my stomach should not be fluttering for a man like him. He’s dangerous.
“It’s not…” I took a deep breath. I wasn’t going to be able to hide myself from him forever if we were going to be swimming for a while. And it was boring as fuck in the cabin.
I dropped my arms to my sides and stepped forward, letting the waterfall rain over my head. The water from the falls was colder than in the pool, making me suck up my breath and hurry forward out of the cold stream.
He grabbed hold of me, laughing.
“The river is cold.” He pushed all of my hair from my face and wiped the water from my cheeks.
Once I had my breath again, he held me at arm's length and had a good look at my exposed chest and stomach. Not wanting to see the disgust in his eyes, I turned away.
With a feathery touch, his fingertips trailed each ugly scar. I clenched my jaw as he continued his exploration.
“Who did this to you?” The question was so guttural, so raw, it shook me. Rage filled his tone. No one had ever been so angry on my behalf.
I brought my gaze back to his.
“I know it’s gross.” I pushed his hand away, but he grabbed my wrist.
“Nothing about you is gross.” He corrected me, tightening his hold on my wrist. “Who did this?” He asked again.
I swallowed.
“My stepfather. With his cigarettes.” I looked away again. It had been three years, and the scars were slightly faded, but the puckering of the skin remained. “He found me tanning out in the backyard. He was drunk and got mad because I was wearing a bikini, so he pinned me down and…” I didn’t finish.
He knuckled my chin until I was looking at him again. “This is why you ran away from him.”
“The court was giving him custody of me. Since I was almost eighteen, they didn’t want to put me in the foster system, and he was willing to take me.” I clenched my teeth, trying to keep the tears from coming. “I couldn’t live with him.”
“Your mother didn’t know he’d done this?” His eyes went black.
“She was real sick at the end. He was drinking more. She didn’t know, and I didn’t tell her.” She’d been too weak to do anything about it, and all I could do was wait it out.
He leaned down, kissing each scar softly. “I will make him pay for this.” He vowed to me with each new kiss.
“I really don’t want to talk about this anymore,” I said softly when he stood back up.
He looked like he wasn’t sure if he should push me for more or not.
He knuckled my chin until my eyes lined up with his.
His mouth crashed down over mine.
Chapter 9
Dmitri
She tasted like honey. Like sweet, tangy honey that I never wanted to stop tasting.
The tip of her tongue darted out, running along her lips when I broke the kiss. Sliding my hands along her jaw, I sank my hand into her hair. She winced when I fisted my hand but made no attempt to pull away.
“Are you going to be a good girl for me today? Is it time to end your punishment?” I asked, brushing another kiss across her lips. A drop of water rolled down from her wet hair, dripping off the tip of her nose.
“Depends.” She gave a soft smile.
“Hmm. Then maybe I should give you a reason to always be a good girl for me.” I let go of her hair and picked her up, wrapping her long, toned legs around my waist. Wading through the pool, I took her to a large, smooth boulder just beside the waterfall.
