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I narrow my eyes at him. “Don’t you have somewhere better to be?”
“Nah.” He leans back against the railing. “I’d say I’m right where I’m supposed to be. Making myself useful.” He plucks the lotion out of my hand and motions with his finger for me to spin around. “Let me help with your back.”
I hesitate for a moment. I don’t want Jack to get the wrong idea, but there is no one else around, and it really is near impossible to apply sunscreen to your own back, and sunburns suck so…
“Fine,” I agree, turning. “But no funny business.”
He makes aharrumph-like sound from the back of his throat. He sweeps his hands upwards, spreading the sunscreen over my shoulders, settling into a rhythm that feels a lot more like a massage than an efficient spreading of the cream. “Where is he now? If I had a fiancée even half as hot as you, I wouldn’t neglect her for one second.”
I roll my eyes so hard I nearly pull a muscle. “Yeah, well, I don’t see a ring on your finger. And you don’t strike me as a one-woman kind of guy.”
He snickers. “Yeah, maybe not. Although if you were single, I’d have to reevaluate.”
“Puh-lease.”
I’m about to tell him hands off when another voice slices through the air, seething with fury. “Get your filthy fucking hands off my fiancée.”
Startled, I whip around so quickly the lotion bottle slips from Jack’s grip, hurtling through the air. I don’t know why I feel like I was doing something wrong, I wasn’t, but the atmosphere is charged with very aggressive, very male energy. When I look up, I find Leo’s eyes flashing dangerously, his lips drawn into a thin line.
“No bother, mate.” Jack straightens to his full height and squares off with Leo. Stupid man. “I was just helping Aly with her lotion since there was no one else around to do it.”
“I am fucking bothered,mate,” Leo mimics, dark energy coming off him in waves. “I’m the only one who gets to touch her.”
Leo’s words of possessiveness set my teeth on edge. What right does he have over me?
Not wanting things to escalate further, I jump in between them. Jack has no idea what Leo is capable of. Hell, I have no idea what he’s capable of. He was once laid-back, but years as a hardened vor means he doesn’t blink at the prospect of brutality. And right now, he looks ready to murder someone. Jack in particular.
“Didn’t mean anything by it, just trying to be helpful.” Jack raises his hands and backs up slowly, correctly interpreting the murderous glint in Leo’s eyes.
“Next time you want to be helpful, stick your finger in an electrical socket.”
Jack throws a hard look over his shoulder before disappearing inside the yacht, leaving Leo and me to face off. He’s vibrating with anger, but fuck him, I’m angry, too. “That was completely uncalled for. I am capable of taking care of myself. And furthermore”—I stand my ground, head tipped up, shoulders squared—“despite this ring, I’m not yours. You gave up that privilege a long time ago.”
It’s then I notice he’s dressed in formfitting swim shorts… and that’s about it. The material stretches across his muscular thighs, emphasizing every bulge and ripple of his powerful legs. But it’s his upper body that makes my mouth go dry.
His broad tan shoulders and rippling biceps are on full display, along with a patchwork of scars and tattoos. A lot of them. Way more than he had before he took the oath. Ink depicting a menacing black eagle clutching a blood-red rose creeps up his neck, and over his right shoulder is a snarling wolf with piercing blue eyes emerging from a field of dark shadows, symbolizing his loyalty and ferocity.
But over his heart is a tattoo that makes my mouth go dry. A delicate butterfly, its wings adorned with vibrant hues of blue and purple, flutters gracefully. Its presence a secret language etched into his skin.
I swallow heavily. Am I the butterfly inked on his skin? It couldn’t be, could it? No, of course not. I bury that thought, locking it away within the depths of my soul.
“As long as you’re wearing my ring”—he thumps his chest—“you’re mine to protect. I won’t sit by while that mudak has his hands all over you.”
We lock eyes, tension thick between us. “Why? Are you worried that I liked it? That I craved more from him?” I didn’t. Jack kinda creeped me out, but after last night, Leo needs a reminder that he can’t slap a ring on my finger and act like a brute.
His hand reaches out and covers my jaw, his thumb rubbing against my bottom lip. I’ll bite it if he comes any closer to my mouth. “Alyona, don’t push me,” he growls.
Even though I promised myself I would stop provoking Leo, I can’t help it. I want to see what will happen when his perfectly composed facade drops away. “He’s sexy, don’t you think? In those little white shorts, all tanned muscular legs and—”
Without warning, Leo’s hand is at my waist, pulling me to him as he sinks into the lounge chair. Before I know it, I’m face down, deposited over his knee. In one brutal move, he rips off my bikini bottoms, yanking them around my knees. “I warned you, Aly. I told you not to push me.”
Oh, hell no. I thrash and fight him, but he’s too strong. With one hand flat in the middle of my back, he has me pinned into place, and that’s when he delivers one sharp slap to my ass.
Heat shoots through me so hard and fast that I have to bite my lower lip to keep from releasing a little moan. Still, this is ludicrous. He can’t get away with treating me like a child. “Leo,” I cry out. “If you do that again I will murde—”
Another slap, this one delivered to my other cheek. It stings, but an involuntary shudder ripples through me. “Anyone can see us,” I argue, but he rains down another smack, which has me tensing and squirming in his lap. And that’s when I feel it, the weight of his thickened cock pressing into my abdomen.
Like me, his breaths are coming hot and fast. Instead of anger, there’s choked lust in his voice. “You deserve this, Alyona. You deserve to be punished for what you do to me. How you make me feel.”
