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I wince, glancing at my pasty skin and huffing a laugh. “Yeah, I was pretty covered up on the farm, so no working on my tan.”
Posie walks in and instantly floats away on her back. I can feel the eyes of the guys on me, but I refuse to glance at them. The pavement is warm against the soles of my feet as I head toward the pool. My toes curl around the edge just as a shadow steps up behind me. My eyes flutter closed, and I instantly know who it is.
The energy changes, a breath of madness filling the air. The warmth of the setting sun is replaced with the fire coming from Reign. Hesitantly, I glance over my shoulder, barely able to make out his features.
The sun curls around his form, basking his face in the shadows. It doesn’t matter that I can’t see him, because I know he’s watching me. I can feel the way his eyes dig into my blood, etching against my bones. He’s silent, refusing to say a word as his eyes bore into mine.
His hand lifts, and he grazes his fingers along my shoulder. I bite my lip so I don’t open my mouth on a gasp. I can’t allow him to know how much he affects me. I can’t go there with him again.
He can’t know how weak he makes me.
His body shifts, and his face comes into view. I turn slightly, watching his narrowed eyes, his clenched jaw. The way his gaze inspects every inch of my skin, as if he’s remembered how my skin looked three years ago.
His fingers drop from my shoulder, slipping across my collarbone. “Your skin is silk against my fingertips. So creamy, so luscious. If I grip you, would you bruise?” He drags his hand down my arm, until his fingers wrap around my wrist. “If I cut you, would you bleed?” Tilting his fingers,, his nails scrape against my skin.
A gasp slips from my throat, and my tongue darts out, swiping across my lower lip.
“You keep a wall up in front of those blue eyes of yours,” he murmurs, his fingers sliding around my waist. “But I can feel the blood roaring through your veins. You’re fighting against the inevitable, baby.”
“What’s the inevitable?” I whisper, the splashing of Posie in the water fading out. Everything fades, and all I can see is him.
He smirks. “That little heart between your fragile ribs aches desperately, Lakyn. You know where you belong. Keep fighting against it, baby Lake, and you’ll burn.”
My eyes slip past him, catching Kyler’s. He’s watching me, smoke billowing from the blunt as he puffs it gently.
Reign’s hands go from my waist to my shoulders, his fingers digging into the muscles of my back as he trails them down my spine. They press hard, possessively, as he covers my skin. He doesn’t say a word, touching every inch of my skin. His hands slip to my sides, giving my hips a squeeze as he moves up my rib cage. My eyes settle closed at his touch.
“This is wrong, Reign. We’re wrong.”
His fingers lift from my body, and he drags them across his jaw. “Try telling your heart that.”
He spins on his heel, stalking back to Kyler, and finally, once he’s out of reach, I take a breath.
I glance at Posie, watching her stare at me with wide eyes, and all she can do is mouth,What was that?
I shake my head, my heart pounding against my chest. My knees shake, and I lock my legs together so I don’t tumble to the ground. Only he has ever made me feel this way, so twisted on the inside, so desperate on the outside. I squeeze my thighs together, feeling like I’ve been extremely deprived this last year. I haven’t had any sexual interaction, and I didn’t realize until this very second how in desperate need I am.
Turning toward the water, my entire body feels like it’s filled with lead, and I head down the stairs of the pool. Posie swims to the other side, grabbing the two floaty beds and dragging them to me. She pushes one toward me and hops on the other. Dipping into the water quickly, I hop onto the plastic mat, rolling onto my back.
As I close my eyes, I feel his on me, heating my skin more than the sun ever could.
My eyes crack open, and I lift my head, glancing around. The sun has finally set, and I’m surrounded by a silent, still backyard. Everyone has gone inside.
It’s pitch black, with only the tea and string lights illuminating the backyard. I sit up on the floaty, my hands going to each side of the plastic so I don’t tip into the pool. The lights are lit from inside the house, but I don’t see anyone sitting in the living room.
My hands go into the water, and I start paddling toward the side of the pool.
Shit, I must have really been tired.
Suddenly, the shuffling of feet sound, and my hands freeze, my eyes wide as I glance around the backyard.
The footsteps stop.
My heart speeds up, eyes darting to every corner, to every shadowed area of the backyard as my hand dips back into the water. I begin paddling again, moving faster.
The footsteps pick up again, and this time, I see a shadow in the corner of the backyard.
My spine snaps straight. “Hello?”
