Page 10 of Liars and Liaisons

Her breasts are round, full, the skin smooth and pale andripe. I’m instantly curious to know the exact shade, size, and reactivity of her nipples—if they’re pink or a light brown, if they’d fit in between my lips and stiffen to diamond peaks in my mouth.

How my brother could ever let a woman like this go, I’ll never know. Nathaniel’s an idiot, and I intend on making sure he knows it.

With a thick, burning swallow, I drag my gaze up to hers, surprised to find she’s already looking.

Goddamn.

Thoseeyes—turbulent, sparkling brown, like smoky quartz—glisten with vulnerability. It would be entirely too easy to scoop her into my arms and take her, to lock her away where no one else would ever find her.

I blink because I can’t seem to curb my reaction, as if she were some sort of witch I’d inadvertently sold my soul to.

She seems to excuse herself from the couple and then makes her way over to me in a blur of onyx hair, black fabric and ivory skin. Those lush red lips are the only pop of color, and yet she exudes sunlight. It radiates from her in warm waves, and I back out of the doorway to step into a secluded alcove.

Just to see if she’ll follow into the shadows.

Quickly, I slip the pill Arsen gave me between my lips. It sits on my tongue, awaiting further interaction.

“I’m not drunk,” the woman states when she appears, narrowing her eyes. “Just for the record.”

My lips don’t move.

My heart doesn’t beat.

“I only had three drinks. At max, I’m, like, tipsy.”

Still nothing from me.

No sound in my mind—no haunting cacophony of terror or twinkling notes of beauty.

Justher.

Her eyes narrow more. I can’t even tell they’re open. “I was just surprised to see you in there. With, you know…that.”

Apparently, my brain doesn’t have a response for that one either. I stare down at her, wondering why she came back when it was clear she wasn’t welcome.

She should’ve left while she could.

Should’ve saved herself from me.

“I’m sorry,” she continues, babbling on as if she can’t stand the silence rippling like electricity between us. As if she feels the tension tethering us together, as one being. “For interrupting, if… if that’s something you wanted to do tonight. I know I didn’t have any right to just burst in there, but I was hoping we could talk. If you wanted to.”

I cock my head to the side and take a step in her direction. Her dress has these tiny straps that droop over her biceps, like they’ve fallen off her shoulders and she gave up on adjusting them.

I ache to tear them the rest of the way down with my teeth.

Perhaps I will when I’m not smuggling contraband between them.

There’s a slit in the floor-length skirt of the black material, and when she moves back, distancing herself from me, a flash of pale flesh bares itself to my starved gaze. I glance down, inching forward again, and she backs up with each step I take.

Her pouty bottom lip trembles slightly when she collides with the wall, her hands slapping against the plaster. My body moves with hers, trapped in some magnetic pattern, unable to break away.

The hideous music is gone.

A tranquil sound echoes in its place.

When I press into her, it grows louder, and my soul—whatever shards are left of it—melts.

Those mesmerizing eyes are wide as they gaze up at me. It feels like the greatest sin—how this stranger’s pliant body molds perfectly to mine. Distantly, warning bells chime in the back of my mind, but I can’t quite make them out over whatever noise she’s creating around us.

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