Page 81 of Liars and Liaisons

“Something to keep the ghosts at bay,” which definitely doesn’t work.

I watch her in the gold-plated mirror on the wall and begin unbuttoning my shirt. It’s torn in two spots, though the wounds are more superficial than I led her to believe. Half the blood wouldn’t have pooled so much if I hadn’t shoved her fingers against the cuts.

The one just below my jaw is the deepest, and as I shed the shirt and tilt my head back to doctor it, I’m impressed with the little vixen’s aim. An inch or so lower, and she might’ve nicked my carotid artery.

“Whatever you had going on with Nathaniel ends now,” I say as I patch myself up. “Break it off. Immediately.”

She turns, lathering shampoo in her hair. Studying me silently as her nimble fingers work the soap in. My body heats with the thought of her smelling like my products.

“I’m notwithhim,” she says finally, lifting her chin to rinse her hair. “I wasn’t lying about that.”

“He certainly has a different impression.”

“Yeah,” she agrees.

Her gaze drops, and her voice grows distant.

My eyes narrow on her reflection. “What is it?”

Those brown eyes don’t meet mine. “I can’t end things with him.”

Exhaling, I grit my teeth and try to remain calm. Turning around, I fold my arms over my chest and lean a hip against the counter. “You just said—”

“I know, and I meant it. I’mnotwith Nate. But he’s…”

When she trails off, biting her bottom lip, I frown. Discomfort wages war on my nervous system; I don’t like how coy she’s being and how it feels like she’s hiding something. Many things maybe.

I walk over to the shower and yank the door open, shucking out of my pants before stepping in. She backs up, her hand moving toward the faucet, and I trap her against the white marble tiles. Water sprays down on us, ricocheting off the stall and our shoulders, but I ignore it.

“What’s going on?”

“He knows. About… me being here. About us.” She lets out a shaky breath. “He was pretending to be surprised that I was there that day in the dining room.”

Slowly, I blink. Processing her words. “And you’ve been with him every second since because, what? You enjoy playing house?”

“No,” she rushes out with a short shake of her head.

The word is too quick, setting me on edge. “What did he do?”

She turns her head, glancing past me, and when she does, I note the faintest bruising at the base of her skull. The unmistakable shape of fingers, purpling her pale skin. Days-old marks that I couldn’t see outside.

Another short sweep over her body reveals a similar print on the inside of her thigh, and a wave of nausea almost knocks me over.

I grip her wet chin and force her gaze back to mine. The stars that normally shimmer in her smoky-quartz eyes have been blinked out, and my jaw clenches, the need for immediate slaughter darkening my vision.

“Why didn’t you tell me he put his hands on you?”

Her lips part. “You haven’t exactly been around since he showed up, and I thought you… I thought you’d be angry. Since I didn’t tell him the truth.”

“I was,” I say in a rough voice, plastering my body to hers. We mold together like two halves of a whole. “God, Little Echo, I was so fucking angry with you. But only becauseIwant you, have wanted you from the moment Isawyou, and I hated knowing he was still winning out.”

“He wasn’t,” she says. “I don’t know why I said that the other day. It just… things seemed so tense, and I didn’t want to make them worse. It was stupid.”

My gaze falls to those pretty lips, stained red—with blood or makeup, I don’t know or care. I just lean down and slant my mouth over hers, needing that connection. Her warmth and the sweet succulence of her existence bleeding into mine.

She slides her arms around my neck, and I grasp her thighs, hoisting her up and locking them around my waist. My dick throbs, bobbing against her ass as I press her into the shower wall. When her mouth parts on a contented little sigh, I slide my tongue in, tasting and teasing until she’s a whimpering, grinding mess.

“Fuck,” she groans, breaking away from the kiss. “There’s more I have to tell you.”

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