Page 82 of Liars and Liaisons

I recapture her lips, so forcefully that our teeth knock together. “Later. We’ll deal with it all later.” My hands glide up her legs, pausing at the top. “How sore are you?”

A look of contemplation as she purses her lips. “Medium.”

“I was too rough.”

“No!” she says, tightening her legs’ grip. “I wanted—no, Ineededit. Especially after…” She trails off, and that familiar sense of red-hot retribution rages in my chest. An inferno set on as many victims as possible.

“I still don’t remember our first time,” she says softly, her lashes fluttering against her cheeks. “So, I needed this to replace that and the memory of Nate. It was my decision.”

So young and naive. I have half a mind to bring up the improbability of choices, but there’s a semblance of truth behind her statement.

If she’d even hinted at a sliver of rejection, I would’ve stopped.

Her fear might be what had stoked the initial fire, but what happened out there is entirely different from what Nate had done. What I’m certain he plans to keep doing, so long as she’s still under my roof.

Perhaps I need to remove her from the premises.

Stick her somewhere safe until this is all over.

“That was our first time,” I blurt, unable to keep it in any longer.

Violet’s head jerks back. She blinks. “What?”

“In the sunflower field. I—we didn’t do anything at the fundraiser.” I pause, the memory of our bodies sliding together, of me leading her to my hotel room and exploring her body until the X kicked in, assaulting me. It’s the first time I’ve let myself think about that night in detail, andIrecall every waking moment.

How soft she was and how envious I felt of my brother for getting so many good things in life when he didn’t deserve them.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she says, those beautiful doe eyes hooding as she runs a hand down the front of my suit. “I feel hot all over. Like I need to crawl out of my skin. Can you help me?”

She doesn’t wait for my reply. Her hands come up to the limp straps of her dress, shoving them off her arms, and then the bodice falls too. It pools at her feet, leaving just a pair of lacy black panties and a matching garter on her right thigh.

God, she’s even more perfect than I could have imagined, and now, I can’t stop thinking about our first kiss. Her throwing herself at me because she thought I was my brother, and yet the physical connection was undeniable.

If he’d ever kissed her like that, she wouldn’t have been so starved for more.

She approaches me slowly, hips swaying with each eager step. The primal, unhinged part of me wants to throw her on the bed and make her forget my brother completely. But that isn’t what I brought her here for.

Granted, I could’ve restrained myself a bit more downstairs. The teeth marks on her tits are evidence of my barely there control, and even then, when she ground against my thigh, her pulse nearly sent me over the edge.

I’ve never been coiled so tightly, on the verge of a visceral explosion. Not since I lost my virginity as a teenager anyway.

“What the hell are you doing to me?” I mutter, cupping her cheek in one of my palms as she stops before me.

“What would you like me to do?” she slurs, shimmying out of her panties.

I don’t have it in me to feel bad. Given my brother’s abhorrent personality, it’s likely she’s as terrible as him, so involving her in my scheme is necessary.

Still, a pinch of some unidentifiedthingswirls in my gut. She grips my biceps, pressing her tits into my chest, and I pretend it hasn’t been over a year since I had sex.

I pretend every fiber of my being isn’t suddenly craving her as I inhale that sweet, spicy apple cider scent.

Guiding her to the bed, I push her shoulders down so she’s forced to perch on the edge. A deviant smile curves over those ruby-red lips, smeared from my own, and she reaches for my belt.

Doesn’t even seem concerned at all with the fact that I’m still in my mask while she ditched hers the second we came up. If only she knew not everyone’s intentions were as pure as hers.

That the man behind the mask will be her ruin.

But not yet.

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