Page 52 of Pretend
Is she drunk?
“Is it wrong, Daegan?” She breathes out like she’s enchanted. This is another side of her I’ve beendyingto see. And now I’m aching to experience more now that I have her right where I want her. “Is it wrong to find what you did for mehas me wanting to show you just how thankful I am?” She bites her lip, daring me.
Fucking hell. She’s not as shy as I thought she was.
My obsession needs to stay a secret. The toxic addiction needs to stay in the dark. If I fuck her, I’m tainting my career…and her soul.
“Is it wrong that I want topretenda little longer tonight?”
“Stop it, Alessia. You’re just angry.” I whisper, my breath swishing through the curls on the side of her face as I bare my teeth underneath my mask. My voice is pained with impenetrable lust and slight anger. “You’re upset, and you think fucking me will make you feel better? This is not the way. You’re just doing this to get back at your ex.” I snarl.
I’m giving her an out. I’m giving her one chance to escape me before I unleash what I’ve been holding on to since the day the Admiral assigned her to me.
“You’re not my bodyguard…not yet anyways.” She taunts, and I’m about to take the bait like a starved shark.
17
ALESSIA
He takesthe knife from my hand like he’s surrendering a vulnerable part of himself. His breathing darts in and out of the mask, brushing against my flushed face.
“I can’t do this.We cannot do this.You are Ravenmore’s stepdaughter. He will get me kicked off the team if he finds out we did anything together. Hell, I’m already risking it by you spending the night. You can lose your job as well for sleeping with someone of a higher rank. We cannot.”
“I won’t say anything. Again. We’re pretending. Just for one night. And your hard cock against my thigh tells me you want to pretend longer tonight, too.” I reach for his mask. His eyes pierce through me like a hungry beast that could devour me in seconds if I just said the words.
My fingertips graze where his neck meets the mask, and he stops me. My wrist is in instant agony as he grips me tighter.
“What do you say, Daegan? I want you, and I know you want me to.” I’m convincing him. I need him to believe I truly want this, not just because of what happened with Jack but because my attraction to him is something I’ve never felt before.
I grind my hips into the hard, thick bulge that sits in between my thighs. Daegan responds with a low grunt and drops his forehead against mine.
He’s hesitant, but he’s easily a boiling volcano ready to erupt.
“Are you afraid I won’t want you after I see the scars?”
He’s silent, but his silence says a thousand words.
He is afraid.
This is a big moment for him. I’m not sure anyone has seen him without his mask since he was captured. Then again, I don’t think anyone knows too much about him. He’s a mystery to everyone.
He lets me go, granting me access to pull it off him. His breathing picks up, and mine does too. Our bodies are still pressed tight together, but he’s careful not to crush me with his mass of body weight. I can feel his muscles trembling on top of me.
My heart thrashes against my chest so hard it’s almost painful, and I can feel my entire world burst into flames. I start to sweat as I slowly pull it off.
At first, his beard and full lips are revealed. His chin is coated in dark hair around his jawline and his mouth. I pull it up a centimeter more and see the first few scars he always keeps hidden at the bottom of his face.
Peeling off his mask, one second at a time that feels like hours, more and more deep carved mutilations are unveiled…until finally, the mask is off. I gently let it rest on the floor, indicating to him that I’m not going anywhere.
From what I can decipher, someone cut his face over and over again on one side. They start at his temple, go over his eye, and finally down to his chin.
Slashes.
How could someone do this to him?
I’ve been exposed to war before, and often because of my job, so I shouldn’t be surprised, but seeing it right now feels like a slap in the face of the reality of the world we live in.
Masculine charm staring back at me. His ice-grey eyes are dilated, but I can’t tell if he’s angry, scared, sad, or full of lust. Maybe all and more. His cock is still very much presently hard, stabbing the inside of my thighs.
