Page 28 of Dark Masquerade
Indio, dressed just in shorts, was hammering nails into a table he’d obviously built. The ferocity with which he banged the hammer down was daunting. An unlit cigarette hung out of the corner of his mouth, three days of beard on his face. His hair was as wild as she remembered, not tidied for a party, with long curls and waves in a shock about his head. His thick eyebrows shaded those incredible green eyes of his, his brow furrowed both in concentration and anger.
Elli watched him for a few minutes, all that feral beauty and rage. His body wasn’t sculpted from working out, but rather from working with his hands—muscled arms, taut chest, flexed back, and a flat belly. He once was, and still remained Elli realized, the handsomest man she’d ever seen. Yes, even more so than Aldo, she thought guiltily. No one could touch what Indio did to her, just by being a few feet away.
She suddenly smelled cigarette smoke and opened her eyes. Indio stood, gazing at her, his expression unreadable. Frozen momentarily by that intense gaze straight out of her darkest memories, Elli mustered up her courage and cautiously stepped into the workshop.
“Hello, Indio.” They were the first words she’d spoken to him in years and they didn’t come close to saying anything of value. But he was watching her … watching her … and she couldn’t find the breath to form more words, suddenly.
Silence. Indio dragged a long toke on his cigarette, still gazing at her. Finally, he spoke. “Hello, Elli.”
Oh, dear god, that voice. All chocolate and raspy and low—sexy didn’t begin to cover it. Elli stepped toward him, her eyes searching his.
“How have you been?”
God, how lame. Indio didn’t answer her at first, then he looked away. “You shouldn’t be here.”
Ouch. Elli tried again. “Indio …it’s been years. Can we talk?”
“About what?”
About how much I fucking love you, you asshole.Elli felt tears spring into her eyes and pressed her palms to her thighs to keep from reaching out physically to him. “Indio …please.”
“Whatever it is you want, Elli, I can’t give you. It would be …dangerous for you and I won’t have that. And if you had any sense you would realize that Aldo Constanza is dangerous for you too.”
Elli stood her ground. “I’m a big girl, Indio. I can make my own decisions.”
Indio gave a mirthless laugh. “And your decision was to come here today and what? What is it you want, Elli?”
Elli drew in a breath and decided to go with the plain truth. “You, Indio. I want you.”
Indio dropped his cigarette on the ground and crushed it out. “You want me? How? How do you want me?”
Elli was trembling, but she was too far gone now. “With me. Inside me. I love you, Indio. I’ve always loved you.”
In two steps, he was with her, crushing his lips against hers. Elli gasped at the ferocity of his kiss, and when he pulled away, the desire and anger in his eyes. “You want me inside you?”
She nodded, everything and everyone out flying out of her mind as Indio pushed her skirt up and tore her panties from her. Her hands moved as with a mind of their own, cupping his hard-on, then freeing it and touching it at last, the silky skin belying the diamond-hard muscle beneath.
And then hewasinside her and Elli sighed with the release of eight years of tension. His mouth was on hers again as they fucked, Indio forcing her back against the rough stone wall. Sharp stones dug into her back but she couldn’t have cared less about the pain. Indio, her Indio, was in her arms, his green eyes fixed on hers, his cock, huge and thick, driving her on to the most sublime orgasm of her life.
“I love you. I love you,” she whispered over and over, crying with happiness, and when he tumbled her to the dusty floor and fucked her again, Elli knew that this was where she wanted to be. As Indio came, he groaned her name and came long and hard. Elli didn’t want him to pull out, but he did, rolling away from her and putting his head in his hands. Elli reached for him, but he ducked away.
“Go. You need to go, Elli. Now. And don’t come back. Please trust me in this. If you stay, you’ll be in danger. Please …”
“Indio …”
“Go!”He roared and stood, hauling her to her feet and marching her to the door. “You got what you wanted. Go!”
Elli was shocked to her core. “No, Indio, please don’t …”
He tried to shove her out of the door, then seemed to realize how violent he was being and let her go. He leaned his forehead against hers, his eyes squeezed shut.
“Please, Elli …please go. I can’t do this.”
Tears poured down Elli’s cheeks—how could she have gone from heaven to hell in a few seconds? “Please don’t send me away …I love you so much, Indio. I always have …”
Indio’s face creased in pain and he wouldn’t look at her. “I can’t be with you. Not when …he’s around. You’re not safe.”
Somehow his words got through to her, and as she wiped her face from her tears, she asked the question she didn’t want to know the answer to. “Indio, it’s not true …please tell me it’s not true …tell me you didn’t kill Yvetta ...did you kill Yvetta?”
