Page 184 of The Wicked
My grip loosened from his hair as I caressed it softly, an attempt to ease whatever pain I might have caused.
Our breathing slowly settled and aligned in sequence.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Hmyeah,” I voiced, lifting myself, my gaze connecting with his dazed but hard, confused one.
I leaned in, my lips just a few inches from his, as I moved to kiss him.
He turned his head. “Good, get off me.”
I laughed tauntingly, hiding the discomfort of his rejection and hating that it even affected me.
“Why?” I moved against him, and he hissed. “The best sex you ever had?”
“Get off.” His voice hardened, and I got the message loud and clear.
Rolling my eyes, I eased myself off him, a little pain pinching between my legs as his cock slipped out of me.
I didn’t look at him as I quickly got myself back to being decent. My chest felt heavy at the sudden awkward quiet between us. It had to be the first awkward silence we’d ever shared.
I glanced at him. He was pulling his pants back on. When he was done, his hand moved to the handle of the car.
“Wait—” I said immediately, making him stop. “You’re being weird because you think I really hurt Casmiro.”
His throat worked before he turned to look at me. “Didn’t you?”
I smoothed my hair from both sides of my face, tucking it behind my ears. “Listen… I know you think I’m lying because you believe there isn’t an honest bone in my body. Sometimes I think so too,” I said, not taking my eyes from his. “I have lied andcheated my way through life to the point that being dishonest became my default. So I understand why you can’t trust me. But I need you to give me the benefit of the doubt. Don’t look at my eyes or my expression; hear my words. I didn’t fucking hurt Cassie. I didn’t. I promise you.”
He was silent for a few beats, just staring at me like his head was struggling to come to some kind of conclusion, but after a few tense seconds, he nodded.
“Okay.”
I drew my brows down, tilting my head slightly to catch his gaze. “Okay?”
“Hm.” He breathed out. “I believe you.”
Gulping down and breathing out, I nodded. “Thank you,” I said, rubbing my sweaty palms on my pants. “If you need help finding who did this, I’m on board.”
“Hm.” He didn’t take his eyes off me.
“Right. We should—head out.”
When he said nothing, I shifted to leave through the other side, but his hand encircled my wrist, tugging me back and stopping me from leaving.
I looked down at his hand and then at him. “What.”
“I want to break a rule.”
My chest grew heavier than it had been before. “Which one?”
“The one that says this has to happen only once. I will not be able to follow that rule, Zahra.”
I drew in a breath to try to calm the sudden increase in my heart rate.
“Would you want that?” he asked.
I swallowed. “I’ve never been opposed to it as long as it stays between us,” I said. “No one can find out.”
