Page 128 of See Me

When I open my eyes, I don’t see a smile, I don’t see a sexy little grin. I see his dark eyes looking the way I thought I’d only imagined them before. Seeingme, wantingme. They hold a softness I thought I’d merely manifested in my head. But it’s there now, holding more power over me than I want, butpromising everything I need. Promising he won’t let me fall, won’t let me compromise myself. He leans in and brushes his lips softly over mine. He pulls back and I see a vulnerability in his gaze. He can be everything I need, but he knows he showed me his weaknesses too.

We both have the power to destroy each other. He fears betrayal, abandonment. He kisses me, his lips demanding, begging for assurance. His grip on me tightens, conveying his fears.

I move to sit up and push his shoulder to roll him over and seat myself over his stomach. I lean down and cup his cheek stroking my thumb over his bottom lip.

He smirks. “I’ve tried to control and dominate you from day one but you always manage to end up the one in control.”

“Shhh.” I put my finger to his lips.

His brows furrow, confusion painting his black eyes.

“No one left because of you.” His eyes close and he throws an arm over his forehead. “You’re not broken, Luca.” I pull his arm back and lean in, kissing him softly. “They had their reasons, some of them probably super shitty, but it was never you.”

He sits up, nestling his face in the crook of my neck, taking in a ragged breath, wrapping me up tight. I rest my chin on his shoulder and trace the angel wings on his back. He pulls back after a minute of silence, eyes glossy. “We could really fuck each other up, you know.”

I nod, tracing his bottom lip. “Yeah. Or we could be the only thing the other has needed for way too long. We’re like a mosaic. A bunch of broken pieces put back together. They don’t fit perfectly, they never will, but they’re still beautiful when you take a step back and really look.”

He smiles. “You read that in your glittery vampire book?”

I scoff and slap his shoulder. “I was being deep and vulnerable, dumbass.”

He flips me over and pins my hands over my head. “Enough of that for today. I have a different kind of deep I want to show you.” He grinds his hips and smiles.

“Did you learn that from Jessica Rabbit?”

He drops his head to my shoulder and laughs. “You’re gonna pay for that one, Princess.”

I laugh and he shuts me up in the best way, by trailing his tongue from my neck up to the shell of my ear.

He spends the next several hours, face to face, taking what he wants and giving me what I need. Broken or not, we fit each other perfectly.

THIRTY-EIGHT

I YIELD

“Please tellme there aren’t any surprises, Enzo.” He went full Braveheart for our viking themed Mardi Gras costume party. He keeps calling it an engagement party, but seeing as Luca and I aren’t engaged or anywhere near it, he either has something up his sleeve or is full on delusional. Honestly, with him, it could go either way.

He smiles and I shake my head at the blue smudge on his teeth from his makeup. “What do you think?” He holds his arms out and spins, showing me his entire costume.

“You look great. But I don’t think Braveheart was about vikings.”

“You're half right. It was a different era but if you researchthe lineage Scots are descendants of vikings. Northern Scotland was at one time a Norse territory so…” He stops at my quirked eyebrow. I’m actually impressed and I think he didn’t want me to see any side of him that wasn’t dumbass Enzo. I knew it was an act, but I kept up the pretense because he obviously does it for a reason. “Never mind. Anyway, I took creative license.” He ends the statement with the twirl of his kilt.

“I just saw bare ass, Enzo.” Luca comes up behind him, now shielding his eyes.

“Well, excuse me for wanting to be authentic in my costume.” He holds his hands up in Luca’s face, feigning dramatics and walks away with a flourish.

I got ready with some of the girls at Cassie’s place, so this is the first time I’m seeing Luca dressed up. My eyes sweep from his head down to his fur-lined leather boots over tight brown leather pants. He shaved the sides of his hair short and added some temporary tattoos on his head and neck andholy fucking helldoes he look good with eye-liner. It accentuates the already primal feeling his gaze gives me as his eyes peruse my body. If we weren’t in the middle of the bar surrounded by patrons I would hike this leather skirt up around my waist and hop on a barstool with my ass in the air.

Is that how Vikings show they want to mate?

Wait, I think that’s baboons.

“Fuck me.” He stalks around me, hand on the sword at his hip. “Anyone seen my Princess?” He runs his hand down the intricate braids falling down my bare skin and slides a finger under the leather halter tied at the small of my back. “All I see is a fuck-hot shield maiden.” He walks around the front of me and his eyes drop to the leather boots laced all the way up my thighs. He grips the back of my neck and leans down to whisper in my ear. “Please tell me you didn’t rent those and we can keep them.”

I run my hands up his bare shoulders and lean into his neck. “If I’d have known all I had to do was buy some leather boots and you would melt in front of me, I would’ve done it a long time ago.”

He looks down at my lips as my tongue darts out. “So, you bought them?”

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