“Eva.” His voice was suddenly tight, his grip on me like a vise.
“He knew who I was. I’d met him. Years ago, Derek. When I was still a little girl, only I didn’t remember until that moment.” Derek remained quiet, and I lifted my head to look at him. His eyes were set on the ceiling, the tension on his face causing his jaw to twitch. “You didn’t tell me you had a sister.”
Derek’s eyes snapped to mine. “He told you about Athena?”
“Athena?”
“He doesn’t talk about her to anyone. Not even Kai and me. I’m curious what his motives were behind revealing that to you.”
It was as if I could see the wheels in his head turning. His dark brows pulled together, a crease between them as he digested that information.
“Where is she?”
“What else did he say?” he asked, ignoring my question.
“Not much else—Derek, what happened to her?”
He sat up, clutching me by the shoulders. “Athena has been gone a long time.”
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t—”
“She’s just gone. We don’t know where she is or what happened to her. But I don’t want to talk about that right now. I just need to know you’re okay. Ronan can be an asshole. And if he so much as—”
“No, I’m fine,” I assured him, arching my neck and brushing my lips against the stubble on his face.
He held the side of my neck and pulled me down to his waiting mouth. There wasn’t any heat behind our kiss. There was something else. Something softer, more profound. I cupped his cheek and brushed my lips back and forth over his as flutters rose from my belly, settling in my chest.
The arm he curled around my waist tightened, and he sighed into my hair.
So much of Derek was a mystery. And I often wondered how deep his scars truly went. How big of a role had his adoptive father played in the man he’d become? And was Ronan Cain the reason Athena had gone missing?
“What are you thinking about?”
“How I forgot to ask about your trip?”
The reason behind his leaving town still didn’t sit right.
“It was nothing special. Just business.”
I sat up, pangs of doubt nudging at my insecurities. “It just seemed so abrupt, especially after what happened.”
Derek sat up too, blue eyes searing me with their intensity. “Evangelina, I wouldn’t have left you if it wasn’t absolutely necessary.”
“That’s what I don’t understand. On the one hand, you wave it off as just business, but then you say things like that, look at me like that, and it makes me feel like there’s something more. Something you’re not telling me.”
He swallowed hard, seemingly uncomfortable with my accusation, and moved off the bed, pulling a t-shirt over his head. “I still have obligations, angel. Clients. Prior commitments that I can’t just blow off at the drop of a hat.”
My eyes cast downward, suddenly feeling like an immature brat. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t assume you’re lying. That’s rude of me.”
“Come here.” Derek looped an arm behind my back and hauled me toward him, crushing my body to his chest. “I would drop everything for you.”
The pit of my stomach plummeted, like the sensation one feels during a free fall. “Derek,” I murmured into his ear, my voice suddenly shaky as he scented up the side of my throat and squeezed me just an ounce tighter. The way my breasts were pressed against his hard body caused a fresh flush of moisture to drip from between my thighs.
“Mmm?”
“I want you to fuck me and call me your little slut again.”
I felt him grin against my neck. “I’m going to take you to the shower, angel. And I’m going to fuck that naughty mouth of yours until you cry and choke on my cock.” He squeezed my ass until I locked my ankles behind his back. “Then I’m going to fuck you against the tile. And you’re going to come for me again.”
