“Action!”
Knowing that there will be no further cue to kiss the bride, I step forward immediately, crowding Lucy and pulling her flush against me. I use one hand to hold her tightly by her waist while the other cradles her jaw, my thumb brushing tenderly against her bottom lip. Time seems to slow as I count her freckles before dragging my gaze down to the lip I’m teasing. I meet her eyes again, bending to her and feeling the soft puff of air that escapes as her lips part.
With a feather-light brush, I tease her twice before pulling her bottom lip with a gentle suck. I chance one more look at her and find her pupils black with lust, and I’m gone, unable to do anything except bury my hands in her hair andownher. She opens for me immediately, as if part of her understands that her kisses belong to me now, and she wants to welcome me home. It's an undefinable passion. Not love or lust, or anything that can be described so simply. This need, that has me holding her face as if I can burrow into her brain the way she’s taken over mine, is all I can feel.
I force her backward as I ravish her mouth, knowing that she’ll have swollen lips when I pull back. The idea of physical evidence that I’ve been on her makes me desperate. Her foot catches the bottom of one of the swaths of fabric that surround us, pulling it down and tightening the cocoon we’re in. I can’t stop consuming her, grabbing anywhere that I think might hold the key to her skin so I can unlock her and climb inside. I settle for bracketing her throat, and she whimpers as I squeeze. I fixate on the idea of taking her air permanently, nobody else ever having a chance to be in her orbit at all.
She sways slightly, so I pull back a touch, just in time to hear Blanche yell, “Cut,” and exclaim her pleasure at the scene. Our shroud is pulled back, and we blink into the light as the overheads are turned back on.
“Darlings, I haveneverseen such a display. The passion, the obsession! And pulling down the fabric! We were lucky with the backlighting, but it’s so sensual. Inspired, really, and to think, I was originally going to have that gaudy, awful church as the setting…”
She trails off, realizing that neither Lucy nor I is paying her any attention. We’re still caught in each other’s gaze, her lips red and swollen, my chest heaving. Blanche’s eyes dart back and forth, and I see her unfortunate understanding of the situation before turning on my heel and leaving the room. Whatever she thinks she sees, she’s wrong. It’s acting.
After an unsatisfying shower, I find Lucy sipping tea on the couch, watching…
“Curling?”
She squeaks and spills her tea into her lap, shrieking and popping up off the couch to try to escape the hot liquid. I’m to her in a flash, pulling her pants down and assessing the damage. Her thigh is a little red where the liquid first hit, but no blistering, so I think she’ll be okay. As okay as she can be with her ass pressed against my rapidly hardening dick andno underwear on.
“Commando? Really, Sunshine?”
Scoffing, she pushes me back and moves to the bedroom.
“I was covered by my pajama pants until you ripped them off!”
She rummages around before coming back out dressed again in my favorite thin sleep shorts, arms crossed and resembling a pouty toddler.
“Whatever. I’m glad you’re out because Blanche sent overthis.” She hands me a manila envelope, looking at it like it might be poisonous. Knowing Blanche, it could be.
I slowly open the packet and reach inside, scared for my life. I’m a literal assassin, andthisis scaring me? I guess it makes sense. Blanche is the reason my family had to keep Katarina on lockdown her whole life. Regardless of my body count, I’m no match for her.
Forcing my eyes shut, I grab the contents and pull them out. Lucy’s laugh calms me down enough to open my eyes, and the minute I see what’s in my hand, I join her. “A box of table conversation starter cards. Well, I’ll have to admit, I never would’ve guessed that.”
“Are there instructions to do this activity without clothes, too?” Lucy asks.
I dig back into the folder, reading the note Blanche left.
I’m suddenly annoyed we weren’t instructed to do this naked. “Unfortunately, no. But I’ll never turn down the chance to see you strip for me, if you want to.”
Rolling her eyes, Lucy snatches the cards from my hand and flops down on the couch. “Clothes are staying on tonight, mister. Come on, let’s get started.”
I grab us some snacks and drinks from the kitchen before sitting next to her. “Ladies first!” I say, pulling a card from the stack. “What’s your favorite way to spend a Saturday?”
She giggles. “That’s easy, the beach. I used to spend any free time I had lying in the sand reading or floating in the ocean waves. It’s the thing I’ve missed the most since moving here.”
“Why did you move here?” I ask, setting the card down.
“Long story short, I’m looking for my dad. Or at least my family on his side. I don’t even know who he is, let alone if he’s alive or not.”
“Why don’t you just ask your mom?” I ask and immediately regret it.
My normally happy Sunshine looks grieved. “My mom passed away a couple of years ago. She never mentioned my father, and the only clue is that he’s linked to…That he’s from this city.”
I can’t stop myself from trying to soothe her. It’s like the whole universe is off kilter when my sunny girl isn’t smiling. Sliding closer, I fill the space between us to wrap my arm around her shoulders and pull her into me. “I’m so sorry. My mom passed away too, but I was too young to remember much about her before she died, but I have my dad.”For now.
She looks up at me with tears welling in her eyes. “Oh, Sasha, I can’t imagine that. I would rather miss her for the rest of my life, having known her like I did, than to have lived without the memories we share. I’m truly sorry you don’t remember yours.”
There’s the positivity I’ve come to love. “I love that. I feel the same about my dad and my sister, Kat. She’s actually the reasonI’m in this position in the first place. She married Blanche’s eldest son, Henry.”
