Standing there with him, feeling his presence wrap around me like something inevitable, I realized I didn’t want to keep pretending I could go back to the way things were before we met. I didn’t want to walk away again. I didn’t want to listen to Jules’s rules. I didn’t want to be brave or careful or good.
I wanted more out of my life.
And the most frightening part of all was the certainty blooming in my chest: I didn’t want a life he was in for only a moment. I wanted to get to know him more, to see his rare smiles and taste his kisses and maybe, if I was lucky, do more…
So despite my lingering fear and apprehension, I looked into Alek’s dark eyes and anchored myself in the dark seas. “What did you want?”
“You. Always you,Evangeline.” He gave me a pointed look as he emphasized my full name—the one I didn’t tell him.
I smiled sheepishly. “Sorry… I technically didn’t lie to you. Most people call me Eva. But you never know when someone might be a creep!”
He cocked a brow. “And you thoughtImight be a creep.”
“I kind of hope you are a little.” I slapped a hand over my mouth, my cheeks already beginning to turn red.Why did I say something so crazy sounding? Did I not want him tostay?
But to my surprise, Alek didn’t run for the hills like I might have. No, helaughed,a low sound that traveled down my spine and settled in between my legs. I’d heard the most beautiful music played by the City Ballet Company’s live orchestra, but nothing could compare to the sound of Alek’s laugh.
“My, my, Evangeline. Are you saying you’re a little freak behind closed doors?”
“I… erm… I-I?—”
Alek leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on my lips, one that teased me into wanting more. Whatever butterflies survived my auditions were surely dead by now, having flown themselves into a tornado in my stomach.
Alek smiled against my lips.
God, he was so beautiful when he smiled. It took up his whole face, showing off two deep dimples and a slightly chipped front tooth that I was sure had a unique story. The small imperfection only made him more perfect in my eyes.
I cupped both cheeks with my hands, determined to hold onto that sight for as long as possible.
“Good,” he said, kissing the palm of one of my hands. “Because I’m more than a freak for you. I’m fucking feral.”
My knees trembled. Did he really mean that?
No, surely not.
I wasn’t blind. I knew I was fairly pretty, especially when I took the time to do my hair and a little makeup. But while I could admit that I was fairly attractive, that didn’t mean I thought I was in league withAlek. He was sex on legs, the most attractive human I could ever imagine. He was beyond a storybook character.
He was a god.
“Y-you are?”
“Yes.”
It was shocking how his voice could be so cold yet so warm at the same time. I blushed again, but I still managed to hold his gaze as I said, “You could find out, you know? How much of a freak I am, I mean.”
Alek sucked in a sharp breath, a muscle in his jaw twitching. “Fuck, Eva. You’re playing a dangerous game right now.”
“Maybe I like dangerous.”
I honestly wasn’t sure, but whatever it was I was doing with Alek, it was clear that I more than liked it based on the reaction in my body. My panties were slowly soaking with every depraved thought my mind conjured, and my heart skipped so many beats that I worried I was going to go to the hospital.
There was a strange feeling building inside of me, a shift of something I’d never felt before, a heat that flooded my veins. I squirmed to try and ease some of it, but Alek merely pulled me closer, his body pushing against me and making it worse.
It was like a string had been coiled inside of me, something tight and awkward yet eased only by him. Every inch of me felt right and wrong at the same time.
Despite some of my… naivety, I wasn’tcompletelyinnocent. I’d watched porn a handful of times, and I’d tried the vibrator Mia gifted me for my twenty-first birthday once before deciding that the size of that thing was terrifying. My hands occasionally ventured to that part of my body whenever I was in the shower. But honestly, I’d never really feltturned onbefore. I’d never had a reason to.
Now, though, I was beyond turned on. I was craving him.
