“You’ve got a boyfriend?” Dean asked, surprise lining his voice.
Her laugh lacked mirth. “No, dad. I’m not boyfriend material, remember.”
She raced out of the room leaving her dumbfounded father looking at me helpless. Her sad words echoed in my ears, unsure if it was targeted at me or her father.
“You want me to talk to her?” I offered, hoping he’d say no. This was something I needed to distance myself from.
Dean rubbed a hand across his brow and sighed. “Sometimes, I think I stink at this whole father thing. Boys, I can handle. Girls, they’re so...” he left the words hanging, looking just as lost as his daughter a minute ago.
“Complicated?” I suggested.
He nodded on a hesitant smile. “Just when I think I’ve got one thing covered, another comes up.”
I felt like an absolute arse for bringing this problem down on his shoulders. Levana would hate me now and I had no other option but to let her. I couldn’t give her what she wanted, not at the risk of hurting her or her father. Turning to walk away, Dean stopped me.
“Would you mind speaking to her, Sebastian?”
Silently cursing, I nodded and left the room. Upstairs, I knocked softly on Eliana’s door. “Hi,” I greeted when she opened her door. “I need a favour.”
“What?” She offered me one of her shy smiles.
“I need to speak to Levana, but I know she won’t open the door to me. Think you can help?”
Her expression turned suspicious and I loved that she was so protective over her sister. “What did you do now?”
I blanched. “Why do you say that, like I’ve done something to her before.”
“Maybe you have.” I got a threatening squint, making me laugh.
My hands up in surrender, I smiled. “Look, Levana and your dad were talking, and she ran off. He asked if I could lend a helping ear.” I should be crucified for lying to this child.
Crossing her arms over her chest, Eliana gave my face a stiff perusal. “Fine, I’ll help,” then, “don’t manipulate my sister, Sebastian,” she blurted.
Well, where the fuck did that come from. Apparently, she saw right through me. Did a fourteen-year-old just chastised me? Figuring it wise to keep my mouth shut, I nodded and then followed her to Levana’s room.
She knocked lightly, then called out. “Lee, it’s Eli.”
“It’s open,” came the soft reply.
Eliana nodded to me before going back to her room. At her door, she gave me the ‘I’m watching you’ sign with her fingers and I chuckled.
Opening the door, I entered. Levana was lying face down on her bed. I could hear her soft sobs and my heart ached. Fists balled, I approached the side of her bed. “Levana?”
She bolted upright, her wet eyes glowering at me. “What are you doing here? Get out.” She climbed off the bed, her stance threatening. I took a step closer and she struck my chest with a close fist. “Get out Sebastian, you’re an awful man. I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.” I took another step closer.
“Of course, you’d make fun of me, just like everyone else,” she spat. “You just want to hurt me, like everyone else and I thought you were a friend.” Her hand lifted once more.
This time I moved quicker than her, grasping both her hands and pinning them behind her back. Her chest heaved, her eyes glaring at me. Fuck, she was beautiful. It would be so easy to lean down and cover those baby pink lips with mine, to bury my tongue deep within that warm cavern I craved, to savour her taste.
“Let me go.” She struggled and I tightened my hold.
Focus, Saint.
“You think I’m doing this to hurt you?” I muttered, readjusting my thoughts. “You think I’m not dying to get into your panty, knowing I’d be considered a paedophile at the school and a fucking pervert by your father.” Her eyes widened at that. I leaned closer until I felt her hot breath fan my lips, heard her low sob tickle my ear, her warm chest heaven against mine. “Since that first night, I can’t stop thinking about you. About all the dark and dirty things, I want to do to you. I want to touch you, tease you, fuck you, watch your body shudder as you come, fill this pretty little mouth with my cock until you gag, bend you over my fucking knee and watch that beautiful arse turn red with the shape of my palm. Fuck, Levana I’d cross all those fucking boundaries just to taste you. But I won’t because a girl like you needs a boy who can worship her. Not a man like me who’d use your body until he gets his fill. I don’t do flowers, chocolates, and movie nights. I don’t do dinners and anniversaries. I’m a bastard. I take. I fuck, I don’t give.”
I stepped back with those last words, forcing my feet to carry me further away before I did something she was likely to regret. We stood there staring at each other, breathing hard.
