Our eyes met, and the air between us abruptly changed. There was a charge to it, now. The invisible promise of something that could be.
“Colson and Theo, they’re easy to read,” I explained. “But you? You’re a lot harder to figure out.”
“And who said you need to figure me out?”
“No one,” I answered truthfully. “But you’re stuck here because you put yourself on the line for me. You told Donovan Prescott to fuck off,” I shook my head reverently, “and I don’t think anyone has told him that. Ever.”
“Yeah, well he needed it.”
“He sure fucking did,” I agreed. “I guess this is my way of saying thanks.”
He looked down at my hand, still wrapped halfway around his huge bronze wrist.
“You have a funny way of thanking people.”
His body relaxed, and I relaxed with it. The stiffness between us was gone.
“Why? What else would you have me do?”
The words tumbled from my lips before I even knew what I was saying. Like my body just elbowed my brain out of the way.
“Depends on what’s available,” he growled.
Ripley’s eyes flickered with an emerald fire, as they over crawled me, up and down. There were no apologies in his gaze. No subtlety, whatsoever.
“I think you know exactly what you want,” he said evenly.
“I do, huh?”
He nodded. “You sure do. You just can’t ask for it.”
I shifted, restlessly. The scent of him was driving me crazy.
“Why not just tell me, then?”
“You’re itching to get your back blown out,” he replied, crudely. “You’re four days into your honeymoon, and you still haven’t gotten laid.”
A thousand butterflies took flight at once, deep in thepit of my stomach.
“Honeymoon…” I laughed nervously.
“That’s what this is, isn’t it?” he shrugged. “You’re a runaway bride, stranded in paradise with three impromptu groomsmen. You’re dying to get properly handled. Donovan sure as hell wasn’t getting the job done,” he chuckled. “And so here you are.”
He was right of course. Especially about the Donovan part.
“And you know all of this… how?”
Ripley turned into me. Our bodies were so close now, I could feel his gravitational pull.
“I know it by the way your breathing just changed,” he murmured. “It’s quicker now. More shallow.”
I scoffed. “You don’t know—”
“Your skin is pink now, too. It wasn’t before. And all of a sudden, you can’t even look at me.”
I looked up at him in defiance. It was like falling into a trap.
“You’re thinking about what it would be like to be with me,” he whispered into the darkness. “And that’s okay. I can’t say I haven’t wondered the same thing.”
