Page 23 of In the Dark

“Look away then, asshole,” I said through chattering teeth.

He chuckled. “I’ve seen you naked already.”

“And so have dozens of men after you.”

His jaw popped once. “Care to share their names?”

“For what?”

“Because I don’t like men thinking they can see my future wife naked.”

“I … what?” I whispered because maybe I was confused. Surely, he couldn’t be actually giving me what I want.

“Strip, Jasmina.”

“Turn around, Callahan.” I matched his tone.

He sighed but gave me his back. He may not have been looking as I started to get undressed, but I was staring at the tattoos, at the cut I’d given him, at how his muscles still moved gracefully over his broad back.

Then he ruined it by saying, “You realize you’re nothing special I couldn’t get somewhere else?”

Damn if that wasn’t a sharp icicle through my gut as I pulled my clothes off and wrapped myself in the blanket again. Quite frankly, I might have been nothing memorable to him, but he was more than memorable to me.

I’d dreamt about our night together way too frequently over the last year to admit.

“Yeah, and I’d rather jump on Satan’s dick than yours any day. Still doesn’t mean I’m letting you perv out while I undress.” I shucked out of my underwear as I stared at him lowering his pants.

“You think I’d take pleasure in seeing you naked again?” He literally scoffed and then leaned to the side to grab his own blanket.

What a fucking asshole. I loathed that I thought about him when I was with others, that I still imagined his touch sometimes, still heard the way he said my name in the heat of the moment.

“Well, you kissed me on that cliff,” I reminded him, wrapping the blanket more tightly around me, making sure I was fully covered. The warmth felt good against my bare skin, and the vents heated the air enough that I could focus more.

“Purely for curiosity’s sake.”

“Curious of what?”

“Of whether or not you’d be worth fucking again. I like a thrill every now and then.”

“I’d never fuck you ever again.”

I was feeling better as heat came back into my veins, but Cal’s cold gaze hit me as he turned back to me, chilling me to the bone. “Or you would over and over again if I married you, just to save your little cousin, right?” A corner of his mouth lifted with his malicious question.

No desire was in his eyes. No kindness. No mercy.

Across from me in that car sat a calculating Diamond, ready to take the best deal, and I guess my hand in marriage was that.

How had I ever slept with him?

“You’re a twisted bastard,” I grumbled before I could stop myself. I knew I should be saying yes, that I’d do anything, that I’d marry him, but conceding made my skin crawl.

“Takes one to know one.” He shrugged as he turned away from me to stare out the window. The weather had taken an ugly turn just as the words he said turned my gut. “I do think I’ll marry you instead. Would that make you happy?”

I wanted to stab him again. Truly. But I couldn’t. I swallowed my pride for my cousins, for my family, for our legacy. I looked away from him and murmured words that tasted like acid on my lips. “It would.”

“Well, then. You can thank me, Jasmina, on our wedding night.”

My stomach rolled even as the weight on my shoulders subsided. I was protecting everyone, and I should have felt relief that I’d at least changed his mind. Relief that he didn’t drown me or kill me on that beach.