Beneath These Scars (Beneath #4)(20)

“You want more, Yve? You come to me.”

He strode to the threshold and shut the door behind him. The click barely echoed, but his words repeated through my brain over and over, along with my conclusion from earlier. Lucas Titan is dangerous.

I needed to put what had happened out of my head. Never to be repeated. Ever.

But when I slid naked between the ridiculously soft sheets of the bed, I could think of nothing but Titan. So was it any surprise that I dreamed of him?

No, the surprise was that I wished my dreams had been only of him, rather than peppered with flashes of the man who still haunted me.





“SO YOU DECIDED TO FEND for yourself, but couldn’t manage to put it away when you were finished,” Jerome observed as he tossed the hummus in the trash. No matter how old I was, Jerome could always make me feel like I was sixteen again and had tracked muddy footprints all over a clean floor.

I had no excuse to give the old man; I’d been too caught up in Yve to remember to put the food back in the fridge.

“Actually, it wasn’t for me. It was for someone else,” I replied absently, wondering whether the woman in question would venture out this morning.

Why was I so fascinated with her? Apparently a sexy-as-hell body plus a disrespectfully sassy mouth were all it took to get my attention lately. I smiled to myself at the thought of her telling me to shut up and f*ck her.

The smile instantly turned to a frown when my dick flexed in my pants, and Jerome’s faded blue gaze snapped to mine. Not the time or place for that thought.

He lifted one shaggy gray brow. “Care to elaborate?”

“An unexpected houseguest arrived last night.”

“And why do I assume you’re not talking about the snake I found in the laundry room this morning?”

“Because I rarely offer food to snakes.”

We both heard the creaking in the ceiling that signaled someone moving around upstairs. In an old house, even though the walls and ceilings were thick, it was almost impossible not to step on something that would creak and give away your location. Levi had learned that the hard way when he was home on breaks from boarding school, and after he’d been kicked out of enough of those, military school.

“It seems your houseguest is still here.” When the front door opened and shut, he amended wryly, “Or was here.”

What the hell? Yve was just going to sneak out? I checked my watch. It was only just after seven. Perhaps she thought her exit wouldn’t be noticed? She didn’t realize that normally I was at the office by now, and I was altering my routine to figure out what to do with her.

“I’ll be back.”

Jerome’s chuckle followed me out of the kitchen. “Finally, one who runs away from you, instead of throwing herself at you.”

Funny.

Except Jerome didn’t realize this wasn’t the first time she’d run from me, and it was a habit that was starting to piss me off.

I yanked open the door and walked down the front path to the driveway. Yve was tugging on the gate and feeling around for the latch.

“You have somewhere pressing to be this morning, Yve?”

She turned and squared her shoulders, a pose that seemed to be her go-to when facing me. “Didn’t want to overstay my welcome.”

“Or say hello or maybe ask for a ride?”

“I don’t need a ride. I can walk.”

“And you wouldn’t need to walk if you’d just asked.”

Her chin went up. It was a gesture I was beginning to know well.

“What was I going to do? Knock on the door to your bedroom this morning? I don’t think so.” Her stance softened when she added, “I do appreciate the hospitality, though. I’m just . . . I need to be on my way.”

I studied her flushed cheeks. “How many times did you think about that door last night and begging me for round two?”

Her eyes widened and her spine straightened again. “I didn’t. At all.”

I stepped forward and lifted my hand—slowly—to grasp a lock of her hair between my thumb and index finger. “Little liar.”

“You wish.”

“You’re right—I do. Because if you’d come to me like I’d wanted, it would’ve been your lips wrapped around my cock instead of my hand. I will f*ck you again. It was too damn good to let you walk away.” I slid my hand into her hair and cupped the back of her head. “I spent all night wondering if you taste as good as I think you will.”

Yve’s mouth dropped open into a little O, and once again color stained her cheeks. She blushed so easily, and it pushed me to shock her further. It also cemented my earlier decision.

I would have her again, and I always got what I wanted. I just wondered how hard she’d make me chase.

Yve’s mouth snapped shut and her eyes narrowed. “Not gonna happen, Titan. Never.” She enunciated both syllables of never, and I couldn’t help but grin.

“Ahh, Yve.” I released my grip and lowered my hand to skim down her body to her hip. She immediately took a step back, but was trapped by the fence.

That’s right, sweetheart, nowhere to run now.

“You’re telling me no, but every ounce of your body language is screaming at me to pin you to this gate and f*ck you right here. It just makes me more dead set on having you again.”