The Vargas Cartel Trilogy (Vargas Cartel #1-3)(94)

“We’re a lot of things, but nothing isn’t one of them.” His low, velvety voice caressed me like an embrace. Shivers danced down my spine, begging me to turn around and kiss him. Devour him. Take what he offered while I still had the chance.

I groaned, curling my hands into fists and leaning into him. My body was at war, craving him and hating him. “It should be the only thing,” I countered.

Sensing my capitulation, he twirled me around and trailed kisses along my neck. “Nothing has changed since last night. Don’t run away now.” He tilted my head up, searching my face for something. Forgiveness? “Tell me I didn’t ruin this, ruin us,” he whispered next to my ear, his voice raw and needy.

I cursed my body as I slanted into him and angled my head to the side, inviting his touch. “Everything has changed.”

“How?”

“I went to see Evan today.”

Twin lines marred the skin between his eyebrows and lines bracketed his mouth. His gray eyes glowed like moonstones. “I warned you to stay away from him and Senator Deveron. Nothing good will come out of confronting them. We need a plan.”

A strangled sob tumbled from my lips. “I had to talk to him. I had to know.”

His fingertips dug into my arms. “You had to know what?”

“Why he did it. If I ever meant anything to him. If our relationship had been a game from the very beginning.”

He sighed as he shook his head. “And what did you find out?”

I swallowed and fixed my gaze on the tree behind him. “He has a private investigator following me.”

He brushed his fingers along my jaw line and then along my cheek, sweeping away my tears.

“I know,” he admitted.

I frowned. “How did you know?”

“He hired them before you went to Mexico. I didn’t know for sure, but I assumed he still had someone following you, especially after you ended the engagement.”

“Vera helped him too.” I bit the corner of my lower lip. “Well, I’m not sure exactly what she did. Do you know anything about that?”

“No.” He shook his head. “If she helped him, neither he nor Senator Deveron mentioned anything to me. She might have helped in a non-material way, but I don’t think she knows anything. I doubt they’d confide in her. It’d be too risky.”

Relief surged through my veins. “I guess you’re right, but it’s hard to believe in anyone now.”

“You can believe in me,” he rasped, resting his forehead against mine.

I wiped my nose with the back of my hand as uneven sobs fled the safety of my mouth. “Can I? Because I’m not sure I should trust anyone.”

His eyes locked on mine, brown colliding with gray, and all the emotions I’d been sidestepping for the past twenty minutes sizzled shamelessly. Invisible silken webs coiled around us, shackling us together in a cloud of lust. My nipples hardened. Sweltering desire pumped through my blood, thawing my frozen limbs. No amount of mental imagery could walk me back from the abyss.

Cold hands framed my face. “You can, but I realize I have to earn your trust. Just give me enough time to do it.” He ghosted a soft kiss across my lips, and his eyes crinkled at the corners. “I have never wanted a woman as much as I want you. I know I should do the right thing and walk away and let you live your life far away from me, but when it comes to you, I never do the right thing. I need every part of you, and someday you’ll give it to me. Freely and without reservations. Until then, I’ll take what you’re willing to give.”

“Okay,” I whispered, leaning into him, capitalizing on the safety of his embrace.

His familiar scent of spice and sea-salt bewitched me. I wanted to be closer to him. Feel him. Touch him. Taste him. I wanted to have a reason to live and love instead of feeling numb, betrayed, and bitter. I yanked his shirt from his waistband and slipped my fingers beneath his shirt. The pads of my icy fingers traced the rope-like muscles lining his spine. Up and down. Down and up.

Ryker sucked in a breath, and his fingers trailed from my neck to my shoulders, and then down my arms. My heart tattooed the inside of my chest. His eyes held me hostage. I couldn’t look away. Out of everything that had happened over the past three months, Ryker was the one reason I’d do it all again without a second thought.

The pain.

The confusion.

The betrayals.

The anger.

Finding him, loving him was worth it. In that instant, I discarded my thoughts of leaving him. I abandoned every notion of turning my back on us. Of all the twisted emotions I felt for Ryker, my love for him screamed the loudest. Fought the hardest.

Without saying a word, he scooped me up in one smooth motion and half ran, half walked, stopping only to grab his bag and blanket from the park bench.

“Where are we going?” I asked as I dotted his neck with open-mouthed kisses.

“To my car.”

I laughed. “Thank God. I’m freezing my ass off.”

“You’re the one who refused my blanket,” he said as he wrenched his car door open and laid me down in the backseat.

“I was upset,” I said with a smirk.

He shook his head as he climbed into the backseat with me.

He started unbuttoning my shirt.

“What are you doing?” I asked, my eyes locked on his skillful fingers as he opened my shirt button by button and peeled it off my body. He traced the scalloped edge of my bra, painting invisible lines all over my skin. My muscles jumped under his fingertips. He was the pied piper, and I couldn’t stop my body from marching to his tune.