“Don’t apologize. I love your body.” I sucked in a breath, and he cursed and then cursed some more. “I need you to return to your to seat. Please,” he begged when I didn’t move.
“Why?” I wasn’t experienced with boys and sex, but I knew that sitting in his lap wasn’t right. Lines had been crossed, but since they had already been crossed, why not explore?
“Fuck, Sprite. You don’t—” His Adam’s apple bobbed. “You’re only fourteen.”
“So?”
He jerked as if I hit him. “So? So?” His voice rose on the last. “So I’m fucking twenty. ”
“Why do you care?”
“Why do I—” He stopped and barked out a laugh. “Do you have any clue what guys like me would like to do with little girls like you?”
“Um…”
“The guilty flush on your cheeks say you do,” he snapped. “Some wouldn’t hesitate to take what you don’t even know you’re offering.”
“What am I offering?”
He closed his eyes and leaned his head back. “I’m not having this conversation with you,” he answered more calmly than he had ten seconds ago. “Get off my lap.”
“Not until you make me understand why you’re mad at me again.”
“For fuck sake.” He gripped my waist and lifted. I found myself dumped into the passenger seat, and before I could right myself, the engine roared and tires spun as he took off. “Seatbelt,” he ordered.
It was the last thing he said to me during the ride. When he pulled up to the brownstone, he watched me go up it. I didn’t see him for two days. I was worried something had happened to him and was tempted to call Daddy, but I knew our fathers would be furious that he took off.
On day two, I learned from one of my classmates that he had spent the last two nights locked in her older sister’s bedroom.
Chapter Twenty-Six
A deal she can’t refuse.
MIAN
Present
It rained hard the next day.
When the lights went, I ran to a corner and hid. I hated storms. They scared the shit out of me. There was nothing beautiful or poetic about a storm. With each flash and thundering boom, I imagined a new kind of freak accident. The house would split down the middle. A tornado would sweep the house from the foundation and toss it into outer space. A large ship would come crashing through, wiping us all out in one swoop.
I had my head between my thighs when the door opened. If terror had a sound, it was what escaped my throat. This was it.
Arms closed around me and lifted me, but I still couldn’t open my eyes. I didn’t need to. When he pulled me tight against the warm wall of his chest, his scent surrounded me. “You remembered.”
He didn’t reply, but arms tightened around me as he walked. When I finally found the courage to open my eyes, I saw candles. Lots of them lit the way to wherever he was carrying me.
“The lights will be on soon. You’re safe.”
I almost snorted. He needed a reminder of our roles and why I was here, but since he rescued me from the storm, I wouldn’t bait him.
He entered a huge room with a large cream sectional spanning the entire left side of the room. Mounted on the opposite wall was the largest flat screen TV I’d ever seen. Candles covered nearly every surface lighting the space and creating a warm ambiance. He carried me to the couch in front of the large bay windows. It gave me a front row seat of the storm. Lightning chose that moment to light the sky. I crawled into Angel’s side and buried my face in his chest. My head rested right about his heart so the increase in tempo couldn’t be missed. He pried my fingers from his shirt to free himself and walked away. I stared after him feeling rejected until he pressed a button that lowered a shade over the windows and shut out the storm. Angel turned and regarded me with mocking eyes. “Better?”
“Much.” It took every ounce of discipline I possessed not to sneer.
“I got dibs on first movie pick!” Z interrupted our stare down with a huge bowl of popcorn while juggling four cans of soda.
“But there’s no power.”
“Lucas went to turn on the generator.”
“Oh.” Angel had already seen my fear, but for some reason, I hid my relief. The candles made the space we were forced to share too intimate. I’d felt his gaze on me while I watch Z looking through a tall stack of DVDs. The lights suddenly flickered on, and the house went through the motions of coming back to life.
“Why don’t we let Mian choose?” I gripped the cushions and refused to look at him. He was baiting me. He sat down next to me despite the enormous space and slouched with his legs spread. I flinched when he threw his arm closest to me along the top of the couch. The side of his leg brushed mine, and I jerked as if electrocuted.
He was definitely overindulging in testing the limits of my comfort zone.
“Because dibs still means dibs, dude. Besides, she’ll pick a chick flick, and I’m not sitting through one of those if there is zero possibility I get pussy after.” He suddenly spun and cocked his head, appearing too hopeful. “Is there?”