Lust & Lies Box Set-Sexual Awakenings, Excess, Predator & Prey

VIOLET: I’m sorry.

RHYS: Don’t be, I just really don’t want anyone getting the wrong idea.

VIOLET: What did you do today?

RHYS: Worked, picked up Bryce and took him to the fountain in Forsyth Park where he ran away from me as I screamed for someone, anyone to stop him. The kid is lighting fast and I swear he ran before he walked.

VIOLET: How old is he?

RHYS: Fifteen months.

VIOLET: And the mother?

RHYS: Is not and will never be in the picture. I come with no baby momma drama.

I laughed as I forked some enchilada and took a huge bite. Then the thought occurred to me.

VIOLET: Deceased?

RHYS: No, and I will tell you everything but only when I can see you.

VIOLET: Okay.

RHYS: No more secrets or lies between us.

VIOLET: Never again, not of any color.

RHYS: I’m going to get him fed and put him to sleep then I’ll call you.

VIOLET: Sounds good to me.

RHYS: Violet, you in that bikini. There is a place I want to lick.

The throbbing began at my core and I swallowed hard.

VIOLET: Hurry up. I want to hear your voice. Kiss him goodnight for me.

I finished my plate then headed to the local grocery store for odds and ends before returning to the villa. There was plenty of time to sightsee. For now, I was more fascinated with the house. As I sat in a cream-colored lounge chair on the back patio, I listened to the ocean, trying to write a bucket list. I sat for an hour, coming up completely blank. It wasn’t hard. There were a million places I wanted to see, a million things I wanted to do, but it all seemed so...unimportant. Travel wasn’t what mattered most. The thought hit home for me because, although I was wrapped up in the arms of paradise, the arms I craved were in Savannah, Georgia.

I just didn’t want to depend on those arms so quickly.

I’d meant what I said to Rhys. I didn’t want to be Mrs. Harvell the next time he saw me. I wanted to be free of the name and the scars, and anything else that could taint my new beginning—our new beginning. An affair of the heart was not what I had been after, but it’s what I ended up with, and I wouldn’t change a second of it. After another hour of staring at a blank piece of paper, I gave up and was thankful when my phone rang. I smiled and slid it to open, his voice greeting me instantly.

“I keep staring at this fucking picture and I want you. Fuck, I want you!” I squeezed my thighs together so tight I nearly fell off the chair. I dropped the phone and scrambled to pick it up. My breathing was erratic and I couldn’t stop picturing the things he could do to me. The way his eyes closed when he plunged his tongue inside of me. Calming my breathing and letting out a nervous laugh, I finally responded.

“There is a way to get even with me,” I rasped as I fought for control.

“Oh yeah?” His voice spiked slightly. “How?”

“Take a picture of Bryce and send it to me,” I murmured.

“Should I be jealous of my son?” he asked, amused.

“Yes, it took you a few months, it took him ten seconds,” I scolded playfully.

“Wow...maybe I could learn a thing or two from a baby who was playing in pigeon shit earlier. You know that stuff is toxic, right? God, I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight.”

I burst out laughing and he chuckled.