“You did not kill him.”
“I pushed do you to do it.”
“You have no such effect over me.” I watched her as she regarded me carefully like the dangerous man I was. It was exactly what I needed her to do. I needed her to believe. It kept her safe. I was quickly discouraged as she knelt down by the side of my chair, her knees on the concrete, with forgiving and desperate eyes. Her life, the struggles she’d faced, had led her to understand me. It made me feel more human. Capable of more than the pain I’ve inflicted. That was her effect. In her eyes, I didn’t exist as a shadow but as a worthy man. She reminded me of a past life, where I was capable of being flesh, bone, and a beating heart.
Watching her reaction to me, I’d never seen a woman so beautiful, and in the depths of her carefully guarded but soulful eyes, I saw the sadness that went with that understanding. My chest seized when I realized I was a part of that sadness.
She leaned in and whispered over my lips, “You promised me you would be as truthful as you could.”
“That is the truth. I took his life for my own protection, for yours. If I left him to live, there would have been a struggle. The police maybe would have been involved. I have made every trip in and out of this country undetected.”
Taylor sighed. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I did that.”
I heard it on her recording with her partner, Nina. She was attracted to the darkness; and I was the abyss.
I pulled my drink to my lips, and she took it and placed it on the ground beneath us.
“Do you want to return home?”
“No.” Taylor gripped my fingers, kissing them one by one before she brought them beneath her dress to the lace of her underwear. She was wet for me.
So. Fucking. Wet.
I gripped her throat, and in a quick invasion, plunged my fingers into her as I whispered in her ear, “Who do you want to fuck you tonight?” Her breath hitched as she looked between us at my working hand and then rode my fingers with abandon. Without regard to anyone who lurked around us, she faced me head on.
My phoenix.
“Give me everything, Daniello. I want all of you.”
Relief and hunger flooded my veins as she melted into my touch.
I pressed harder against her delicate neck as she came on my fingers and whispered her request. “Fuck me.”
Daniello stood at the foot of our destroyed hotel bed the next morning with a small bag. I winced at the discomfort between my legs and looked up to see the smug satisfaction in his eyes.
“What’s in the bag?”
“Your work suit for the next days.”
He tossed the bag in my direction, and I pulled out a solid green string bikini. It looked ridiculously expensive, and the price tag confirmed as much.
“My uniform, huh?”
Daniello nodded. “Yes, uniform.”
And what will you wear?
He was sporting the same suit we arrived in, and it looked worse for wear. He lifted his hand. “I bought a bag of my own.” He pulled out a pair of the loudest yellow swim trunks I’d ever seen, and I laughed as he deadpanned, “It was either this wetsuit or birds.” He shrugged.
“You’ve got something against birds?”
We shared a laugh as he bent down to take my lips. I pulled away swiftly as my body reminded me of the damage inflicted the night before. “No, no, no.”
Daniello pulled back, gripped my hand, and pulled me from the mattress.
“I will maybe give you a break.”
“Gee, thanks,” I said with a sigh.