“Again?” She looked unsure, so I decided for her. “Again.” Surprisingly, she opened her lips without direction. I leaned in closer until our lips almost touched. “This time I want you to inhale,” I spoke directly in her mouth. “Ready?” Her eyes widened, but she nodded, closed her eyes, and waited expectantly.
I inhaled from the blunt and moved closer until my left hip touched her right, and my top lip brushed hers. When she shivered, I exhaled. She inhaled and coughed, but it wasn’t violent like before. Her eyes were glassy and dilated when they opened, and she seemed to sway.
“Feel good?” I whispered against her lips. She nodded, her forehead rubbing against mine. “Want another?”
She hesitated even though I had already seen the curiosity in her eyes. “Yes, please.”
I smiled to keep her focus from my dick growing in my shorts. I wanted another brush of her lips. “Good girl.” I took another pull, and she opened up for me. She took the shotgun more smoothly this time, and I gave her two more shots before deciding she’d had enough. I stubbed out the lit end and placed the rest of the blunt on my nightstand.
“We aren’t going to finish it?”
I chuckled and turned back to face her. “Look who’s addicted.” She giggled and swayed into my chest, so the only natural thing was for me to run my fingers through her hair…Right?
“You have really pretty eyes.”
I jerked and blinked. “What?”
“Your eyes… they’re really pretty.You’repretty.” She laughed some more, sighed like she was relieved she’d said it, and then froze… with her gaze on my lips.
“Sprite?” She leaned in closer and rested her hand on my chest that I now remembered was bare. I liked how it felt. Her hand was small and warm on my hard chest, and I wondered if she could feel my heart fighting to free itself from its cage.
“Your skin is so hot.”
Her attention had been on my chest, but when she looked up with wide, bright eyes, I was hit with the force of her innocence. I couldn’t do this. I threw myself away from her and exploded. “Damn it, Sprite!”
“What?” She genuinely appeared confused which only pissed me off more. “What’s wrong?”
“You’resixteen.” I stressed her age for my benefit as well as hers.
“I know.” She scooted closer and rose up to her knees.
“I’m twenty-two goddamn years old.”
Again… for my benefit.
“I know.”
“I’m a grown man. You’re a child.”
“I know.”
“You know?You know?” She flinched when my volume rose. I didn’t let up. I needed to scare her to stay away from me. Getting close had been a mistake that I was now forced to rectify. She nodded but didn’t lose the look in her eyes, and I felt the grip on my will slip. “So what would it make me?”
She whimpered. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It fucking does, so say it? What does it make me if I gave you what you’re begging for and kissed you right now?”
She was reluctant, but she knew the truth, so I waited. “A…A…A pervert.” Her eyes flowed when she admitted it as if the thought of my perverseness turned her on more.
Fuck no.
“That’s right, but more than that, it would make me a goddamn pedophile.”
She blinked, and I watched her process it, but then she did something that fucked my whole world up. She slipped her arms around me and whispered in my ear, “I don’t care.”
I pulled back, but that was a mistake because it only gave her access. Her lips touched mine, and she sighed again. “I’ve never been kissed.” She moved closer until she was practically on my lap. “Kiss me.”
I opened my mouth to deny her, but she didn’t wait around to hear it. Pressing her lips against mine, she explored by brushing her lips against mine. “Baby… no.”
I wrapped my arms around her waist to move her away. I really did. But then I felt her tongue shyly prying for entrance and I was screwed.
With a groan she swallowed, I gave up the fight. Gripping the back of her neck, I pressed my lips against hers and had my first taste of Mian Ross. It lasted only a second because we both froze at the sound of our fathers calling our names.Chapter Thirty-TwoBlood looks good on you.
MIAN
PresentNo one cameor went for three days.
I figured out his intention the very first day and laughed. It was clear Angel hadn’t done his homework. Starvation became a close friend of mine months ago. Sometimes ensuring Caylen was clothed, fed, and in perfect health meant having nothing left after. Most of my meals came from the mercy of the restaurants where I waitressed.
My body jerked from the cold, but I had little energy to shake it free. My prison became a winter wonderland without the wonder. The temperature in my room dropped steadily every day until I had only the chatter of my teeth to keep me company. There were no clothes to ward off the chill and no blankets to bundle under. He didn’t even leave behind the damn curtains. Angel had thought of everything it seemed.