“No,” I said, unable to hide the smile in my voice as I licked him again.
He laughed. “You’re a shit liar, you know that?”
Lifting one of his hands from my ass, he gripped my hair and pulled my head up so he could meet my eyes. The pleased arousal sparking in his deep brown irises made me clench around him again.
“It’s okay. I like knowin’ I’ll be walkin’ around tomorrow with your mark on me. I hope the whole damn world sees it. Let ’em know I belong to you.”
“I belong to you too, Misael,” I murmured, pulling against his grip on my hair to kiss him again. “Marked or not. I’m yours.”
I could feel his smile against my lips, both sinful and sweet.
“I know.”
Fifteen
I could’ve stayed in the bathroom with Misael until well after the dinner party was over, but that was probably a bad idea for several reasons. Everyone had seen how upset Misael was when he’d bolted from the table, so I was sure no one expected us back all that soon. But if we took too long, someone would eventually come looking for us—and Nathaniel still intimidated me enough that I had no desire to get caught having sex in his bathroom.
We held each other and kissed for a few more minutes, indulging in the softer side of love alongside the harder one. Then Misael reluctantly pulled out of me.
He cleaned me up, his touch careful and gentle, before helping me down from the sink counter. We got dressed slowly, eye-fucking each other the whole time. Even though we’d only gotten partially undressed to start with, Misael looked sexy as hell with his shirt off, his pants slung low on his hips, and his cock jutting out, bobbing slightly with every movement. I almost gave in to the impulse I’d had earlier and dropped to my knees in front of him. He’d barely softened at all, and I was sure I could coax another orgasm out of him easily.
But I worried more about him getting in trouble with Nathaniel than me, so I resisted the urge. We needed to get back to the dinner.
I did step forward to kiss him once before we left the bathroom though, pressing my palms against his chest and feeling the steady rhythm of his heart inside.
“I love you,” I whispered. I wanted to say it a hundred times over, to imprint it on his soul.
“Love you more,” he murmured against my lips.
I grinned. There was no way that could be true, but I liked the way the words sounded as they came out of his mouth, so I decided not to argue that point with him.
“Are you okay?” I asked as I pulled back.
We’d gotten so lost in each other that we hadn’t finished our conversation about his father—Claudio. About what all of this meant for Misael, and about how he was taking it.
“I will be.”
He gave me a lopsided smile, taking my hand as he reached for the door. I could tell he meant it, but I could also see the confusion and pain in his eyes, even though he tried to hide it behind his usual cheer.
I squeezed his hand.
He would be okay. I’d make sure of it.
When we arrived back in the dining room, the conversation lulled as everyone looked up at us. Misael flushed slightly, avoiding Claudio’s gaze as he walked me to my spot at the table and pulled my chair out for me. I couldn’t help letting my own gaze flick toward the man across from us, and I caught him watching Misael with an expression of regret mingled with hope, and something like approval.
Well, if he was proud of who his son had turned out to be, he should be. I wasn’t sure I was willing to forgive him for the circumstances Misael had had to overcome to turn into the wonderful person he was today though. What might his life have been like if he hadn’t been parentless since the age of six?
There was a little voice in my head that said if Misael’s upbringing had been different, if he hadn’t been put into the foster system when he was young, he never would’ve met the other Lost Boys. He never would’ve met me.
I couldn’t bear to think about that, and I didn’t know quite how to make peace with the fact that if his father hadn’t abandoned his mother, all of our lives would be unrecognizable right now.
Maybe wishing for the past to be different was always a bad idea. In the aftermath of Dad’s arrest, I had prayed more times than I could count for it all to be a dream. I’d wished I would wake up back in my old bed and realize none of it had been real.
But if I’d gotten my wish, I would’ve missed out on the best thing that’d ever happened to me.
Misael settled back into his seat, and the rest of dinner passed without incident. Claudio didn’t bring up the subject again, and by the end of the meal, he put down his empty glass of scotch and turned to face Nathaniel.
“I understand what an honor it is to be approached by you. And I understand the benefits a partnership has. But I’m not unaware that you’d benefit plenty from any alliance between us too. My organization is young. My men are dedicated and loyal. And we’re growing. Month by month, year by year, we’ll keep growing.” He smiled lightly. “I’m sure you’ve thought of that.”