Enzo (Jinx Tattoos 1)

IT’S AMAZING WHAT A couple of glasses of top shelf whiskey and a nice beat could do for an overcrowded brain. She moved with Sophia in the middle of the crowded room and found comfort in the words, the base, and the joy that came from being out with your best friend. With a warmth in her belly and the guilt gone, she was a new woman. Sophia gestured toward the bar and she nodded, taking her hand as they wove their way through the crowd to the bar.

Sophia waved down a bartender. “Two waters please,” she shouted over the noise.

“Coming right up,” the blond Adonis with sparkling blue eyes said.

Aibhlinn nudged her with her elbow.

Sophia rolled her eyes. “Nope.”

“I thought you were trying to get dates.”

“That’s not attraction, that’s pandering for tips,” Sophia replied.

“You don’t know that,” Aibhlinn said.

“Humph. He’s not my type anyway.”

“And what is your type exactly?” Aibhlinn asked.

“It’s tough to describe.”

“Because you don’t have one,” Aibhlinn said, thinking of the eclectic group of men her best friend had dated over the years.

The bartender in question returned, and she gave a grateful smile as she brought the cool glass to her lips. She drained the glass, glancing around at the crowd. There was a good mixture of twenty somethings and thirty somethings. The lighting was dim without making you feel blind, and the security was on their job. The mix of popular, hip hop, and classic party music kept them on the floor and pleased the varied groups mingling.

“Don’t look now, but I think your man got tired of waiting for you.”

“Wait, what?” Ave said, glancing around. The sight of Enzo in a black button down made her lick her lips. The cut highlighted his broad shoulders, and the rolled up sleeves displayed the incredible ink that adored his tan skin and showed off his muscular arms. Something tightened low in her belly. Their gazes locked, and she was snared by the intensity of his stare. Her world narrowed to his cobalt irises; her heart thudded in her chest, and her palms grew damp. What’s he going to do?

Pausing for a moment in front of her, he wrapped his warm palm around her neck and pulled her flush against him.

As she opened her mouth to protest, his lips crashed down on hers. His tongue slipped between her lips, and everything she thought to say went up in the heat he generated. Her legs wobbled. She clutched the back of his shirt to stay upright and sucked on his tongue. He moaned and tilted his head. It took everything she had not to hook her leg over his hip and rock against the bulge she felt pressed against her stomach. Sex with him was a cosmic experience. The meeting of too souls entwined over the years. The secrets they shared bound them. The threads of their lives were interwoven irrevocably. Running wouldn’t change that.

They surfaced for air, and she whimpered, already missing the close contact so new and irresistible.

His chest heaved as he tightened his hold on her neck. “You wanted time and I gave it to you. Now, I’m claiming what’s mine and bringing you home where you belong. No more running or worrying. Asking what if won’t do anything but torture you. After all the shit we’ve been through, it’s not a question of what we can handle. We got this.”

She studied his face. There was no hesitation or doubt.

“You belong with me and Aoife in my house, in my bed with my ring on your finger, and I’m not stopping until all of those things are true. You want to take this slow. You want a long engagement. Fine. But I won’t have anyone questioning who you belong to. We’ve fucked around long enough, don’t you think?”

She nodded.

He nipped her lips. “Every time I tried to run from what was best for me, you held on tighter. How the hell could I do less for you? I don’t know what spooked you, or what’s going on in that big brain of yours, but I know I’m here to stay and standing firm, m’fhiorghra.”

The Gaelic endearment placed the final nail in her coffin. “You learned that for me.”

“I listen to everything you say, Achuisle. I’ve been holding on to these words for a long time.”

“Do you understand what you just said?” she asked shakily.

“That you’re my pulse, the very heartbeat that makes me live, and my soulmate. Aye. You are my other half. You complement me and make me a better man. I used to fear failing you. Now, I never want to let you out of my sight. I’ll be walking with you until you take your last breath, a chuisle. Let’s go home to our leanbh.”

She ran her fingertips down his jaw. “I always knew you’d be so good at this, once you decided to commit.”

“Only for you,” he whispered.

She blinked. “Who’s with Aoife right now?”