Page 79 of Ricochet

Light exploded behind my eyes, rippling through my body like an aftershock. Blinding pleasure trailed it, coating my hot muscles with a cool tingle that left me numb, weakened. I called out his name, and when he pulled out of me, his body shuddered, breaths broken by moans and curses.

We lay breathing, just breathing.

“I feel so warm. So good. No one has ever made me feel so good in my whole life.” I wanted to laugh and cry at the confession, at the sadness and pathetic truth that a stranger, a man I’d only known a couple of weeks, had shown me more reverence than any other man I’d ever been with. I’d been used for so long, I’d forgotten how pleasurable sex could be.

“I will obliterate any motherfucker who lays a hand on you again.” His sleepy voice carried almost a drunken slur, as his arm tightened around my body, as if claiming what was his. “I’d kill for you.”

In his bed, amid the darkness, the destruction, the ruin, he fixed me. His gentle hands delicately fastened together the pieces of me that’d become so broken and scattered with no hope for convergence. As I lay beside him, the soothing tap of rain against the window, I felt whole.

CHAPTER 33

Nick

The heady scent of sex and the sweetness of sugar filled the bedroom, when I opened my eyes to faint rays of sunlight trying to peek beyond the dark drapes. Sweat coated my body, made more apparent every time a wisp of October air drifted through the window that must’ve been opened sometime in the night. Brushing across my skin, it cooled the heat that burned inside of me.

I hadn’t slept so goddamn good in ages, and even then, every muscle sagged with exhaustion, as if I’d gone to battle and lay in the aftermath of war. The sweet floral scent intensified, long, silky locks of hair tickling my face, and soft skin passed beneath my fingertips as I dragged my palm along the smooth contours of the woman lying next to me. I had to lift my head from the pillow to believe that it was Aubree Culling.

Aubree.

What the hell?

I hadn’t finished sex inside of a woman in years.

She stirred against me, arching as she stretched, and I caressed the curves of her body, needing to touch her just to be sure it wasn’t another dream. I’d had so many of her in the last week.

“Mmmm, good morning,” she purred.

I pushed the hair away from her ear and whispered, “Shower with me.”

With a smile and nod, she rolled onto her back, mid-stretch. “I feel amazing.”

I made her feel amazing? I rubbed a hand down my face and rose up from the bed, heading toward the bathroom. Flipping on the shower, I turned to find her standing naked and perfect in the doorway.

She tipped her head. “Who’s Alec?”

A jolt of electricity shot up my spine. “What?”

“You were … talking in your sleep last night. You said Alec is going to kill you.”

“Alec is no one.” I spun back around and stepped inside the stall, hoping I wouldn’t have to say something regrettable to drop the subject as I beckoned her inside.

She placed a hand on my chest, not looking me in the eye. “You’re an enigma, Nick. I feel like I’ll never fully know anything about you.” Her eyes met mine. “And that’s okay. The way you make me feel …” She smiled and nodded. “That’s okay.”

Knots unfurling inside my stomach, I dragged my fingertip along her temple then pulled her inside with me. I wished I could tell her everything, because she made me want to get fuckin’ spill-happy, the way she spoke with such understanding. She seemed to know all about shields and secrets and keeping my cards hidden. That only came courtesy of her own pain and suffering—her own demons I was certain I’d never know about.

That was the thing about pain, it came with a universal understanding for those who survived it—don’t ask, don’t tell.

Hot sprays of water pulsed against my back, and I leaned forward, seizing her lips in a kiss to say I’m done talking. Rising up on her tiptoes, she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me back, as if to reply I agree, let’s get back to sex.

I’d screwed shit up royally, because after last night, having Aubree so much as glance in my direction would make her tackle bait. I turned her around and pulled her into me, resting my head in the crook of her neck, kissing the side of her throat, down to the base, and across her shoulders. She felt small and right, her curves pressed into my body in all the right places. Together, our bodies melded perfectly, like two halves of a whole. Paired with her words from moments ago, a realization struck me. We fit the only way two fucked up people could possibly fit together.

I saw darkness in her beauty, and she saw beauty in my darkness. Yin and yang. Black and white. Beauty and scars; fury and forgiveness. She should’ve been my nemesis, but in her, I found something I didn’t know I was looking for. I shouldn’t have wanted her. Sex with her was forbidden, after all, as I was the loveless villain, and she the prized possession of a man who’d taken everything from me. Every instinct screamed inside of me to kill her. Destroy her. Break her, the same way I’d been broken. By the law of the streets, she was my retribution.

An eye for an eye.

Laws meant shit when it came to love, though. Could I love her in time?

From what I knew of love, it was a wild flame that would consume me with no apology. I’d lived it once, felt it. Knew the duality of love’s seductive and destructive natures. The tranquil glow with a deadly burn. Yet, somewhere in that fire was my salvation.