Page 31 of When She Tempts (The Fallen)
“What?” she says, startled. There’s a smudge of dirt on her forehead.
“Everything all right down here?”
She flicks her gaze over me. “No.”
Alarm ring inside my ears. “What’s wrong?”
Clambering to her feet, she presses her small basket of berries into my chest. “Don’t think I don’t see what you’re doing.”
“What am I doing?”
“Trying to keep me distracted.”
Oh.A smirk teases at my lips. “Seems like the distractions are working. Polo didn’t ask you to do this bit, did he?”
She looks down at the strawberries. “They’re a night away from being too ripe. It would be wasteful to let them spoil. I’m sure Tommaso has many uses for them.”
“What about you?” I pass the basket back to her. “Your brother told me you also like to cook.”
She shakes her head. “More attempts at distracting me? Trust me, Giorgio, my current interests start and end at finding my phone before I go completely insane out here.”
Somewhere, a rooster emits a loud cry, as if to punctuate her last word.
Insane.
I’ve already gone insane here once. Or at least that’s what it felt like.
My gaze sways to the forest, and I’m immediately transported right back to that night. Hours of digging. Earth, pink worms, and the smell of old, decomposing flesh. The rage I felt when I was once again forced to confront the circumstances that led to my mother’s death was one of the most disturbing things I’ve ever experienced.
I succumbed to the anger. Let it take control of me. And when I finally snapped out of it, I found a trail of destruction.
Growing up, I’ve always knew there was something sick inside of me. That night just served as a reminder that the sickness never left.
Cutting my trip down memory lane short, Martina attempts to shoulder past me, but I reach out and grab her by the forearm.
She looks at my hand, then at my face, her eyes wide and questioning.
Why am I touching her again? Because I can’t seemnotto, but I have to give a better reason than that. I look for an excuse and use the first one I find.
“You have dirt on your forehead.”
She blinks and tries to wipe it off with a rough drag of her palm. “Did I get it?”
“No.”
I lift my thumb to her skin.
Her mouth parts slightly. “You don’t have to do that.”
I know I don’t.Gently, I wipe the dirt off. Her breath catches, and when I meet her gaze, a blush appears across her freckled cheeks.
The wide-eyed look she’s giving me makes me think she’s never been this close to another man. It’s possible. De Rossi may have been lenient with her, but there’s no way he’d let some random Spaniard touch his little sister. He knows her value. He knows he’s going to have to make use of her innocence when it comes to forging the alliances that will cement his rule.
Martina is a virgin, that much is sure.
A wicked curiosity ignites inside of me. What would she do if I wrapped my hand around the back of her neck and forced her lips against mine? Would she fight against it? Stand there frozen in surprise?
Or would she turn pliant and let me taste the inside of her mouth?
