Page 37 of Stolen Vows
My hand lifts, aching to touch her. It drops at the last second, my fingers flicking a piece of lint from my jacket. “I heard your parents are dead.”
“Did you come here to gloat?”
I cock my head to the side, studying the lack of emotion in her gaze. Other than annoyance, that is. “You don’t seem too torn up about it.”
“Were you sad when your dad died?”
One of my brows lifts. “Keeping tabs on the husband you hate,stellina?”
“My sisters talk.”
“I see. And how are they enjoying their happily ever afters?”
“They talk. I don’t.”
My smirk grows, and I inch even closer. Warmth wafts from her body into mine in soft, cascading waves that buzz along my nerve endings. “That’s what I like about you. Everything that comes from those beautiful lips is so brutally honest. Like you simply can’t help yourself.”
“Yeah, well, growing up in a household that doesn’t let you speak your mind will sometimes do that to a person.”
“Indeed.” I lift my arm, my fingers tingling beneath the leather glove as I force myself to cradle her jaw. She flinches, and pain scorches my body, but she doesn’t pull away. “Now, for some more honesty. Did youenjoyGenevieve’s kiss?”
Jealousy licks up and down my spine at the still-fresh memory of their passion. How, despite the kiss being sudden and unexpected, Stella gave herself over to it so easily, unlike the memories I have of our own shared moments—kisses soaked in violence and power struggles.
A part of me is curious how different they felt and which she prefers: passion or aggression.
I’m not sure which I’m able to offer or if I’m capable of anything outside the latter.
Her eyes flip back and forth between mine, and I wonder what she’s looking for—or if she’s able to find it.
“Can you please just tell me what you’re doing here? I don’t… I should probably get to my room before someone realizes I’m not out mingling.”
The redirection is purposeful, and it only fuels the envy spiraling into a web in my chest. How can she possibly not realize I’ve come for her?
So, rather than answer, I decide to fix both my problems at once, and bending down to press my lips to hers.
16
STELLA
Iforgot what it felt like.
Kissing Leo De Tore.
Where Genevieve’s kiss was warm and languid, Leo’s is all-consuming, like walking directly into a raging wildfire. Even after I spent years trying to ignore his memory, the effect remains the same.
When his tongue flicks against mine, I forget all about the other woman. As if driven by some primal instinct, my hands slide up the lapels of his suit jacket, and my fingers claw at his chest. I shift closer, deepening the kiss, and he lets out a low groan that vibrates between my legs.
That’s when I snap out of it.
Yanking my head back, I disconnect our lips and try to shove him away. Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to have changed one bit since I last saw him. His skin is a little tanner, his black hair a bit longer, and his sharp jaw is clean-shaven.
Otherwise, he’s the same bastard as always. His hands are encased in those damn leather gloves, and he loops them around my waist, keeping me pressed tightly to him. Rage seeps into my vision.
I beat at his pecs with my fists, trying to ignore how rock-solid he feels. It might be doing more harm to me than him.
His dark chuckle skates over my skin. He shifts, his right leg coming to the outside of mine so my thigh is stuck between his.
“Feel that?” he rasps, and it takes me a second to notice the pressure from his pelvis. “You should know your violence makes me really fucking hard,stellina.”
