Page 47 of The Wild Man

“Her eyes blue. She laugh, bright stars in eyes.”

A knot forms in my throat at the way he talks about her.

“And your dad?” I ask, having to clear my throat before I speak.

His gaze moves back to me. “He big man. Very strong. Lot of muscles.”

He says this with pride.

My eyes move to his chest. The dark hair covering his torso does nothing to hide the muscles beneath it.

“Muscles like you?”

At my question, he does the most normal thing I’ve seen him do so far. He grunts and rolls his eyes. “Mine bigger.” As if to prove his point, he flexes his pecs.

I laugh. “You’re such a typical man.”

His expression turns serious as he watches my face. When his eyes drop to my mouth, I flatten my lips.

“Tell me more,” I request, hoping to distract him. I don’t want to fight with him right now, and from the intent look in his eyes, I know he’s thinking about the kiss I refuse to give him.

Luckily, he takes the bait.

“Peepa was good mate. He protected Noeny and me all the time. Noeny was good mate too. She made him happy. Sometimes, they would stand with arms around each other and move around.”

“Do you mean dance?”

“Dance.” He says the word slowly. “Yes. Dance. Sometimes Noeny dance with me.”

I move my arm around his shoulder and rest my side against his chest. “That’s so sweet.”

“Sweet. Noeny very sweet. Peepa said she sweet when he press his mouth to hers.”

Despite the sore subject of kissing, I can’t help but smile at that.

Wild Man gets really quiet and his arm tightens around my waist. His other hand lifts and his fingers delve through my hair. His palm is so big that the pad of his thumb swipes across my cheek, the tip close to the corner of my mouth. I can’t help but stare at him. The way he’s looking at me has my core clenching at the same time a knot of dread forms in the pit of my stomach.

“Are you sweet, momor?” he murmurs so quietly that I barely hear him.

There’s that word again. Momor. I don’t know what it means, but I like the way it sounds coming from his lips.

“I will know your lips,” he continues, the tenor in his voice deepening, seducing me. “I will know your taste. You will know my taste.” He swipes his thumb across my top lip, then my bottom. “These are mine.” His eyes lift to mine, and fuck me sideways and upside down, the possessive look in them is harsher and more demanding than I’ve ever seen them. “You understand?”

My first reaction is to nod numbly, to agree without question due to the way he’s fiercely watching and waiting for my acceptance. Anything to keep that look in his eyes. Like I’m the only thing he’ll ever need to keep living.

But that’s not what I do. I barely manage to stubbornly hold onto my resolve. I won’t change my mind about this, no matter how fucking delicious he looks right now.

I hate that our easy, light-hearted moment is over and is replaced by something so controversial.

I keep my tone light as I lean toward him until only an inch separates our mouths. I pronounce each word slowly. “Fuck. You.”

A salacious grin pulls up his lips, and I know he’s taken my words for a different meaning than what I intended.

“No. I fuck you. Hard and fast.”

sixteen

Everlee