Page 26 of Scars of the Sun
“Yeah, I do.” He replied simply, cocky smirk still painted across his face. Río ran a hand through his shiny hair that was hanging in languid waves around his face and down his back. “You hungry?”
I frowned and swiveled to look around. I’d just gotten here. Did he already want to leave?
He must’ve seen my confusion, because he chuckled and offered, “I brought a pizza from work.”
“Oh.” I took stock of my empty stomach. I’d been too hopped up with nerves to eat the roasted chicken and vegetables my brother made for dinner, and as if it was being called to outright, my stomach gave a hearty growl that even a human would be able to hear.
Río looked smug as hell and darted away without a word. I watched him go toward his stuff, and sure enough, he returned with a white pizza box, the smell of cheese and pepperoni almost a cloud around him.
He sat down next to me on the bench, bare arm brushing my clothed one, and opened the box.
“Extra pepperoni?” I asked with brows raised.
Río shrugged and offered nothing else, but the heat wouldn’t leave my face. When was the last time I’d been to Vinny’s? Certainly not since the first night I showed up in Antler Pointe. Did he remember, or was it just a coincidence?
I took a slice that was still pretty warm and started eating. Grease immediately coated my fingers and lips, but it was fucking good, and I soon knocked back my first slice and two more while we sat in silence. Apparently, the long day in the sun and wrangling two pups from school to ice cream to home drained my energy more than I’d thought.
Licking the sauce and oil off of my fingers, I finally looked back at Río beside me. The silence had been so nice, just watching the other skaters zoom back and forth, that I hadn’t thought to speak. Instead of looking annoyed or antsy, though, he was staring right back. The fluorescent lights reflected off of his facial piercings, and his sea of tattoos were even bolder in this light.
Río still wasn’t saying anything, just continuing to face me with an intense expression that held no hint of his usual cockiness. “Um… are you not going to eat?”
His eyes darted to somewhere lower on my face. “Nah. Too full.”
I blinked. “Oh. Well, I think I’m done for now. Thank you for the food.” I straightened and began wiping my hands on my shorts and dusting off remnants of pizza crust.
Río closed the pizza box without looking at it and set it beside himself on the bench. He planted his legs on either side of the metal seat and faced me.“You’re welcome, Princess.”
I frowned, “I don’t know why you insist on that nickname. It’s stupid.”
He raised a brow and leaned closer to me. I froze in anticipation, feeling his warm breath fan over my face. It smelled faintly fruity like gum or candy.
Río raised a finger and ran it in the air just beside my jawline. He didn’t touch me, but the heat from his almost-touch did. “You’re pretty like a princess.”
My frown stayed firmly put in place. In fact, it was even deeper. “I’m pretty. That’s not very original. And if that’s the case, I’d rather be a queen.” Río seemed mesmerized by the action of tracing the air around my face, now doing the same with my cheek and temple, and he followed the shapes he was drawing with his eyes. It was weirdly entrancing, watching him watch me.
While he moved over the curve of my ear and down my neck, he huffed a laugh. “Ah, but princesses have more fun.” His gaze flew to mine as if it’d never left, “Don’t you want to have fun with me, Ramona?”
My lashes fluttered, worrying what the right thing to say was. What did he mean by ‘fun’? Like skating ‘fun’? Or sex ‘fun’?
Well, with those two options, it was far simpler to say, “Yeah.”
The hand he’d been running along the lines of my skin shot down and landed on the bench with a reverberating thump thatI felt on the backs of my thighs and all the way up my spine. Río lowered even further and allowed the tip of his nose to trace the upper curve of my cheek.
It would have been a simple, almost innocent gesture if it’d come from anyone else. But something about this jaguar shifter had my skin feeling electrified the moment he touched me. Almost worse now that I was stone-cold sober with nothing to dull the way my body reacted to him.
I gasped when his tongue darted out, licking at the corner of my lips. And I didn’t mean to, but when he did it again, the tip of mine was already out to meet him.
Río’s arms immediately wrapped around me, and I found my legs draped over his thighs, front nearly plastered to his. For the first time since the night of the party, Río kissed me properly. Fully.
My arms wound around his neck as I let him take full control of the kiss, of me. His tongue piercing was a hard, tantalizing pressure that contrasted deliciously with the softness of him. Our lips moved against each other, and our breaths were heavy through our noses as we gave into the tension between us.
Far away, whistles rang out in the summer evening air, but, like our first real encounter, I was fully content to be his and not worry about the rest. People could see us, and I wouldn’t give a damn. Being in his arms felt too good.
Río was the first to pull away, and I was already addicted to him, because my mouth chased his, not wanting to let go. He put a firm hand on the back of my head, holding me steady so that he could separate our faces, and my body reacted almost instantly and leaned into the silent command to stay.
Thankfully, he only left an inch or so between us, restraint still tight around me. Already missing being as close as we could possibly be, I scooted my hips forward, nearly straddling himnow, and felt the warm pressure of his dick beneath my thigh. It was hard and warm and trapped within the confines of his jeans.
“Fuck.” Río murmured quietly, more to himself than me, but I nodded back all the same. If he was thinking that this was intense—intoxicating—then I was in full agreement.