Page 43 of Scars of the Sun
Luckily for us, though both Sylvie’s and O’s cars were here, there was no one out front. Río kept his bike rumbling while I climbed off and removed his helmet. I blinked a few times and cleared the flyaway hair from my vision.
Río sat with his feet planted on the ground, gazing at me and continuing to stare even after I caught him. “You gonna text me later?” The casual way he said it was so at odds with the intensity that poured off him in waves. That promised repeats of our time together and the way he’d taken me. His question was a request and a demand and a confirmation all in one. How the fuck was this real.
“Perhaps.” I couldn’t help myself. I really couldn’t.
And I really should’ve known that he wouldn’t give two shits about snapping my body to his and fucking my mouth with histongue, forcing moans out of me that were all too eager in the first place. Fuck, I was a slut for him.
My tongue was happy to let him stay in control of the kiss, and when I grazed the unmistakably sharp edge of afang, I whined, clinging to him like I needed our mouths pressed together to survive.
Could I take him to my room really quick? Or would it be better to go a ways into the forest and just let him press me up against a tree? Río was squeezing my ass cheeks again, and my body felt like it was further electrified by the vibration of the motorcycle still idling. I bet if I straddled it while still kissing him, it wouldn’t take long for the pleasure to bust and for us to both come after all.
I started pushing at his chest, working on hitching my leg up and over his lap on the leather seat, needing him, needing it?—
“Ramona.” I stilled.
Our lips parted with a mutual smack, and I was relieved to see that Río looked about as much a wreck as I felt. He was so rarely flushed, but there was no hiding the redness on his face, and his fast breathing parted his mouth enough for me to see the tips of four ivory-colored fangs.
“Ugh, please don’t make me have to physically pull you apart,” the exasperated voice sounded even closer, and I realized that I’d been leaning back into Río for more. And he looked prepared to do the same.
Tearing my eyes from the black holes of safety felt a little like I was dying. Or slicing off a piece of me, but not in the way that’d usually settle my emotional storm.
But I did it, trying to focus in on my sister-in-law who held a basket overflowing with wild mushrooms. Her feet were bare, and her hair was in her usual topknot.
“I’m glad you’re having fun and all, but I have to draw the line at fucking out in the open in the front yard.”
My face flamed, words escaped me. What did it mean that I was more embarrassed about not feeling badly at all?
That snarky, dark chuckle just made it worse, forcing an actual shiver down my spine. “Sorry. Didn’t see you there.”
She looked Río up and down, and I didn’t fucking like it. For a flash, I envisioned stomping over and plucking her eyes from her skull.
“Even if I weren’t here, it’s pretty dumb to try to fuck the Pack Leader’s sister in front of his house without at least introducing yourself. There’s also the common decency thing, since, you know, kids live here.”
“Oh, god,” I groaned. Yeah, the crazed lust was completely simmered down now. What had I been thinking? Was this normal? Was everyone else just walking around wanting to mount and ride the person they were sleeping with whenever and wherever? I’d gone my whole life barely being attracted to anyone, and when I was, it required time and getting to know them to even truly feel it. But whatever spark I felt when I first saw Río had drawn me to him far more quickly than anyone else. And now that he’d opened me up to true desire? When would the flood settle?
“Not really one to care about pack dynamics. Sorry to disappoint, witch.” I smacked his chest, and he coughed as if it’d actually done something.
“She has a name, you ass. Sorry, Sylvie.” Low in his ear, I spat, “You’re never getting that fucking treat at this rate. Now, be good.” Unlike most people, I truly cared about what my sister-in-law thought of me. Maybe even more than my brother.
Instead of volleying something back, Río cleared his throat and inclined his head towards her. “My apologies.”
I smacked him again, though it was weak this time, “Don’t overdo it.” He didn’t even try to hide the deep roll of his eyes.
“Whatever. I’ll see you later, Princess.” He chucked the edge of my chin, and I stepped back, letting him back out of the drive and head to his shift at Vinny’s.
Sylvie stepped up beside me, but I refused to look at her. The damp earthiness of the spoils from her morning walk grounded me when it felt like a piece of me was driving away, too. This was all so dumb.
“Your brother was wondering where you were this morning, but I can understand why you didn’t check in.”
“Sorry. For acting stupid. I don’t really know what’s happening with me, to be honest.”
I felt her studying the side of my face, and her knowing hum made me brace for witchy impact. A ray of sunshine lit up our backs, but I felt rooted in place, waiting for her to share what she so obviously had deduced.
“What?” I asked when the anticipation got the better of me.
The basket shifted against her clothes as she shrugged. “Too soon to tell for sure. Now, go shower and then come and help me wash and sort these.”
She left me to breeze back into the cabin, and like the coward I was, I waited until she’d gone inside to follow her command.