Page 81 of Scars of the Sun
“No. I’m n—youyelledat me.” Her bottom lip jutted out ever so slightly. If she were a different person, I would’ve called the expression a pout.
It was hard for me to remember everything that’d happened this morning other than the exhaustion, the fear that she’d call this whole thing off, and the taste of stomach acid on my tongue. “I… I didn’t realize. I won’t do that again.”
She sniffed and leaned over to kiss my cheek. “See to it that you don’t.” And that was that.
The rest of the air loosened between us, and we finished assembling everything, all the way down to the slices of avocado to top our tostadas con ceviche de camarón. The first citrusy crunch wasn’t exactly like Mamá’s, but it was damn close.
Ramona was letting out happy little moans and hums as she ate, and my chest swelled with pride that she enjoyedourfood that much. The dish was light enough that we both made it through an ungodly amount of food—her appetite rivaled mine, and I loved it—but I’d made sure to buy enough ingredients so that we’d have leftovers. Cleaning the kitchen also took half the amount of time with her beside me, and soon, the apartment was just as tidy as when I’d entered, scared shitless that she was going to break up with me.
“Go shower. I’ll find us something to watch.”
We went in separate directions, and I sped through my shower so that I could finally get to the good part of holding her. It motivated me to confront the place I’d claimed my mate right before I destroyed the nest she made for us. My hair was still dripping as I climbed the steps, towel wrapped around my waist.
I stilled as soon as I caught sight of the bed.
Ramona was sitting cross legged in one of my shirts and nothing else. Her shoulders were hunched, back slightly curled as she braided her hair over her shoulder. With one hand, she paused the laptop and looked up at me. She’d… she’d made anew one. There were new blankets, more pillows, and pieces of our clothes woven throughout to make a cocoon of our scents. “Princess.”
I blinked back the tears—what was it about this girl that was making me fucking cry all the time?—and continued up into the loft. She smirked, looking mighty proud of the little masterpiece she created, and I rushed through drying off the rest of the way and pulling on a pair of boxers. When I climbed in, she scooted just enough for me to settle nearly on top of her.
My purr rumbled, and I nosed my way into her hair. “This is perfect, Ramona.” Normally, I slept with my hair loose, but I decided to braid mine for the evening, too. Mirroring her posture, I combed through my hair with my fingers and got to plaiting. Her curls were a lot thicker than my wavy strands, so I quickly caught up and was tying mine off at the same time she’d reached the end of hers.
She smirked and fiddled with the end of my braid, and I pulled her fully into my chest. “I love you,” I whispered.
She tilted her head and pressed it to mine for a light kiss. “Te amo.” When I jerked back in surprise, her lips pulled back to reveal a full grin. I’d never seen her smile this wide before, her amber eyes sparkling. “That means ‘I love you’, right?”
I swallowed and nodded. “Te amo. My mate.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
RAMONA
Ifinished getting ready in the loft while Río stepped into the bathroom to take a shower and put in his contacts. He’d grouched about my not allowing him to hop in with me when I’d taken one earlier, but we’d be fuckinglate, knowing what usually happened when we shared the small shower stall.
I smoothed a hand over my dress and twisted in front of the mirror. Delaney and I had gone shopping earlier today while Río was at work, and the short halter dress had caught my eye. The color was a pretty coral that felt summery, and the loose skirt might’ve been considered scandalously short if I’d been shapelier. But Río had commented on my legs enough that I wanted to highlight them. The neckline dipped into a lower V, but I didn’t have much in the way of cleavage. Would Río like it? When we’d met up downtown for our little day out, Delaney had sputtered as soon as he caught scent of me and squeaked a noise that completely mismatched with his size. Then, he’d crashed me into a bear hug, swaying and chanting about how happy he was for me.
When I’d continued to come back to the dress as we walked around the shop, Delaney had talked it up so much, I decided totry it on. With my arms behind my back, I’d exited the curtained stall to his enthusiastic applause that made me blush.
The chunky, black leather sandals felt more like me and waited by the door downstairs. I gave my hair, held back in a low ponytail with two curls framing my face, one last once over and grabbed the black denim jacket before heading down. The shower had been off for a while, so I figured Río was about done. It was late enough for the sky to be those final shades of magenta before darkness took over. How Sylvie convinced my brother to make this formal meeting a double date, I probably didn’t want to know.
Just as I hit the base of the stairs, the bathroom door opened, releasing a thin cloud of steam left over from Río’s shower.
I wanted to melt into the floor. We’d dressed separately, and he was giving himself one last glance in the mirror before stepping out to face me. He stopped too, and it really was the first time we’d gotten dressed up to go anywhere. Most of our time was in casual clothing or naked, so it took a second for my mind to make sense of what had me almost foaming at the fucking mouth.
Río was in the nicest pair of black jeans I’d seen from him—most of his usual wear was ripped or thoroughly worn in from skating—and the leather belt at his waist was smart and simple. His white t-shirt looked soft and was thick enough to obscure the collection of tattoos underneath. The black denim jacket looked like the masculine pair to mine, and as he straightened his collar, I homed in on the collection of chunky, silver rings on nearly every finger. His hair was half up, and the jewelry in his ears and on his face sparkled.
“Come here,” he commanded, voice low and huskier than usual. My feet followed his order without me thinking about it, and when we were less than a few inches apart, he started both hands at my wrists and moved them up to my shoulders andneck in a gently possessive gesture. The warmth of his skin was a significant contrast with the cool metal that made me shiver. And when he turned me around, manipulating me to his liking, I could barely breathe. Río traced his touch along the bumps of my spine that were exposed before crowding my back and wrapping his arms around me. His nose traced the curve of my throat, and he kissed my mating mark.
“I love you, and if I wasn’t trying to make a good impression, I’d bend you over right now.”
“Well, you’ve already pissed my brother off twice. So.”
His chuckle was raspy, taking on that feline hiss that my body was trained to crave. “You’re right.” So fast that my mind spun, Río grabbed the base of my ponytail and pushed us around to the back of the couch. Where we’d fucked for the first time.
I’d been so nervous then, but now, when he guided my chest to rest on the tops of the cushions, I was already moaning loudly at the kisses he dotted along my spine. He pulled down my panties, and I kicked them off as quickly as I could manage.
He swiped his finger through where I was already slick and caressed my clit just lightly enough to leave me screeching out and pressing back onto him for more. After all our pre- and post-mating fucking, he knew what rhythms brought me to the top the quickest, and he wasted no time teasing me there. His other hand was palming and firmly holding my left ass cheek, probably watching with satisfaction what he was doing to me. If his grunts and groans were any indication.
A few final swirls made ecstasy flash behind my eyes, making my body quake and liquify at the same time. Río growled a string of approving words, a mix of English and Spanish, and when I finally came back down enough to register what was happening, his bare cock was pressing into me.