Page 9 of Unwrapping Deviance
“It’s nice to meet you.”
Daniel’s arm slips comfortably around my middle and I’m tugged into his side. It’s not possessive, but the message is clear,no more touching.I shouldn’t, but I’m a little giddy.
“Get dressed,” Daniel tells his brother. “I’m going to show Mira her room.”
I don’t see Christian as Daniel guides me across the room to the stairs. I’m marched up with Daniel’s bulk blocking my back.
I feel like I should say something. Apologize. I very blatantly was eye-fucking his brother. Another part of me prickles with guilt. Daniel has been the main star in all my fantasies since I got off the plane and saw him waiting for me. Neither of us knew who the other was but our eyes had locked and something in me had melted. I begged the heavens to let this be my ride and nearly died when he stepped forward with a smile that nearly killed me and said my name.
He’d been my weakness ever since.
No one had even come close. Every man dims drastically in comparison.
Until his brother waltzed into my life, apparently.
“Daniel.” I capture his hand and tug him to stop in the narrow corridor with me. The light at the opposite end all but vanishes behind him, creating a fine glowing halo around his size as he faces me. “I’m sorry.”
His warm palm touches my cheek, successfully shattering my heart. “Don’t. You have nothing to apologize for.”
He’s wrong, but what am I supposed to tell him? I don’t want him thinking I want his brother over him.
I take the hand he offers and let him guide me the rest of the way along the hall. We pass four sets of doors. Two on each side. All of them sealed, even the final door at the very end where Daniel pauses.
“It was my parents’ room,” he says, turning the knob and pushing the door open.
I freeze in the doorway as he hurries in to flip the lamp on next to a gorgeous, solid piece of oak carved into a wide bed with a thick mattress and faded bedding that may have beena dark color with tiny tulips scattered across the surface. The headboard is a chunk of wood with six iron bars running down the center and a heavy footboard at the other end. The other pieces in the room are made from the same dark wood, except a dainty, white vanity tucked next to the window.
“It has its own bathroom, so you’ll have privacy and—”
I cut him off softly. “I can’t stay here.”
Daniel faces me. “You don’t like it?”
My head is shaking even as I cross to him. “I love it.” I tip my head back to study his gorgeous face. “But you should be here. I can take another room or sleep on the sofa—”
“You’re not sleeping on the sofa.” His sharp retort leaves no room for argument, not even when he hooks a finger under the strap of my purse and drags it off. “We have our own rooms. This one is yours.”
He places the bag down on the bed like that solidifies the decision.
Next, he takes the flower I’m still holding and gently tucks it behind my right ear. His fingers ghost the side of my face to my chin and I feel that touch to my toes.
“I want you here.”
How am I supposed to argue when he’s melting my insides? How am I supposed to think when he’s so close and his scent is making me dizzy.
It’s terrible to want a man I could kill, to want him so badly it hurts, but the very idea of anyone else is impossible.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
He gives me a smile that tightens the chords around my heart. “I’ll get our bags. Then we can go into town for supper.”
I nod and watch him leave me. The door is shut behind him and I turn to face my new room for the next while. The duration unclear.
CHAPTER THREE
MIRA
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