She said it as if the whole ordeal meant nothing to her, but I knew her well enough to know she cared deeply. Her dad was a raging lunatic and a viscous crime boss. Living in his mansion had its perks, like twenty-four seven security and enough guns and ammo to keep his enemies busy for weeks. Still, she should have had more of a response to the situation. Sonny had mentioned that she wasn’t taking her mother’s death well. He said she was more reckless than ever, almost as if she were trying to get herself killed.
With our mouths only inches apart, she stood on her tiptoes and leaned closer, so her breath ghosted my lips. “Did you miss me, Marcello?”
I smirked in response.
The desire in her eyes intensified my need to quench the hunger brewing inside me. I was a beast around her, wild and desperate to taste every inch of her delicious skin. I’d been with plenty of beautiful women, but I craved Rhiannon most of all.
She was my greatest sin.
“I missed fucking you,” I confessed.
Her chest rose and fell as she glared at me. “You didn’t miss me?”
“Don’t take it personally, princess.” I moved my palm to the mirror above her head, caging her with my body. “We were never anything more than sex.”
“Maybe I want more than sex,” she shot back. “I’m not the same girl I was before I left Devil’s Creek.”
“Then let me get to know this version.”
Rhiannon pursed her lips. “I don’t make a habit of sharing my business with my friend with benefits.”
“We were never friends, Rhi.”
She folded her arms under her breasts that spilled out from the low-cut dress. “Guess that makes me a fool for thinking I could talk to you like we did before.”
Rhi looked ethereal, like a fairy goddess. She wore a strapless pale green costume that stopped mid-thigh and dipped low enough to show a generous amount of cleavage. All the women in town ordered their dresses for the party from Caio Bella, a small boutique owned by an Italian woman who worked for my father.
I slid my fingers beneath her chin and tilted her head back until our eyes met. “Do your friends fuck you the way I do?”
Her lips slowly parted, as if she was about to speak. The tension between us was as thick and heavy as syrup.
“No,” she said after a while. “No one’s ever fucked me like you.”
A smirk pulled at the corner of my mouth. “You made me chase you, Rhi. Just admit it. You want this as much as I do.”
She bit the inside of her cheek. “We said we’d stop.”
With my free hand, I lifted her dress and bunched the fabric around her waist. My eyes dropped to inspect the nearly see-through black panties. “Do you want to stop?”
She shivered at my touch and clutched my shoulders. “No, keep going.”
I leaned closer, letting my lips brush hers. A soft moan escaped her throat, and I had barely touched her. The anticipation of the kiss sent a rush of adrenaline down my spine. She was so eager to bare herself to me, desperate for me to fulfill her needs.
“Are you going to make me beg to come this time?” Rhi wet her lips, grabbing my hand to shove it beneath her panties. “Because I’m really not in the mood for your games.”
Everything was a game with us. If she wanted to come, she had to say the magic words. She had to earn each of her orgasms, until she was on pleasure overload and couldn’t handle anymore.
My cell phone rang, destroying the mood.
“Of course,” Rhi grunted. “Do we ever get a moment alone without your family interrupting?”
I shot her a warning glare, then removed the phone from my pocket. It was Luca. My brother sent an emergency text message, insisting I return to the ballroom immediately. I replied to Luca and shoved the phone into the pocket of my suit jacket.
Holding the back of her head, I kissed her pretty lips, a peck to keep her wanting more. “Until next time, princess.”
Chapter Three
Rhiannon
After Marcello left the bathroom, I let out a deep breath. Clutching the edge of the countertop, I looked in the mirror. He’d smeared my lipstick when he pressed his lips to mine. Even my hair was out of place, the curls hanging loose from his fingers working through them.
My body trembled from a mixture of fear and desire. I should have told him about Cillian. He was the reason I ran upstairs. Getting a kiss from Marcello was an unexpected bonus. I couldn’t involve Marcello or Sonny in my mess. They would only want to fix the problem. My inappropriate relationship with Cillian had gone on for too long.
I shoved a shaky hand through my hair and fixed the curls into place. It wasn’t often I dressed up like this. Dark shadow and eyeliner rounded out my green eyes, making me look like someone else. That was the point, though. To wear this stupid costume and mask and pretend to blend with the Devil’s Creek elite.