I don’t break the silence.
I just watch the rain.
Although it’s still not coming down hard enough that Zoe can’t leave. There’s still time for her to go.
But she doesn’t. Instead, she turns to me. Her eyes are round and luminous, and her face is a little flushed, but she could just be slightly overheated. It is hot in the cabin, and it’s also hot outside—sticky and humid.
“Maybe I’ll stay,” she whispers.
I give her a minute to change her mind in case what she said was mistakenly said, but when her eyes don’t stop shining, and it’s clear she isn’t going to follow it up with just kidding or got you, asshole, I brush my hand with hers. Gently. Just my index finger, gracing the silky back of her hand. She makes a wounded animal noise that I think is a good thing because right after, she folds into me. One hand splays out against my chest while the other goes to the back of my neck and tugs my face down to hers.
CHAPTER 16
Zoe
I’m really starting to think there is something wrong with me. Because we’re here. Again. Doing this. Again. And it’s amazing. Again.
Now that my history of bad decisions—choosing the wrong person over and over, and not just the guys or even my friends who used me to get something, but the ones who didn’t even know Raiden as well—is out there, I keep waiting for it to sink in that this is an incredibly bad idea.
However, the realization never comes. Not when I first start kissing Raiden, not when I get so into it that I practically start ripping at his clothing, and not when my lips are ready to fall off, my chin is scraped raw, and everything feels swollen. The sensation of wrongness never settles in, and I can almost convince myself this is right. That it could be right in the future. That maybe it could be right for Raiden too. That we might not hurt, ruin, and wreck each other.
Perhaps I’m too optimistic. Maybe I’m making yet another terrible decision, or I’m just really horny at the moment, but I don’t care. I’m going with that one, because bad decision or not, I’m doing this.
“I’m sorry,” Raiden says thickly against my lips. It reminds me of just what he’s apologizing for. My eyes flick upwards, and the vulnerability in his eyes just about slays me.
“Don’t,” I pant. “Don’t apologize. I don’t want to talk about that.”
“But I still am. I’m sorry. Sorry for all those douchebags, sorry for every single person who didn’t treat you right, and sorry for leaving you all alone for so long to fend for yourself.”
“It’s not your fault.” And there it is. It’s the truth.
Whatever anger and bitterness I might have held towards Raiden evaporates. It wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t his fault that he had some serious talent and was so smart that he got insanely rich and made a name for himself. It’s not his fault he takes over companies and tries to make them better than they were, including giving people opportunities they never had before. It’s not his fault the women he dated used him like I was used. Some people are just rotten, stinking poopy pants. It’s not entirely his fault that he never contacted me again after our parents got a divorce because I never reached out to him either. It’s not his fault that my nipples are puckered so hard, they’ve probably slashed through my dress.
Erm, maybe that one is his fault. In a good way.
“Please,” I whisper. “Take me into whatever bedroom is back there…”
Raiden’s eyes turn about as dark and stormy as the clouds gathering over the lodge. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m…armffff…” Raiden’s lips crash over mine. His hands capture my waist, and he lifts me effortlessly against him. I try to wrap my legs around his waist, but I’m wearing a freaking maxi dress, and there’s a lot of extra fabric, and as I’m not overly athletic, I kind of miss. If Raiden weren’t so athletic, I’d for sure be on my ass. Instead, he catches me with a laugh and sweeps me into his arms, princess style.
He carries me through the cabin while I latch onto his neck and tug his mouth back to mine. I don’t want to be without his mouth. His perfect lips are like oxygen. I think I’ll die without them. We manage to only knock into two things, thanks to Raiden’s ridiculously amazing coordination. He’s technically carrying me completely blind while kissing me so fiercely that I think his tongue might actually become fused to mine.
I don’t complain when my feet scrape against the couch, and when my elbow bangs the doorway, I do let out a little whimper, but when Raiden tries to pull away, I thread my fingers through his hair and body slam our lips back together. I know lips don’t have bodies, but they can still get body-slammed.
Just like the rest of me does when Raiden tries to set me down on the bed. I’m two seconds too late in realizing what he’s doing, and I don’t unlatch my arms from around his neck, so he loses his balance and falls on top of me so hard that the mattress and the bed’s metal foundation below it give out a massive groan. All I let out is a hiss of breath as I’m practically winded by Raiden’s bulky, muscly, and delicious weight on top of me.
I might be compressed a foot into the mattress, and the old thing might be folding in on either side of us, but I’m not complaining.
“Shit, sorry.” Raiden tries to untangle himself from me, but I don’t let go
