Somehow, from across the street when she'd been a girl, I'd known the woman she'd grow to be would become my obsession. I wanted to devour her body, to know every inch of her physically, as I did about her life. Then I wanted to pry inside her head, to understand how she had come to be so guarded.
She stared down at me, nerves creeping back into her expression when I set her on the step to go back to the pool area. Touching my palm to the small of her back, I guided her up the steps and kept my hand on her as I hurried her through the party. Hugo and her friend danced with strangers, their eyes landing on us as we emerged from the beach.
I nodded to Hugo as Chloe gave Isa wide eyes. She mouthed something to her, a check in to ensure her friend was an entirely willing participant in going to bed with me. Isa swallowed at my side but nodded her head with a shy smile as her cheeks pinked when she looked up at me.
I turned my stare down to her, kissing her temple as we entered the lobby and made our way to the elevator that would take us to the Penthouse. Ten days to convince Isa to abandon everything she knew. Ten days to bring her to life and show her everything she never knew she needed.
I had to hope it would be enough. We stepped into the elevator as Isa looked around her surroundings, her nerves increasing as I pressed the button for the penthouse. She turned her eyes up to mine, nibbling at the corner of her mouth as her doubts crept back in. Curling her into me, I tipped her head up and licked the seam of her mouth until she parted for me and invited me inside.
I'd spend the entire time inside her if it kept her from over-analyzing our contrasting financial lives. They would be the least of her concerns.
She melted into me, her body like liquid in my arms as she let me maneuver her until her back touched the rear wall of the elevator. Firm strokes of my tongue against hers, and I took everything she gave. When the elevator doors opened, I pulled away so suddenly that she swayed with the loss of my touch and let me take her hand to guide her to the penthouse doors. I shoved them open as quickly as I could, dropping my keycard on the entryway table and guiding her through the living room of my suite to the master bedroom. The room glowed with the soft light of the moon filtering in through the massive sliding glass doors that offered stunning views of the ocean. I hated to leave her, but had to in order to rinse the sand from my feet in the bathroom. Her eyes lit as she walked over to the doors, watching the waves crash against the barely illuminated sand as she slid one of the doors open and stepped onto the private balcony.
I followed when I was able, stepping up behind her and pulling her chocolate hair over one of her shoulders to give me access to her neck. Trailing my lips over her skin and trailing them down to her shoulder, I bit the flesh there while she sucked in a breath. As soon as my teeth released her, she spun to me suddenly with her lips pursed in indecision. "If we're going to do this, then there's something you should know."
I touched the rope that held together the sides of her dress, slowly untying the knot as my hands brushed against her breasts with every movement. "What's that, mi princesa?"
"I've never..." She paused, swallowing as the tie released finally and the sides of fabric loosened to show more of her bikini-clad breasts. I touched the gauzy fabric on her shoulders, sliding it out on either side until it was only a second from slipping off her body. "I'm a virgin," she blurted, her eyes disappointed as she waited for the rejection she thought might come.
If she'd been anyone else, I wouldn't have had any interest in going further, so I couldn't say the fear was unwarranted. But with Isa, her virginity was far less complicated.
It meant I didn't need to hunt new victims and murder the men who'd touched what was mine.
With a secret smile, I brushed the fabric off her shoulders despite her words. The dress slipped from her body, gliding down her smooth skin like liquid torment. It puddled at her feet, leaving her in nothing but an emerald green string bikini that hugged her curves tightly. The color brought out her eyes, and there could be no denying that she'd somehow chosen to wear my favorite color. It shone in the moonlight against her fawn-like skin as I touched the first of her freckles on her chest.
I'd count them when she slept, just as I'd counted the freckles on her face when I stared at her photo over the past sixteen months.
Stepping out of her shoes, she dropped her hands to the waistband of my swim trunks and the laces that confined me, but I leaned forward and snagged her lip with my teeth. As much as Isa may put on a brave face, and as much as I needed the release after the necessity of my celibacy while I waited for her, Isa needed to know what pleasure was.
To lose her virginity to me was not a kindness, and I'd need to work to make it less painful for her. Taking her hands in mine, I placed them on my chest. They brushed the raised flesh of my marks. The seven tallies tingled under her fingers, unsurprising, given I'd never been able to tolerate being touched there in the past. As I walked
