"What are these?" she asked as I sat her on the edge of the bed next to me.
"Penitencia," I replied. "Penance. It is a family thing."
"Does it hurt?" she asked, leaning forward to brush her innocent mouth against the scars. The void inside me swelled, threatening to explode with the knowledge that she would offer such a touch so innocently. Isa didn't do physical affection easily, and the care in the movement seemed to shock even her as she pulled back.
"Not anymore," I murmured, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and kissing her mouth.
I freed her from the confines of her cage, preparing to show her all the places she was too afraid to go on her own. As I laid her out beneath me, leaning over her and entwining my tongue with hers in a dance designed to drive her mad with lust, I slid a hand beneath her neck and untied the knot for her bikini. The one at her spine came next, and finally the flimsy fabric entrapping her breasts and hiding my woman from me came loose. I slid it off her slowly, baring her breasts to my view for the first time. I took my weight off her, letting her settle herself in the center of the bed and get comfortable.
Isa's nerves betrayed her as she squirmed when my eyes strayed down to take her in. Her body was an hourglass, soft and ripe for the taking. My rough hands looked so filthy against her smooth and lightly freckled skin. There wasn't a tan line in sight, and I loved knowing that she was entirely unmarked when she came to me.
It would mean that every tan line, every mark, every stain on her skin came from me.
I took one of her breasts in my hand, rubbing my thumb over the peak as she stared up at me. With nothing more than the thin scrap of material between her thighs to shield her from my view, I moved slowly out of fear that I would rush her.
That I'd take her too quickly in my urgency to possess her.
Instead, I tormented her nipple with my finger, leaning in to coax her to relax with my mouth on hers. When her tense body relaxed into the mattress, I shifted my weight and moved to crawl between her legs. Touching my hands to her thighs and moving to spread them, my fingers brushed over a slightly raised portion of skin. Withdrawing from her mouth, I glanced down at her leg as I moved closer to her. The scar glowed white in the moonlight, wrapping around her thigh twice and crossing over the inner corner. I brushed my hands over it, feeling Isa's eyes on me.
Filled with the need to avenge whatever had harmed my princess, I knew from one glance to her hardening features that she would be as forthcoming about her scars as I'd been with mine.
I'd wait, and then I'd know.
Then I'd kill whatever was responsible for her pain.
7 Isa
I wasn't sure what I'd expected to happen the moment he saw the scar. I didn't know of a single man who could think someone with that was beautiful. A hideous reminder of my stupidity and the way it had torn my family apart.
I'd expected disgust when his eyes found mine in the dim room. What I got was fury.
He was angry on my behalf, incorrectly assuming it had been anybody's fault but my own, but the scar on my leg was pale compared to the scars on my soul. To the feeling of being surrounded by darkness as shadows came closer to swallow me whole.
He closed the distance between us once again as his fingers splayed over the scar, spreading my legs even wider to make room for his muscled hips. His length pressed against the most intimate part of me, as hard as steel as he nestled between me like he was always meant to be there. His thumb touched my bottom lip, dragging the flesh down to show my teeth before he pressed the wetness to my nipple and drew a ragged breath from me.
"Rafe," I whispered, watching his eyes darken the moment the name left my lips. He leaned in, touching his wicked tongue to my nipple in a wet tease before he drew it into his mouth and sucked.
My hands went to his hair, both pulling him closer and trying to tug him away as sensation exploded through me. Blinding pleasure I'd never felt before drove me to the point of no return as I writhed beneath him. The sudden heat between my thighs was something out of a book. Something I'd only ever read about and never dreamed to have for myself.
It couldn't be possible for real people to feel this way. To burn from the inside and wonder how I didn't catch flame.
His hand touched my other breast, pinching the nipple harshly as he worshiped my right with his tongue. The shock of pain compared to the wet pleasure of his mouth made me gasp. "Please," I begged.
He slid his hand down from my breast to the strings at the side of my bikini bottom. Loosing the tie hurriedly, he shoved the scrap of fabric out of his way and did the same on the other side, until he could pull it from between my legs. I was suddenly naked with a man I had no business being with.
My apprehension went out the window the moment his finger touched me, sliding through me and exploring me. He groaned against my breast before releasing my nipple, moving his mouth to my lips again and kissing me with a need I didn't know a man could possess. His finger tormented me, brushing against my clit before sinking lower and
