Resplendent (18 page)

She turned her whole body around then and blocked my path. Her face darkened with a mix of anger and passion. “Is that because of me or your little slut?” she asked.

I grabbed her elbow. “What are you talking about? That chick I was talking to?”

“Talking?” she asked and raised an eyebrow.

“I have no interest in her,” I assured her.

How could she think otherwise?

She continued to stare at me, her brown eyes filled with doubt and confusion.

“You only get like this when other men look at me.”

I reached out and pressed the elevator button. She began playing with her hair, adjusting the curls at the ends. I ground my teeth together, mulling over what she said.

We entered the elevator alone and I selected our floor.

I turned my body and pressed her against the elevator wall. “No one’s looking now,” I said. My palms grabbed either side of her face as I leaned down to kiss the ever-loving shit out of her. Her hands tugged on my arms weakly and I ignored them. Her lips resisted at first, but then I felt them open and melt into mine. My tongue pushed through until I felt hers, tasting a bit of the wine. I lightly pulled on her lower lip and when I heard her moan, I knew I had made my point. She wanted me too. I had to go back in for more. Her hands reached up to my hair, and I felt her fingers dig into my scalp. When I heard the ping of the elevator reaching our floor, she pulled on my head, burning out the fire that had ignited between us.

“Stop,” she said, both of us out of breath.

Andres pulled back and grabbed my hand as we walked out of the elevator. I placed my free fingers to my lips, feeling the penetrating warmth of his kiss. Seeing him checking out the girl in the red dress had set my blood on fire.
Why, after so many years, did he have this effect on me?
It was infuriating. My thoughts were a jumbled mix of emotions.

“When did you book the room?” I asked skeptically.

“Thirty minutes ago,” he replied, and inserted the key card into the slot, turning the handle when the light turned green. “After you,” he murmured and pushed the door open.

I gasped when I walked into the room. What I expected to be a simple room turned out to be a suite, complete with a living room, small kitchen, and a balcony. The curtains pulled open to show a breathtaking view of the beach.

“This room is amazing, Dre,” I admitted as my eyes roamed the space, taking in the decor and furnishings. I knew his business was successful, but
this
must be costing him a pretty penny. I sucked on my bottom lip and bit down gently, my senses heightened.

“We don’t have to stay overnight if you don’t want to.” He walked past me and took off his jacket, throwing it across the back of a Caribbean blue suede chaise in the corner of the room. “I just wanted a place where we could talk.” He grabbed a bottle of Merlot that stood in the middle of a small round table and held it up for me.

I shook my head no. My heart was already pounding and I needed a clear head.

“You paid for a ridiculously expensive hotel room
just
for a conversation?” I raised an eyebrow and placed my hand on my hips.

“I would’ve paid more.” He poured himself a glass and looked at me as he took a sip, his eyes seducing me.

I crossed my arms under my chest and noticed his gaze dropped to my breasts that were now pushed up. “What do you want, Dre?”

“A second chance,” he answered simply.

“Why?” I tapped my foot on the carpet. “Why now? I just don’t understand you! You never wanted me before, and now, all of a sudden I’m back, and you learn that I’m with someone…”

I lost my train of thought when he placed his glass down and walked around the table toward me so quickly I lowered my hands to my side and took a step back.

“I’ve
always
wanted you,” he growled, and wrapped his hand behind my neck. He leaned down to press his forehead against mine. “Always.”

My breath caught, and he glanced down at my lips.

“Is that why you let me go?” I could feel the tears sting the back of my eyes as I swallowed in an effort to control my voice. “Is that why you found all the other women to entertain you?” I squinted and looked deep into his eyes, not wanting to miss any shift in movement.

“Who told you that?” he asked furiously, his lips formed a hard line to match his fuming eyes.

I scoffed and blinked, willing to stay in control. “Please. People talk. You should know that by now.”

“
People
?” He gritted his teeth.

I could see his jaw clench. There was just one person, but one person was enough.

I tried to laugh, but it was cut short. “I stupidly asked about you from time to time. I don’t know why I bothered. I didn’t matter to you.” I hadn’t expected him to be a priest, but the fact that he had moved on and partied without a care in the world had tormented me for years. Why had
I
been turned away?

Andres pulled his hand away from behind my neck and leaned his palm against the wall behind me. “Carmin? Is that who you were talking to? Because Carmin doesn’t know
shit
about me.”

“She knows enough. You still talked to her. You could talk to her and everyone else from high school, except for
me
, right?” I leaned my body forward and extended my hands on either side of us, provoking him.

Bringing me here was just pushing me back to the past, to the nights I’d spent crying myself to sleep and wondering about what could have been.

“How much small talk could we really have, Peach? I didn’t want to know about you moving on. That you had gotten past me, and who you were sleeping with!”

“You think
I
wanted to hear about it!” I shouted back and pushed his chest, but he wouldn’t budge.

“Move,” I ordered and narrowed my eyes.

Instead he took another step forward and forced me against the wall.

“No.” He shook his head. “I’m sick of waiting — waiting for someone as good as you to come into my life. We’re good together, Peach. We make sense.”

I stayed quiet and focused on controlling my shaking. My chest barely brushed his with every breath I took.

“We
made
sense,” I corrected and saw the flash of hurt in his eyes.
Too bad.
But Dre glared at me and pressed himself against me.

I slowly shook my head from side to side. “You’re just going to have to let me go again.”

His eyes softened as he pulled on a strand of hair that was resting across my breast and watched as the curl bounced back up.

“I don’t know how,” he said gently. His hand reached up to touch my chin, but I pushed it away with my index finger.
How dare he?

“You made your choice a long time ago!” I yelled in his face and clenched my hands at my side.

His eyes widened. “You think that was easy for me? I’m sorry, okay! I’m SORRY!” He pressed his forehead against mine, and his lips parted in a huff. “I was scared out of my mind, with only a small savings in my bank account and
no clue
what to do.”

“
You
were scared?” My index finger jabbed him in the chest. “
I
was scared! I was terrified I’d never be with you again and you pushed me out!”

When he pulled back, he ran his hands through his hair and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I had to make my life right,” he continued.

“Without me?” I took a step forward and got in his face. “Finish the sentence, Dre. You had to make your life right without
me
.” My fingers tapped my sides.

“No! I told you my reasons!” His words burned my face.

“I was willing to stay with you…” my voice caught and I glanced down at my feet. “I could have helped you.”

“What kind of a man does that make me?” I looked up and saw him run his hand down his face and exhale. “Someone who has to use his girl as a crutch?” He shook his head and looked at me. “Nah, Savannah, I wasn’t going to bring you down.”

I brought my purse up to my chest and opened it. He frowned as he saw me pull out my phone. “What are you doing?” he asked.

I unlocked the screen and looked for the picture I wanted to show him.

“Is this -” I stopped to bring the screen up to his face, a picture of Sebastian smiling at the camera. “Is this who you wanted for me, Dre?” I sniffed and waited, my breathing accelerated.

His eyes narrowed, but he stayed quiet and glared at the photo.

“Hmm?” I probed and moved it closer. His nostrils flared as he ran his teeth along his bottom lip.

“Fuck, NO. I meant, ME.” He glared at me and reached for my phone, locking the screen and placing it in his pocket.

“Are you sure?” I took a step forward and tilted my head up to look at him. “Think about it
really
hard, Dre.”

He grabbed my waist and pulled me up against his body. “I … said … ME,” he said through clenched teeth.

I lowered my gaze and let out a small breath of air. “Admit it, I’m just a challenge to you. You’re caught up in what we had in the past, that’s all.” I swallowed and held my fingers together in front of me. I needed to control my shaking. “You saw me at the club and you remembered some of our good times.” I lifted my chin.

His palm rested on the wall behind me.

“You think that was just feelings from our past?” he asked softly. I hated when he spoke softly. It killed me. He lowered his head and gently placed a tender kiss on my neck. A shiver went through my body at the sudden affection.

“Tell me, Peach,” he dragged his lips to my jaw, “why did you get mad when you saw me talking to that girl tonight?”

I could only shrug, and I looked down. “I didn’t,” I lied, and Andres chuckled, his breath hot against my skin causing a hurricane in my gut.

“You didn’t, huh?” His lips hovered over my own, but I turned my head to the side before he could press against them. His teeth pulled gently on my earlobe instead, and my eyelids began to close.

“Then tell me, why does your body react this way being so close to me?” he whispered, and damn it, if I didn’t clench my legs to stop my immediate reaction to his teasing.

“You’re just reading my body wrong,” I replied, but even I could hear the tremor in my voice.
My body, voice, and mind — complete and utter traitors!

He grabbed my chin and turned my head to look at him. “Is that what you think?”

I wanted to nod, but my head was frozen in place. His eyes, his voice, and the stubble across his jaw and cheeks transfixed me. My body wanted to see what else he would do to me, what else he would say. My heart was beating so fast I thought it might break, and I had a moment of panic.

If I stayed with him, my life would change forever. There would be no going back from here. There would
definitely
be no going forward with Sebastian. I needed to think, and I couldn’t do it with his smoldering gaze staring straight into my eyes and grabbing onto my soul.

I ducked my head under his arm and tried to walk away from him. I just wanted some fresh air. Andres grabbed my wrist before I could move two feet and pulled me back to him. His eyes were wide and his fingers frantically ran through my hair before he pressed his lips firmly on mine. Dragging my body against the wall and holding me in place, he kissed me sensuously and without any reservation.

I pushed him away. I had to get this off my chest. My eyebrows furrowed and my body hummed. His chest heaved, and he waited without moving a muscle.

“You hurt me,” I told him and his eyes lowered to my lips then my nose and back up to my eyes again. He grabbed my hand and placed it over his chest, my fingers between two buttons. I could feel the warmth of his skin.

“Forgive me,” he pleaded in a whisper. No traces of anger. Just stillness, firmness, and his ever-beating heart.

A fraction of tension escaped me when his eyes looked into mine. His open window of truth.

“I just wanted to be the best because
you
deserve nothing less, Savannah. I’ve loved you since that summer we met, ten years ago, and not a moment less.”

My legs were jelly. Damn him, but he still held my heart, and I still clung to my hope.

Sebastian was sweet, kind, and loving.

But when your heart is set on fire by someone,
that’s
the person you want to hold on to.

I tugged on his shirt, hinting what I wanted. He didn’t waste a minute. When I felt his lips on my own, I thought my heart would explode.

His tongue was everywhere, exploring, teasing, and marking me. The contact made me aware that I had been starving for his touch, and I had to dig deep inside myself to find a sliver of strength to break free. My hands fisted his shirt and I pushed him away.

I glanced down to his wet lips and slowly licked my own, feeling the tenderness from his kiss. I had asked him something earlier but felt the need to ask again.

“What do you want from me, Dre?”

“Everything,” he answered, his voice husky. He held my face between his hands and ran his thumb along my mouth. My lips parted and I fought the urge to lick his thumb.