| BOOK ONE OF THE VENANDI SAGA | A DARK MAFIA ROMANCE |
Teeth scrape over skin as he nips at my earlobe, "I told you..." Threading his fingers through the strands at my nape, he rolls my head to the side and his lips continue their exploration, "...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Thirty-eight minutes earlier... ---
Panicked, I slam shoulder-first into thick, industrial steel and charge onto the concrete loading pad. "EDEN!" Drawn to the mechanical purr of a nearby motor, "EDEN! WAIT!" I spot bright doe eyes framed by that shock-pink bob. They bulge with alarm, peering up at me from her perch on her motorcycle. Sculpted cheekbones flush with a rosy glow and ample cleavage heaves with ragged breath. Bent over the handlebar, her back arches pushing her luscious bubble up and out. Unbidden, my gaze travels the gentle slope from the base of her neck down to that pert ass and long lower limbs. Every inch of those toned legs from her hips to her classic, Converse high tops is exposed and the muscles in her thighs flex from the effort of holding the sleek Kawasaki in place. She's magnificent - surreal. She's better than any dream or memory... and I didn't appreciate how beautiful she is until I lost her.
Oh, what a fool I am.
Hurdling the railing in front of me, I drop to the asphalt in time to dodge the rear tire whipping toward me. "What the fuck, E?!"
Seriously?!
Diving to the right, I flatten to the cement. Aside from a small tear in the sleeve of my shirt, I'm relatively unharmed - at least, outwardly. On the inside I'm a raging storm. My pulse races with a frenetic blend of adrenaline, anxiety, terror, and fascination. Seeing yet another facet of this fierce, provocative creature is exhilarating. Seeing her within arms reach but too far to hold is a living nightmare.
Not to mention, she almost side-swiped me. Fucking shit!
Okay... Honestly, I'm kind of turned on.
Her bike jumps forward a couple meters and I clamber to my feet, "Eden! Please! You said..." The banshee wail of the engine muffles the last of my words, "...we could talk!" as empty, coffee-colored saucers turn to the road. Frantic, "Dammit! Don't leave!" I shuffle closer.
Just a little farther...
Suddenly, she releases the break; her tires catch, propelling her toward the only exit. Like a phantom, she vanishes into the night traffic; the stink of burning rubber and billowing exhaust trails in her wake. Sunk to my knees in grief, I whisper, "I love you." A suffocating soreness burgeons in my chest. Crying out, "GAAAAAH!" I clutch at the stabbing agony. For the third time, she's ripped out my heart, and at last I begin to understand the hell I've put her through. It's beyond the woman in the club - beyond all the women. This was about choosing to ignore what I was doing to her. In my blind arrogance, I chose not to stop, because I didn't care enough to see her breaking right in front of me.
I'll never deserve her.
The high I felt minutes ago comes crashing down. In a fog, I carry myself inside in search of a bottle of whiskey. When I reach the main floor, Knox is waiting for me at the edge of VIP. Craning to peek over my shoulder he asks, "Where's E?"
