Page 7 of Overdosed: Her Dark Side
Fuck, even now, she seemed so gorgeous. Her tanned skin was glowing under the fluorescent moonlight. Her chocolate waves brushed by the chilly air. And that dress again. It enhanced her petite frame in all the best ways. She looked like a stunning and strong queen. At the same time, so fragile and vulnerable. Broken.
“You never gave me a chance to explain,” I whispered through the pain I was sure we both shared. “I never wanted your death.”
She let out a scoff, and her gaze wandered off into the distant trees.
“Melanie.” I softly ran my fingers along her cheek. Her skin was so delicate. It felt surreal. Feeling her tender skin beneath my fingertips again. “I genuinely fell in love with you. To the point where I was ready to give up on my family, my life, or anything else, for that matter, for you. I was willing to fight against the whole world for you, Melanie.”
Melanie inhaled deeply, still averting her gaze. Her eyes closed. I could see how hard it was for her to steady her breath, hold back her tears, her emotions.
I backed away, allowing her the space I knew she needed. It might’ve been three years, but I could still read her body language and sense her feelings. “I know I made a mistake. I should’ve told you the truth earlier,” I conceded. “I know I fucked up. But trust me, I’ve regretted that every single fucking day.”
“You may say whatever you want, Shane.” She snapped back, locking her eyes onto mine, her tone filled with disdain. “But it won’t work this time, and you know why?”
My head cocked. My eyes combed her face, inch by inch, searching for an ounce of the love we once shared.
“Because I am with Anders now, and this feeling is real.”
Her voice cut deep like a knife, and she pushed the knife even deeper.
“Unlike with us, the feeling I share with Anders was born slowly. Gradually. It’s not just a wild physical attraction as it was with you,” she spat.
“Wild physical attraction, huh?” A glimmer of amusement sparked my eyes. I didn’t believe a single word coming out of her mouth. Maybe I was twisted, but she didn’t convince me. I slowly moved closer again, trapping her between my arms and the car behind me. Her chest was moving up and down slowly, heavily. Her gaze was on my lips. Our breaths meshed.
“Yes.” She trembled, and so did her voice. She cast her eyes up to meet mine. “It was just a blinding passion. It all happened too fast. Something as intense as this could never have worked out anyway.”
“So you’ve never loved me?” I ran my fingers down her arm, feeling her bare skin through the illusion fabric of her sleeves. Her body quivered, and her breath was ragged. “You no longer have any feelings for me?”
“No.” Her voice cracked. “I don’t. I am in love with your brother.”
“Liar,” I whispered against her lips, leaning even closer.
I was pretty damn sure she was lying. Judging by the way her eyes flickered back and forth between mine, her pupils dilating, her chest heavily moving up and down. I’d studied this woman through every single minute we’d shared, and I knew when she was lying. She still loved me. I could tell. She might’ve tried to bury that feeling somewhere in the abyss of her heart, but it was still there. Alive.
“I’m not.” She cleared her throat. “I’m not a liar. The bond I have with Anders is different from what we had. It feels right when I’m with him. In between his arms. Making love to him.” Her gaze bore into mine as if waiting for my reaction.
My lips curled up in a smirk, and I rested my forehead onto hers. My hand slid over the back of her neck, stroking the softness of her skin with my thumb. “Is that so?”
“M-hm,” she barely managed, her gaze dropped to my lips.
“Then why does your body tremble like this when I touch you?” I felt goosebumps rise on her skin underneath my fingertips. I grasped her chin and tilted her head back. Her eyes locked onto mine again, her lips parted involuntarily. “Shouldn’t it be your fiancée making you feel like this?”
Her body quivered. Her eyes flickered between my lips and eyes. Eyes that I devoured her with. I slid my hand to the back of her head, pulling her even closer so that my lips brushed against hers as I spoke, “And not his brother instead?”
She gasped. I wasn’t sure whether it was a scoff or a sigh of resisting temptation. “He does.” She hardly swallowed, her voice full of longing. Even she didn’t believe her own words. She shook her head, taking a deep breath as if gasping for air, swirling out of my embrace.
I watched her walk away from me as if she needed to maintain a safe distance. Her hand ran through her hair. A heavy sigh escaped her lungs before she turned to face me. Her eyes flickered between mine for a moment as if searching for some clue, as if she was trying to figure something out, figure me out.
“I’m shivering because I’m scared of you. How can I be sure you didn’t bring me here to accomplish your task? Kill me.”
“You’re not scared of me.” I shook my head, grazing my teeth over my lips that still held the tantalizing taste of her. “You never were. Even when I showed you my darkest side.” I took steady steps toward her, never breaking eye contact. As I reached her, I hovered over her, and she looked up into my eyes. “You’ve always known you were safe with me.”
Melanie stepped back as if trying to keep a distance. As if being this close to me would breach an imperceptible boundary she set to resist the undeniable lust between us. But it wasn’t just lust. Lust alone couldn’t be this strong. It was lust blending with love and love blending with lust. A mix of the two most dangerous feelings.
“See you around, brother-in-law.” She quickly trotted toward the car.
The next thing I knew, she drove away, leaving behind the smell of gasoline and burnt tires and the lust lingering in the air.
FOUR
