Page 52 of Ghost Ribbon

Marco blinked slowly, like the words were taking too long to reach his brain. He was still dazed, and the way his gaze kept flicking to my mouth told me he wasn’t fully back yet. I reached into the pocket of his pajama pants myself, fingers brushing against his hip as I pulled out the phone.

I unlocked it easily. He really should put a passcode on this thing. I opened a new contact. While I typed, I kept him close with my other hand still loosely fisted in his shirt, keeping him trapped against me.

“Are you scared when I kiss you?” I asked without looking up from the screen.

Marco swallowed audibly.

I finished entering my number, saved the contact as “A.”, then finally met his eyes again.

“Scared I’ll rip your clothes off and do more?” I continued, voice dropping darker. “Scared I’ll bend you over this bed right here in your empty house and fuck you until you can’t walk straight? Until the only thing you remember is how it feels to have me inside you?”

His breath hitched. The flush on his face deepened until it reached his collarbones, and his lips parted on a shaky exhale. He looked terrified, properly terrified, but there was something else there too.

I smirked, just a tiny lift at the corner of my mouth, and held the phone up between us so he could see the new contact.

“That’s my number. Reply when I text you.”

I let go of his shirt and stepped back, giving him space even though every instinct in me wanted to keep him pinned. Marco took the phone from my hand with trembling fingers, clutching it to his chest.

“I…” His voice cracked. He cleared his throat and tried again, smaller. “I’ll… I’ll reply.”

“Good boy.”

I reached out one last time and brushed my thumb across his swollen bottom lip, wiping away the shine I had left there. He shivered under the touch.

“Next time,” I murmured, leaning in just close enough that my breath ghosted over his ear, “don’t wait until I’m bleeding to touch me. I might not be so patient.”

I straightened up, buttoned my shirt the rest of the way, and grabbed my coat.

I walked to the door without another word, but paused with my hand on the handle.

“Lock up after I leave,” I said over my shoulder. “And don’t cook alone.”

Then I was gone. As I walked to my car, I could still taste him on my tongue and I wanted to go back in there, drag him to that bed, and ruin every last bit of him until he was crying my name and begging for more.

Chapter 16 - Marco

I woke up at exactly six in the morning. I didn’t have to drag myself out of bed at four. Alexei had been picking me up every day, and even though it still made my stomach twist with nerves every time his car pulled up, it meant I could sleep a little longer. I wasn’t sure how long this arrangement would last, but I wasn’t going to complain about the extra rest while it was here.

I was just starting to sit up when someone knocked on the front door.

My heart jumped straight into my throat. It had to be Alexei. He was early. He usually came around seven, but maybe something had changed. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and padded down the hallway. My parents were still gone so the house was quiet except for the sound of my bare feet on the floor.

I unlocked the door and opened it, already halfway through saying, “You’re early—”

It wasn’t Alexei.

A delivery guy stood there, looking impatient, with several large paper bags balanced in his arms. The logo on the bags was from some fancy breakfast place I had never been to.

“I didn’t order anything,” I blinked, confused, rubbing sleep from my eyes.

“The order was already paid for,” he said quickly, already pushing the bags into my hands. “Signature not required. Have a good day.”

He turned and practically bolted down the path toward his van like he was late for something important. I blinked after him, standing there in the doorway with my arms full of bags.

Weird.

I shut the door and carried everything into the kitchen, setting the bags on the counter. Curiosity got the better of me. I started unpacking them one by one.