Page 34 of Downfall

I’m about to do it again when it swings open. “Are you insane?”

She’s taken off her jacket leaving her in a thin black silk blouse and jeans that cling to her curves. I force my eyes not to wander to the dip of her shirt.

“If I am, it’s because you made me that way,” I admit.

“Oh, that’s great.” Her voice is laced with anger, but there’s a breathy edge to it. “I make you crazy?”

“Yeah, Sky. You do.”

“Fuck you.”

“You keep mentioning that. Are you trying to tell me something?”

I’m not sure what I expect her to do or say at this point. Slap me across the face, knee me in the balls, maybe throw a lamp at my head. I deserve all three, but what I’m definitely not expecting is for her eyes to darken as she lifts her shirt up and over her head, tossing it to the floor. I’m not expecting her to be braless, nipples standing at fucking attention, begging to be pinched. And I’m sure as fuck not expecting her to slide her jeans down so she’s standing in front of me in nothing but a lacy thong, black boots, and that stupid locket resting on her heaving chest.

“You’re right, Dec.” Her voice glides through my brain like silk. “I want you to fuck me.”

15

SKYLAR

“What’s the matter, Declan? You seemed so sure of yourself a minute ago.” My voice doesn’t feel like my own. My head screams at me to stop, but I don’t.

“Skyler.” My name on his lips is a warning—one he doesn’t get to make. He lost the right for my name to sound like anything other than an apology years ago. Joy? Happiness? Ecstasy? No, he doesn’t get any of that, and he sure as hell doesn’t get to warn me that I’m making a mistake in offering up my body. I know I am.

“You agreed to this deal,” I taunt. “What did you think? That we were both going to be celibate the whole time?”

He chuckles. It’s deep and throaty and his Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows it down. “Maybe.”

“That’s bullshit.” I back up, kicking the boots off my feet and stepping out of the jeans bunched up on the floor, my heart thudding as I inch myself closer to the bed.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah, and guess what?” Another step back. “There was nothing in the deal about exclusivity, so if you won’t fuck me, I’ll find someone who will. Maybe Julian⁠—”

One second he’s smirking, the next his eyes go nearly black as he pushes further into my room, and my words disintegrate on my tongue.

“Finish that sentence, Sky, I dare you.” I swear I hear the hint of a growl in his voice, but there’s also something else. Desperation, maybe? No, that can’t be right. “Is that why you wore a thong? Who were you hoping would see it, Skylar?”

I look off to the side, and when I don’t answer, he stalks closer. “That bartender? Is that who you got all dressed up for?”

As much as I want to continue to mess with him, there’s something about the slight hint of sadness in his eyes that makes me pause. “Julian is just a friend,” I admit.

He laughs again, but this time it’s darker, more ominous. “Friend,” he repeats, turning to face me fully, grazing his knuckles against my cheek before he hooks two fingers under my chin, tipping it up so I’m forced to meet his eyes. “We were friends once. Look how that turned out.”

I scoff, whipping my chin free from his hold. “That’s not fair. This isn’t real. How many times do I have to tell you?”

“Then why are you practically naked?”

“Because there’s a difference between love and fucking. Isn’t that what you said?”

Throwing his words back in his face should feel good, therapeutic even, but it doesn’t. Not when I see the hurt flicker in his eyes. Not when he visibly recoils like he’s been punched in the face. But why should I feel bad? Why do I still care after what he did?

I brush past him, not giving a shit that my entire ass is on display as I snatch my shirt from the floor and put it back on. I’m not actually sure why I wore a thong. Maybe because I didn’t want underwear lines or maybe I wanted to feel sexy for once. Either way, Declan is pissing me off, and I’m too drunk for this conversation.

“Fine. You won’t touch me?” I snap. “Won’t let anyone else do it? I’ll just do it myself. It’s not like I don’t have plenty of practice.” The last few words are muttered under my breath, but I seem to have underestimated this man’s superhuman hearing because the second I go to turn towards the bed, a strong hand lands on my arm, pulling me back before I have a chance to take a step.

His head dips low, his mouth hovering at the edge of my ear. Hot breath brushes against my neck as his words slide through me. “What about all those guys you fucked when we were apart? None of them could get you there, huh?” His eyes tighten, the flecks of gold getting lost with the widening of his pupils. “They left you as hard up as you are now. Aching, so fucking desperate that you had to take matters into your own hands. What did you think about, Skylar? When you touched yourself in the middle of the night, while your pretentious douchebag flavor-of-the-week slept next to you, none the wiser? Did you imagine it was me pushing your shirt up, slipping my hand beneath the waistband of those little cotton panties you love so much? Did you pretend it was my fingers sliding into you, already wet and so fucking needy?”