used on her, still see the faint scars on her belly.
She wasn’t pretty enough to sell. She wasn’t sexy enough to fuck. No one would want
her.
But someone hated her enough to have her kidnapped and
tortured.
Alea crossed to the sink and turned on the cold water. She
had to get control of herself quickly because the coronation ball was still in
progress. Piper would expect her there. She needed to get dressed again. And
she needed to confront her cousins who had involved everyone in the
investigation about her abduction except her.
She’d been so sure when Khalil had died that her ordeal was
all over. She’d cried and tried to come to terms with everything. But she’d
been safe—or so she had believed. Now she knew it had all been a falsehood.
And her cousins had perpetrated it.
She couldn’t face the investigators again wearing that
dumbass gown. She’d picked it out for stupid reasons. Piper had told her it was
gorgeous, and she’d thought that maybe Dane, Landon, and Cooper would think she
was pretty for an evening.
So stupid. She should have just picked a black dress that
covered everything and wouldn’t potentially embarrass the hell out of her.
“Oh god, you’re gorgeous.”
Alea started, her heart nearly stopping at Cooper’s
masculine groan. He was standing in the doorway, staring at her intently, his
mouth set in a slightly salacious expression. Slightly? A second glance
suggested that maybe she was underestimating him.
Her first instinct was to leap for a robe, a towel—anything
that would cover her—but she just stood there, utterly frozen. He was staring
at her naked body, and he wasn’t running away. In fact, he was moving toward
her. She retreated a quick step, but her back met the marbled wall, and there
was nowhere else to go.
Alea could hardly catch her breath to speak. “You should
go.”
“God, you’re so fucking beautiful.” He sounded like he meant
it. He edged closer, towering over her.
“You can’t be in here,” she protested, but it wasn’t the
sound of a woman who strongly meant what she was saying. Instead, it sounded
breathy, almost like a seduction. What was wrong with her?
“Why not, Lea? Give me one good reason.” He braced himself
against the wall behind her, his body pressing close.
She could think of about fifty reasons, but only one came
out of her mouth. “I’m naked.”
“Yes, and that’s the best reason I can think of to stay.”
He leaned toward her, touching their foreheads together. If
he’d been the least bit domineering, she could have pushed him away, but this
was a sweet intimacy. How long had it been since she’d touched someone? Felt
the heat of another body close to her own quite like this? Never.
“Baby, do you know how many nights I’ve sat up imagining how
beautiful you are? Do you know how off I was? You’re a hundred times more
gorgeous than I ever dreamed. Tell me you don’t want me, too. Tell me, and I’ll
walk out of this room. I won’t try to touch you again, but you should know that
I’ll never stop wanting you. You’re the only woman I’ve been able to think of
since I met you.”
He brought one hand to her shoulder, his fingers just barely
touching her, making her shiver in the most delicious way possible.
She shook her head, trying to come out from under the spell.
“You’ve dated since you’ve been here. Don’t try to fool me.”
His head snapped up, and she found herself staring into the
warmest chocolate brown eyes she’d ever seen. His handsome face settled into a
frown that did nothing to detract from his male-model gorgeousness. “Not once.”
She bit her bottom lip. She wanted to believe him. God, she
was standing here naked with him and she couldn’t seem to make herself move.
“That’s impossible.”
“That’s the truth.” His fingers made their way down her arm.
“I’m worried about touching you. I
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