Shatter

“He looks way too happy to be talking to her right now.” Alyssa pointed out.

“Right? I was thinking the same thing.”

Ruben clapped his hands together and then hugged Angelica like a long lost daughter.

Alyssa dropped the hamburger flipper in the grass and cursed. “You’ve got to be kidding me! He hates her just as much as we do!”

“Cameras.” I coughed as the cameraman zoomed in on Alyssa. Her little nostrils flared just slightly before she grabbed my body and pulled me against her.

“It’s hard for them to hear when we whisper.” She nipped my ear and then licked my neck. “Can we get closer to the action, you think?”

“Action?” I repeated, my body strumming with heat as her hand dipped underneath my shirt.

Alyssa lightly slapped me across the face with her free hand. “Focus, Demetri! We’re going to find out what’s going on.”

“Right. Focusing.” I exhaled through tightly clenched teeth as her smooth hands caressed my abs and wrapped around my back as she walked me backward toward the corner of the yard where Ruben and Angelica were standing. “Damn, that feels good.”

“Demetri.” Alyssa moaned and then pinched me in the side. “This isn’t for you. This is so we can find out what the devil’s planning.

Yeah, I’m not gonna lie. I caught like one word from that last sentence. It was like I blacked out as her nails scratched my back and her lips found my ear. Right. I’m going to be absolutely no help for this little spying mission if she keeps playing around like that.

“Just a little farther,” Alyssa whispered in my ear.

I was officially embarrassed as I started counting backward from one hundred to keep myself from taking off my clothes and ravishing her against the picket fence. A little farther? Did the woman have no concern for my mental health? I was going to die. Well, at least I’d die with a smile on my face.

“…are you sure about all of this?” Ruben clicked through the pictures on the phone. “I mean, this is pretty big, Angelica.”

“I’m positive.”

“You do know what this will do?”

“Of course,” came Angelicas shrill voice. “I just think people need to know the truth. Nat needs to know the truth. I mean, she’s such a sweetheart, and look at what he’s doing behind her back!”

“They weren’t together during these pictures,” Ruben pointed out. “I was at that premiere.”

Angelica laughed. “Does it really matter? Once a whore, always a whore. Once a cheater… well, you get what I mean. Besides, once you add it with that other little piece of information, you have media gold.”

I tensed against Alyssa. She shook her head and kissed my lips, probably to keep me from making a complete fool out of myself.

“Alright, I’ll see what I can do.”

“Great.” Angelica sighed. “I think it will really help our ratings.”

“She means her ratings. the tramp,” Alyssa whispered into my ear. Her nails dug into my shoulders.

“Ouch,” I grumbled.

“Sorry.” She released my burning skin and sighed. “I just really don’t like that girl.”

My fault. Again. Seriously, I wish someone would have walked around with a bat when I was a teenager and smacked me in the ass every time I made a bad choice.

Then again, I would have been dead by twelve.

So there was that.

“It will be fine.” I cupped Alyssa’s face. “Besides, I trust Alec. Whatever this is about, whatever he did, he loves Nat.”

Alyssa chewed her lower lip, then rubbed both of them together. “‘Kay. Let’s go make friendly with the enemy so we can finish this damn barbeque.”

“I love it when you curse.”

“Shut up.” She punched me in the gut and grabbed my arm, draping it over her shoulder as we returned to the middle of the yard.

Chapter Seventeen

Alec

“They’re going to find us!” Nat chuckled as I kissed her throat again.

“Screw them,” I ground out as I slammed her against the backdoor to the garage. “I want you. Here. Now.” My hands couldn’t move fast enough against her clothes as I pulled them from her body.

“Demanding,” she said breathlessly as she lifted my shirt over my head.

“Always demanding when it comes to you.” I sucked her bottom lip, my hands went to her hot skin. Every touch with her felt like the first, and no matter how many times we kissed, it was never enough. After seeing April, I needed Nat, needed her more than ever. I was being selfish, but I had to kiss her. She had to wash away all that guilt, all that shame. She was my high and I was in dire need of a fix.

“Mmm.” She giggled then jumped into my arms. She loved to do that. I think it was because I was tall. I knew Nat liked feeling small, protected, and she liked it when I carried her and had my way with her. This was me not complaining as I pulled her shirt over her head with one hand and braced her against the wall.

Nat reached for my jeans and jerked them down. I stepped out and tossed them hurriedly to the corner. I hoped the camera crew was confused about where we were, because things were going to be getting a little too R rated for a reality show.

Nat pulled away from me and shimmied out of her short skirt, leaving her almost naked, except for her red bikini.

I’d memorized every curve of her body, every indentation held my mark, and that’s how I wanted it. Maybe I was a bit possessive, but I wanted to brand her, make it so that anyone who saw her knew she belonged to me. She was mine. I greedily reached out and grabbed her hips. They fit perfect in my hands, I groaned and closed my eyes. Every part of her was precious, and every part drove me freaking insane.