Chapter 46: Beautiful Lie

DARIUS

“The first thing you must know about me is that I don’t forgive anyone who betrays me,” I said. My voice sounded colder than I’d intended.

I didn’t want to speak that way to her. Not anymore.

A sudden pressure filled my chest as rage pumped through my muscles.

Yes, Archibald and I were blood-related, but he’d stopped being my family years ago.

I never forget.

I breathed in, deciding to go numb again.

It was better not to feel. I could control this about myself, flick my feelings into utter coldness, control my impulses, and calculate the results I wanted.

Nevertheless, this was a sensitive topic, making it harder to stay calm.

She was poking where I could bite back. Hard.

Could I trust her when I trusted no one?

I decided to rip off the bandage. “Archibald and I have the same—taste. That’s how I knew he would be attracted to you. You do look a lot like her.”

“A lot like who?”

I wondered if Olivia was becoming a weakness as I stared into her beautiful eyes, reading her face, her smart mind mapping matters she might not fully comprehend.

“We shared an affinity for the same girl while growing up. His best friend, Madeline Callahan.”

“I knew Maddie wasn’t just a horse!”

I smiled. Olivia’s mind worked fast.

I ignored her outburst and watched the horizon as I continued the story, tracing little circles in her hand.

“Long story short, we fell in love, and I asked her to marry me when I was nineteen. We were planning to run away, secretly engaged. I wanted it all with her, but of course, we had obstacles.”

“You already know how my family is.”

Olivia’s eyes widened. “Oh, no. They gave her a proposal.”

~Exactly.~ She was catching the story. Of course, she had been in a situation just like Maddie when Luther and Edmund cornered her in their studio.

“Yes. She accepted.”

“That’s horrible!” She covered her mouth with both of her hands.

“I learned that everybody has a price, Olivia. No matter how naive they may seem. Sweetness and innocence are easily corrupted.”

~Except you. The girl that has no price.~ She would never understand how little I thought about people who walked with price tags. All whores.

But not her. Olivia was…pure.~ ~My hand caressed her cheek, my thumb passing lightly over the corner of her lips.

“Archibald was the one who told Edmund that we were going to run away, and after eleven years, I still don’t know what my father offered her.”

“Whatever it was, she accepted his proposal, and after that, she jumped into Archibald’s arms claiming that she’d always loved him and not me.”

She remained in silence.

The sea breeze hit her face and twirled her hair back as she watched me sorrowfully.

“Who could blame him? We were both in love with the same girl, and what started as childish play when we were teenagers escalated to real harm in each other’s business as we became adults.”

“I did horrible things to Archibald after that. Horrible things, Olivia. Things that would make your skin crawl.”

I was expecting her to look at me as if I were a monster, but she was a quiet listener, and all I saw in her was kindness.

“It remains, you know?” I watched the seagulls in the sky.

“The pain?”

“No, the deception. I will always be angry with myself for loving her, even after what she did.” I clenched my fists.

~Loved her.~ I no longer felt anything for Madeline. I guessed that was why I’d hated Olivia so much when I first met her. She looked so much like her.

I’d kind of expected her to be as common as Madeline, when she was, in fact, rare.

Her eyes swirled with something I knew very well. Pure rage.

“Not that I have ever loved, but I know how deception feels like, and the need for…”

“Revenge?” I laughed. Olivia wouldn’t be able to do such…things.

She shook her head. “I don’t think I am capable of that.”

“Of course not. You are better than me, Olivia.”

“I don’t know. If I ever get a chance to set things on track for me, I don’t think there is anything that could stop me.”

That was new. Olivia Summer was turning out to be exquisitely complex.

“Does that scare you about yourself?” I asked.

“I’m just done with putting myself last. That’s why I don’t think I can judge you, Darius.”

“A girl who reads about being saved yet is planning to save herself. A girl who reads about love yet knows nothing about it.”

I grabbed her chin, looking into her eyes.

“I think you are pretty much misunderstood, Olivia. There is nothing wrong with being selfish. Though putting yourself first comes with a price. It can get lonely.”

“I’m not afraid of being lonely,” she muttered.

“Aren’t you?” I asked softly.

She stared into her lap, thinking.

“Do you feel he stole your happy ending?”

“Everything was just a beautiful lie. I guess, no matter how hard it was for me, it was the best thing that could ever happen. I learned to never trust.”

I’d already revealed something about myself that I had planned to bury with me in my grave.

I fucking named my horse after her.

“Have you seen her again?”

“Madeline? Yes, she works closely with Archibald. They ended their relationship and kept being good friends and partners,” I said dryly.

“I’m sorry.” She put her hand on my face.

I closed my eyes, feeling her touch.

There was no point in raising walls with her. I wanted her. It was almost as if I needed her, and it scared me how much.

I crushed my lips to hers, pinning her arms on the cold sand.

My tongue tasted her lips as the intoxicating smell of her skin sent me into a frenzy.

“I want you,” I murmured in her ear.

“Darius,” she trembled, and my heart started beating fast. ~Unusual.~

I felt strange, like the air was not enough, and she was my only oxygen.

Nothing was enough. No matter how much I took from her, I found myself needing more.

I breathed in her cherry scent and held her in my arms, feeling how my walls crashed down.

She was breaking me.

I watched her eyes, caressing her face.

“All of you.” I kissed her collarbone.

“Now,” I demanded urgently, feeling my body.

I quickly undid her jeans and pushed my fingers inside her.

She was so ready for me that I was about to lose my mind.

“Darius,” she moaned.

“Yes, baby?” I watched her face.

Her swollen pink lips looked delicious. I had to kiss her again, not letting her speak.

I suppressed her soft moans on my lips.

“Tell me, baby.” I pulled back.

“I already took the pill. We have to be careful from now on.”

Why was I being so irresponsible? Why couldn’t I bring myself to stop?

“It’s okay, baby, you can come in my hand,” I said, adding one more finger inside her, making her eyes shut.

“Tell me you want me.” I thrust my fingers impatiently.

“I—I want you,” she confessed.

“How much?” I ripped her shirt open, releasing her breasts, sucking on one of her buds until it made a soft pop.

She arched her back in response to my touch.

~Tell me, Olivia. Tell me that you want me as much as I want you.~

“I think…I think I am falling, Darius.” She kept her eyes closed, speaking her mind on the verge of pleasure.

Falling? Did she mean she was falling in love with me?

I couldn’t resist it; without thinking, I tore my pants open, spread her legs, and thrust myself inside her, feeling her completely, lost in her body, spreading her more as I pounded her hard.

I was lost. Lost in her.

She had bewitched me.

“But—but I’m not on birth control,” she said, her eyes wide.

“I won’t come inside. I promise.” I kissed her neck until she calmed.

“Darius…” Her voice was full of concern.

“Do you want me to stop?” I stilled, reading her eyes.

I could be inside her forever.

“No.” She kissed my mouth and hugged me closely.

I didn’t like seeing her like this.

“Tell me, what is wrong?”

“I’m scared.”

“Of me?” My voice sounded hoarse.

Was she scared of me?

“No,” she said softly.

“Of this?”

A silent acknowledgment.

She was terrified of what was happening between us.

“Olivia, this isn’t just sex for me.” The words stunned me.

I closed my eyes.

No, I didn’t have a heart.

I thought only with my mind or with my cock.

I should stand up and walk away from this.

That would be the smart choice.

She arched her hips, making me grunt.

My hands remained on her thighs, and I tried to calm my thoughts.

I had let her in.

I had let Olivia Summer in.

I felt nervous for the first time because, in those eyes, I knew what she desperately wanted.

She wanted more, and I gave it to her, thrusting deeply while pressing my lips to hers, savoring her in a kiss that would doom me.