“Get off of me,” I hiss, bucking my hips, but only accomplishing in straining my back. He’s so fucking heavy. “Better stop touching me, Enzo, or else you might accidentally be seduced.”
He bares his teeth. “Everything you do is calculated. Were you even truly panicking when we were in that closet or was that another one of your schemes?”
I gape at him. “I didn’t ask you to touch me, you dickhead! How could I have possibly known what you were going to do?”
“You were doing it to gain sympathy,” he accuses.
I’m so fucking baffled, I’m speechless.
Arguing with him is pointless, though, so I buck my hips again.
“Get off of me!” I bark, that feeling of being trapped trickling into my system. My thrashing becomes more desperate, yet his lips only tip up cruelly.
Far from a smile but amused all the same.
“You gonna panic again, bella ladra? Hoping for my cock this time?”
“You’re sick,” I spit. “I don’t want that thing anywhere near me.”
He tilts his head to the side. “No?”
That’s a challenge, and it only stirs the panic. He rolls his hips, his hard length pressing firmly against my clit.
“Enzo,” I snap, but it comes out breathy.
His lips lightly skim across the shell of my ear. “Would you scream this time?” he questions darkly. “You always do when you create your own little ocean all over me.”
“Fuck you,” I breathe, accompanied by a full body shudder when he rolls his hips again.
“I won’t. I’ve already conquered your ocean, amore mio. You have nothing left to give that I want.”
Finally, he releases me, standing above me with his legs on either side. I slide out from beneath him, pressing myself into the stone wall and panting heavily.
“You’re a liar. Even now.”
Colorful words build on my tongue, and I open my mouth to let them spew, hoping they’re sharp enough to cut past his thick skin, but before I can get a syllable out, his head is snapping to the side.
His eyes are caught on something outside the window. Whatever he sees causes him to stiffen, his spine snapping straight as he rushes toward it.
“What? What is it?” I ask breathlessly, climbing to my feet to stand next to him.
My eyes widen, a gasp on my lips when it registers what’s outside.
It’s a girl. She’s standing in the ocean, about knee-deep, black water licking at her legs. Only a thin white dress covers her rail-thin body, the collar hanging over one shoulder and exposing moon-white skin
“Oh my God,” I mutter, rushing on to the bed and reaching for the lock on the window, but there are gnarled nails pinning it down, keeping it permanently closed.
“What the fuck?” I mumble, but my attention is diverted again when the girl walks deeper into the ocean, causing my heart rate to skyrocket.
“Hey!” I scream out, slapping the palm of my hand on the glass, but I’m sure the sound is being swallowed by the howling wind. The girl stills, so I shout some more, hoping she’ll turn around. But she only stands there, frozen as the waves batter into her.
“Sylvester is coming,” Enzo warns, his voice low as he steps away from me.
Loud footsteps are stomping down the hallway, but they’re not coming from his room. He’s coming from the staircase.
I turn around and scramble off the bed, the door handle jiggling as he unlocks it. Already, I can feel his anger seeping through the door.
When he gets it open, he busts in, stomping his wooden peg on the floor.
“What in tarnation is going on in here?” he barks. His eyes find mine and then slide to the window behind me.
“What in the hell do you think yer doing, young lady?”
“There’s a girl out there,” I explain, hiking my thumb over my shoulder. “She was standing in the ocean.”
“A gir—now, what are you going on about?” he grumbles, hobbling toward us to look out through the glass.
“There ain’t no girl out there,” he booms.
“What?” I squeak, peeking around him. But he’s right.
There’s no one out there.
Mouth open with bewilderment, I turn toward Enzo to find him staring out the window, too. Quiet and face smooth, but his eyes are shadowed with suspicion.
Facing Sylvester again, I insist, “There was a girl out there. We both saw it.”
Sylvester leans over the bed to get a better look.
“Ain't no one out there,” he grunts finally. “You're seeing things.”