Romani Prince

Chapter 27: My Choice

In the dark of the night, I shuffle and press my face against a warm and hard wall.

Strong arms pull me closer and I touch my lips to the smooth skin of his chest.

Luka...

He smells different but it's still a smell I know, making me feel comforted and... cared for.

Jeremy...

Lazily, I brush my lips to his collarbone, his neck, feeling his throat vibrate with a low groan under my touch.

My Luka...

His prickly chin slightly scratches my lips and he rolls on top of me, crushing me deliciously under his weight.

I want this. "Kiss me..."

His mouth trails soft kisses and nibbles up my neck, along my jawline, to finally cover my lips with unquenchable desire.

He tastes different but so good.

No...

Something... is very wrong...

Wait!

My eyes snap open. This isn't a dream.

So wrong!

The passionate man possessing my mouth isn't my Luka... It's Jeremy.

Confused, I freeze under his tender caresses.

Sensing the change, Jeremy stops and pulls away. He tries to see me under the faint starlight coming into the room through the sheer curtains.

"Hey." He whispers while studying me with hooded eyes.

Ashamed of my lack of control, I push away and turn my back to Jeremy. "Wrong..." That is all I manage to say, with a voice that sounds so weak that he has to ask.

"What? No!" Jeremy tentatively touches my shoulder but, in response, I pull my knees up and embrace my legs, recoiling even more from him.

"I don't want you to fall for me..."

"Too late." The conviction in his voices triggers a shuddering breath out of me.

"I can't fall for you, Jeremy!"

Jeremy slides an arm under my waist, claiming me to him and molding his body to mine.

"I think that part of your heart already belongs to me."

I don't say anything because both of us know that he may be right.

We lay there silent for a long while. His arms and body around mine. Our chests rising and falling, almost in the same rhythm.

Almost but not quite.

"I think I've loved you even before we met." He murmurs in my ear, sending goosebumps down my arm. His hand caressing and soothing my skin back to normal. And then, he drops soft kisses on my bare shoulder.

I press my eyes closed, disappointed with myself for not having the strength to tell him to stop.

"Four years ago, your father visited us and started sending me monthly e-mails with pictures of you, like a silent promise..."

My heart skips a bit as I reopen my eyes to the sound of that special word.

"A... A promise?" What does he mean?

His free hand roams curiously over the curve of my hip, gliding down the soft silk slip and finding the bare skin of my thigh.

"You made a deal with my father?"