LUST FOR ME

ASHLEY

I furrow my brows, my heart hammering against my ribs like a caught bird. I straighten, trying to look unbothered.

“Firstly, you had no right to manhandle me like that, and secondly, I have nothing to hide.”

“So, you do love him. And that's why you wanted to eliminate Tessa as a competition?”

“Oh please,” I say. “She can swim.”

“And if she couldn't?”

I sigh. Now, he's just messing with my head. “Why did you let me know that she insulted me if you didn't want me to do anything to her?”

He gazes intensely at me, his eyes low and dangerous. “Because she had no right to call you ugly. I was expecting you to use your words too, not a severe action.”

Just as I'm about to get down from the bed, he steps closer, invading my space until his knees brush the edge of the bed. He leans down, his face inches from mine.

“What makes you think Caleb will love you if you remove Tessa from the picture or keep reminding him that she ghosted him? You're just being pathetic.”

“Caleb doesn't love her anymore!”

“He doesn't love you either,” Jeremías says firmly, like he's known the truth for a long time now. “And if anything, he will love Tessa all over again without batting an eye in your direction.”

I feel the blood drain from my face. “Now, I see why Caleb calls you a bad brother. And you clearly don't know how my relationship is with Caleb.”

A slow smirk tugs at the corner of his lips. He pulls back from me, standing and tucking his hands in his pants pocket.

“Don't I? I know that you call him eight times a day when he's here in Spain on a holiday, you try to get close to him at the slightest chance back in New York and now, and you sure as hell are aware that you are never his fifth option for love. He has told you before, hasn't he?”

I try to swallow, but my throat feels too tight. “How do you know…”

“He mentions every damn pathetic thing you've done, though we barely talk. But here's the problem—”

He pauses, his eyes darkening further as he comes closer again. “You are just a good distraction for him, not someone he considers special.”

I stand from the bed, my face etched with irritation. “Screw you,” I say, pushing past him to head to the door.

My hand reaches for the door handle, my resolve to leave this suffocating room, strong. I'm inches away from freedom, ready to slam the heavy glass behind me, when a hand—firm and strong—grabs my wrist.

My breath is nearly knocked from my lungs as Jeremías spins me around, and pins me to the door.

He holds both of my wrists high up on the door, above my head, his right hand pinning them right.

His grip is hard and immovable.

He comes closer, his body pressed firmly against mine. For the first time, I realise how much larger he is than Caleb.

The dangerous and unique musky scent of him fills my senses, making my head swim.

“Tell you what?” He murmurs, his voice a low rumble. “I'll help you with your pathetic love life with my brother. If you want Tessa out of the way, I'll help you. You want to get closer to Caleb and be alone with him? I'll help you. Anything you want.”

My breath comes in jagged, shuddering hitches. The proximity is overwhelming. I try to steady my racing heart, but his body against mine is making my nerves fail. I can feel every damn part of his body on me.

“It-it can't be that easy with you,” I stammer, my voice barely above a whisper. “What do you want in return?”

His dark eyes glisten, a predatory look appearing in his eyes that makes my stomach drop. A slow, confident grin spreads across his face.

With his eyes still fixed intensely on mine, his free hand drifts to the hem of my baggy top. He slips his fingers under my fabric, his warm, large palms pressing my skin.

He moves his hand, slowly trailing his fingers upward, towards my ribs.

I gasp, almost silently, electric zipping from his touch, hitting my nerves and settling deep in my marrow.

My legs suddenly feel light, my body shaking—not from fear but from the sudden erratic desire I never knew I was capable of feeling.

“It's what is need in return. Not want. While I help you, I'll get to do anything I want to you. I'll seize your body, make you submit to me on your own, and eventually, everything about you will belong to me.”

I swallow hard, my throat heating up, my pulse thrumming wildly. The logic of the situation is slipping away, replaced by the sheer intensity of his touch.

“That's a shady business, don't you think?” I manage to say, though my body is betraying me, leaning instinctively into his hand.

He smiles. “Why? Scared you'll fall for me?”

“No.”

“Good. Because I don't do love. I give you something to obsess over, while I slowly get what's mine. Are you up for it?”

I can barely feel my legs. “What if I don't agree?”

His hand slowly moves up again, his fingers firm on my ribcage. “You might want to easily give up on getting Caleb, but surely not me. Everything I want to do to you still stands.”

I shake my head. “I'm never giving up on Caleb.”

“So, what's it gonna be, arcoiris ‘rainbow’?”

Everything in me is screaming not to agree. Though I want Caleb for myself, Jeremías words send a shiver down my spine.

This isn't something I should easily consider without thinking, but then again, I'll be finally alone with Caleb, with Tessa out of the way.

“I'm up for it, as long as you fulfill your end of the bargain,” I finally say, though realising it might be the worst choice I've ever made.

His smile deepens. “Three months,” he whispers. “Three months is all I need for Caleb's presence to mean nothing to you. You'll lust for me in ways you never knew.”

“Impossible.”

His fingers finally stop inches away from my breasts. His thumb slowly circles around a faint scar there, feeling it gently.

It is a scar I had gotten when I was just six years old, and it wasn't noticeable anymore. Even Caleb didn't know about it. Yet…

“I staked my claim on you a long time ago, arcoiris. I'm just taking back what's mine.”