Page 23 (1/2)

I should let hi turns as ugly as I know it can But I’ inside me

I’ve worked so hard not tohi me from the inside out So why shouldn’t I say to hell with it? Why shouldn’t I let Z ht

"Why does this have to be so complicated?" I demand "I want you I think you want ood?"

"Is that it?" he asks

"What do you ood?"

I feel like I’ is topsy-turvy, upside down and inside out This is Z Michaels--the fastest zipper in the West--asking these questions Z Michaels who’s been with irls than either of us could probably count if we had a year to do it in

"I don’t understand," I tell hi, and I don’t kno to fix it, how to hide it I don’t kno to fix anything anyood for once I just want--"

"Shh, baby It’s okay I get it" Z shifts, turning us until we’re stretched out on the bed Then he trails soft kisses along ood I promise"

He presses a kiss to the top of my head, then one to each ofsympathy for Hamlet under his breath I don’t quite catch it, but heat crawls up my cheeks anyway

I hate my naile girlfriend who’s driven insane by design and circumstance

Who loses herself in the demands and machinations of the men in her life

Who dies a terrible death because she can’t face the reality of what they’ve done to her--of what they’ve made her become

When I first read Hamlet in school, I flat out asked my mom if she’d been drunk when she named me Or if she just hated me She hadn’t understood, but it turned out she’d never read Hamlet She’d just liked the sound of Ophelia, and the idea of na me after one of Shakespeare’s characters

Go, Mo of the Shrew My whole life ht have turned out differently

But she didn’t, and here I auaranteed to mess with my head if I let him Which I won’t This is about pleasure, I reso long without feeling anything

Z continues pressing soft kisses across my cheeks, down my jaw, over my collarbone At the same tiers delving beneath denim to caress my abdomen and hps and ass

They’re siood Relief shudders through me as I arch beneath him, as I wind my arms around his neck and pull his mouth to mine His eyes, his beautiful,there So bells ringing in my head

"Z, I--"

This tiers to ot you"

And then he’s kissing , everything I want to say, disappears in a ive myself up to hi all over the place I take a deep breath, try to ground myself, but all that does is fill me with the spicy cinnaood, and I want nothing more than to burrow closer To bury my face in the curve of his neck and just breathe hiroan, then pulls ly, even as a part of ainsthi ti to me, Ophelia?" he murmurs after a few moments

"I don’t know" The words come out small, shaky

"Yeah" He presses a soft kiss into my hair "Me neither"

Then his hands are everywhere, everywhere, and I gasp as he flips us again, pullingme sit up with my knees on either side of his hips I lean over, start to flip the light off, but he rests one big, scarred hand over mine