The Spanish Love Deception

by Elena Armas

  “You feel and taste like you are mine.”

  I looked up, right into his eyes. “I am.”

  Just two words, two simple words that were used so often in casual conversation that they shouldn’t have held much meaning. But they did. Those two ordinary words uttered in that precise moment mattered. I knew because Aaron’s face lit up with them. Breaking into the most beautiful smile to date. Burning down the last of my defenses. And as I stared into the blue of his eyes, I watched those walls of mine collapse as if I hadn’t spent all this time building them up.

  “I am,” I repeated, crushing the last of the remnants of the wreckage with my hands.

  Aaron kissed me again, sealing those two words with his lips. Adding a few more of his own. “I’m going to prove to you that you are.”

  This time around, instead of having the tacos to go, we devoured them right on the spot. Post-sex hunger did these things to you.

  “Seriously,” I said, inserting a finger in my mouth and savoring the sauce sticking to it. “I’m just saying that if vampires are going to make a comeback, the least they can do is sparkle.” Finding Aaron’s gaze on my mouth, I let my hand hover in the air and felt the light blush covering my cheeks. “Are you listening, Blackford?”

  His eyes bounced up and then down again. “Yes, vampires. Sparkles.”

  I frowned. “Something in my mouth?” God knew that with my record, I had probably been talking with a chunk of fish or cilantro hanging off my mouth.

  Aaron dipped his head, his mouth landing on the corner of my lips. Then, I felt his tongue peek out and wipe that spot clean.

  “Not anymore.”

  My panties might have just dropped to the floor, but at least my lips were clean—and tingly—as a whistle.

  “Thanks,” I muttered. Willing my blood to start circulating normally again. I wiped the rest of the sticky sauce off my hands with a napkin. “I still can’t believe you’d be a vampire over a werewolf, by the way.”

  Something else I couldn’t believe either? Aaron had had that conversation with me without batting an eyelash. Not only that, but he had seemed to know a fair bit about paranormal creatures. And I had questions.

  Aaron retrieved the paper from my grip and threw it in a trash can that stood next to the food truck. “They are immortal,” he said as if there were no other point to be made.

  “But you are so … werewolfish.”

  True to my accusations, those blue eyes glinted with a hungry edge. “Am I?”

  “Yes. First off, you are big and hot and—”

  “Oh, I’m already loving this.” One of his arms curled around me, tugging me to his side. “Please continue.”

  “Get your mind out of the gutter.” I grabbed his hand, lifting it in the air in front of us. “See? These are like paws. And when I say hot, I mean, temperature-wise, like …” I trailed off. Only thinking about phallic-shaped hot stuff. Dios, had all the sex killed off that many of my brain cells? “Your skin feels hot to the touch, yeah. Like a … a heated, weighted blanket.” I turned, watching him frown. “I say it as a compliment. I mean it in a I’d love to get under you and snuggle right now way.”

  That frown disappeared. “I can live with that.” His head dipped, and he placed a kiss on top of my hair. “What else?”

  “You are loyal.”

  He hummed in agreement.

  “Also private. You keep to yourself. And even if people think that you are cold and unfriendly, it’s just that you have a stoic approach to most things. You watch everything so that you can anticipate every single thing that comes your way, which, honestly, it’s really impressive but very annoying too.” I peeked at him over my shoulder, finding him looking at me strangely. “What?”

  “Nothing.” He shook his head, getting rid of whatever it had been that was making him look all dazed. I watched him compose himself. “You are forgetting something.”

  My eyebrows rose. “And what’s that?”

  “I bite,” he said before grazing his teeth over my shoulder. Then, he nibbled on the sensitive skin where my shoulder met my neck.

  Giggling like a madwoman, I let my body burrow into his embrace. But just as I was doing so, someone caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. I couldn’t be sure, but I thought it was someone from work. One of the guys on Gerald’s team, if that glimpse of blond hair and slender shoulders was enough to tell him apart.

  Apprehension sank deep in my belly, killing my fit of carefree giggles.

  Aaron didn’t seem to notice the shift in me, and if he did, he didn’t say anything.

  “Let’s go home. I have a weighted-blanket reputation to uphold.”

  True to his word, Aaron had curled his body around mine in that gigantic and dreamy sofa that was planted in the middle of his loft. It had probably been the mixture of exhaustion, jet lag, and warmth coming off his body, but as much as I had tried to fight it, I had passed out under two minutes flat after returning to his apartment.

  Looking down, I caught a glimpse of a big and hefty hand trailing up my stomach. We were lying on our sides, and judging by the silence around us, the TV was no longer on. Aaron had probably turned it off as soon as I drifted off.

  Long fingers splayed along my front, reaching the underside of my breasts. Shifting under the sensation traveling down my body, I burrowed myself further into him.

  A grunt fell in my neck. “It’s dark outside.”

  My gaze traveled to the massive windows that faced the waterfront, as if I had needed confirmation that night had fallen. “We fell asleep,” I said, returning my eyes to those five fingers on my stomach, my toes already curling with anticipation. “I thought you wanted us to fight jet lag together, mister.”

  “I did, for a while.” Aaron chuckled, and I felt the sound in my back. My lips bent up as my mind pictured his beautiful face smiling. “But you are so fucking soft, curled up against me.” His hand trailed up and then down, and then I was pulled against him. “I couldn’t help myself. You made me lose perspective.”

  I turned in his embrace, rolling so I could face him. His hand fell on my lower back, the change of positions making my mouth almost come into contact with his neck. I looked up into his eyes.

  “Excuse you. Are you putting this on me?”

  “Never.” He tugged me closer again, our fronts flush together.

  My eyes fluttered closed, and a content sigh left my lips. “Would you take me to bed, Aaron Blackford?”

  He never uttered his answer. Instead, he peeled himself off the sofa with me in his arms. Wrapping my legs around his waist, I giggled at the sudden enthusiasm. With long and quick strides, he carried me across his apartment, passing the marble kitchen island and then making his way down the wide and uncluttered hallway and straight into the master bedroom. His bedroom. A shot of something sultry curled its way along my body. I was about to sleep next to Aaron—in his bed, wrapped in his soft and lush linens, my head on the plush pillows where his head had rested many times.

  And just when I was ready to be dropped in that king-size mattress that looked like a dream, I was carried into the en suite bathroom instead.

  My eyes took in our reflection in the mirror, not expecting how much I would love what I saw. Me, hands clasped behind his neck. Me, in his arms. Me, cheeks flushed and a dazed expression on my face because it was him holding me. Me, happy.

  Aaron attempted to place me on the black-and-white tiled floor.

  “Nuh-uh.” I shook my head, holding on to his neck a little closer and keeping my legs around his waist. “I like it up here.”

  “Yeah?” His voice was coated with humor but also with something thick and glossy.

  I tightened my grip on him.

  “That much?”

  “Yep,” I admitted into his neck. “I think you can carry me everywhere from now on. Walking on my own is not going to cut it anymore.”

  His palms rearranged me around him, shifting me to his side. He dropped a kiss on my temple. �
��And I think I could get used to that very quickly.” He reached for my toiletry bag, opened it, and extracted my toothbrush. Handing it over to me with a small smile, he then repeated the process with his own toothbrush. “Teeth first, then bed.”

  With a nod, we did exactly that. We brushed our teeth as we looked at each other in the mirror, all the while with me hanging off his side like a clingy and needy spider monkey. Not that I cared. I’d do this every single night to come. Once we were done, he carried me to bed.

  “Aaron,” I whispered after he tucked me under his light comforter. We were facing each other, my hands were below my cheek, and only our feet were touching. “I’m glad you came with me to Spain.” I heard him release a shaky breath as my own words seeped in, although they didn’t really do justice to how I actually felt. “Not because our plan worked. I’m actually happy that you were there with me. I’m … more than happy. I don’t think I told you, so I wanted to let you know.”

  His hand cupped my cheek, his thumb brushing my jaw and lips.

  “Are you glad too, Aaron?” I asked him as I covered his palm with mine.

  “I don’t think I can put into words just how much.” He brought my hand to his mouth and skimmed his lips over the back of it. “And it’s not only because I somehow managed to get you exactly where you are.”

  “Right into your bed?” I inched closer, my thighs now brushing his.

  He tugged at my hand some more, encouraging me to move even closer. “Yes. But right here with me too. Exactly where I have always wanted you.”

  I hummed, sparks of happiness flaring up in my chest. “They loved you, you know?” I moved my head into the space between the underside of his jaw and his collarbone. “I mean, I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but it’s kind of hard not to.”

  I placed a kiss on his skin, wondering how I had not realized this myself a long time ago. How … loyal and caring and soft he was beneath all that frowning and scowling. Although maybe I had. Maybe that would explain why I had been so hurt over him brushing me aside. Over him not wanting anything to do with me. Over him not letting me in. I shook my head. It didn’t matter. Not now.

  “My mom has never talked so highly about someone. Isabel told me she wouldn’t shut up about you. Aaron speaks Spanish so well. Aaron is so tall and handsome. Aaron has the bluest eyes I have ever seen. Have you seen Aaron smiling at our Lina like that? He came all the way from America to meet us. And she wasn’t the only one. I was scared Abuela would try to steal you away from me, I swear. She was so … enamored; it kind of got a little awkward at some point.” I laughed lightly at the memory. “Do you think I’ll have to fight my own grandmother over you?”

  Expecting him to chuckle, I was shocked when a deep sigh left him instead.

  I looked up at him, not able to discern much in the dark. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

  “There’s nothing wrong, baby.” His voice was coated with a kind of emotion I didn’t quite understand.

  I tugged at the fabric of his shirt, encouraging him to tell me.

  He sighed again. “It’s just that … I’ve never had that. Not ever. Your family is so …”

  “Messy? Loud? Kind of overstepping all the time?”

  “They are but in the best kind of way.” He paused, his hand coming to the back of my head. Long fingers brushed my hair down. “The closest I’ve ever come to that was when it was the three of us, and somehow, I forgot what it was like.”

  My chest hurt at hearing that, and I came even closer to him, wishing I could take all that pain away from him. Wishing I could breathe a little warmth into him.

  “Your family loves you, and that’s a kind of bond you can’t force. It’s a kind of love one doesn’t find anywhere else. It can be overwhelming, but that’s only because it’s always honest. And being part of that, even if only for a few days, meant … the world. More than you could ever know.” His lips fell on my hair with a fierceness that hadn’t been there before. “I wasn’t pretending, Catalina. Not for a minute. It was all real for me. That’s why it meant so much.”

  “Aaron,” I breathed, not really knowing what to say. How to explain the uprising inside of me.

  “So, it’s me, the one who’s glad. The one who’s fucking relieved you took me and not someone else with you. I’m the one who’s thankful.”

  I swallowed, trying my best to push back the unfiltered joy threatening to flood my system and rob me of my next breath. “You don’t ever have to thank me for something like that, Aaron. You never have to.”

  His chin fell on top of my head, and I felt his exhale on my hair. “I do, baby. I do.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  “Oh my God, you look like you just came out of a sex marathon.”

  “Rosie,” I hissed, smacking her arm.

  Her cheeks turned red, and both her hands jumped to her mouth.

  We were on the coworking space floor of the building at lunchtime, so more than a few tables were occupied with groups of people enjoying their break. We had been lucky to snatch one that sat close to the floor-to-ceiling windows.

  My friend looked around, her hands freeing her lips. “Shit, I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

  “It’s okay.” I snickered. She looked so flustered; it was even cute. “No need to apologize.”

  “It’s just that you look all glowy and ruffled.” She kept her voice low and quiet.

  “You can stop whispering, Rosie.”

  “Okay,” she whispered again. I rolled my eyes, and she cleared her throat. “So, you guys are not keeping it a secret or anything, right?”

  “I … guess we are trying to figure that out.” I shook my head. “But there’s a difference between not keeping it a secret and broadcasting to everybody that I just got laid.”

  “You are right. Sorry.” Some of the pink returned to her cheeks. “It’s your hair, seriously. It looks …” Her hand spun in the air in an overexaggerated way.

  “It’s really windy today, okay?” I passed my hands down my chestnut locks, trying to tame them. I lowered my voice. “It’s not like we are constantly going at it like animals.”

  Although we sort of were. We had done exactly that earlier this morning. Just as soon as the alarm went off. Both of us equally voracious and greedy with each other the moment we had opened our eyes to a tangle of arms and legs.

  Only thinking about his hands and—

  “Oh my gosh,” Rosie loud-whispered.

  I zeroed back in on her and found her green eyes widening.

  “You are thinking of it right now, aren’t you?”

  I didn’t bother to deny it; she knew me well enough to catch me on a lie.

  “In the office?” she gasped. “It’s only noon.”

  “No,” I gasped back, although a spark ignited something low in my belly at the thought of office sex. Damn, am I sex-crazed? “Back at his place.” I shrugged my shoulders, unpacking the bagel we had grabbed on our way to work. It felt weird, thinking of Aaron and me as a we who picked up lunch and headed into work together. No, the flutter in my stomach didn’t say weird. It said different. Light-headed, butterflies-in-my-tummy different.

  She searched my face for a long moment, making me frown. Then, her lips tugged up, breaking into a sunny grin. “Wow. You have it so bad.”

  Maybe I do, I thought, biting into my bagel. “So, what did I miss, Rosalyn?”

  “Nuh-uh.” She popped open a metallic container, revealing a rice salad, topped with some greens. “No time to talk about my boring life or work. Things are the same. Start talking right freaking now, friend.” She dug a fork into her food, a little too forcefully. “I want all the details. And don’t leave out the cheesy, swoonworthy ones.”

  My mouth opened with a complaint.

  “Again, no. Don’t you even dare tell me there aren’t a few movie-worthy moments because I’ll unfriend you.”

  Plopping my bagel on the table, I sighed dramatically.

  “Spill the beans, Catalina
Martín.”

  “Damn, since when are you this bossy?” I asked her right before she pointed at me with her fork while she shot me a dagger or two with her eyes. “Okay, okay.” I lifted my hands in the air, took a deep breath in, and then started reciting every single thing that had gone down between Aaron and me. Keeping the name of our soon-to-be boss out, just in case.

  Once my friend was all caught up—and if her shit-eating grin was saying anything, she was more than satisfied with what she had heard—I snatched back my bagel and resumed my lunch.

  “Fuck, Lina,” she said through her ear-to-ear smile.

  I flinched. “Rosalyn, did you just swear”—I blinked—“while grinning like a Cheshire cat?”

  “Fuck yes, I did, you goddamn idiot.”

  Jaw hanging open, I watched her look around, lifting the few things we had lying on the table and putting them right back where they had been, an unconvinced expression on her face.

  “What the hell are you doing?” My throat worked, trying to pass down my bagel.

  “Looking for something I can throw at your head,” she answered nonchalantly. But that grin was still there.

  Is this angry Rosie? It was unsettling.

  “Maybe if I did, I’d knock some sense into your hard head. Although from what you are telling me, you are not only stubborn, but also pretty darn blind. So, really, I am at a loss here. I just want to smack you and see what happens.”

  My mouth snapped shut. “Smack me? That’s where your loyalty lies, so-called friend?”

  She leveled me with a look that immediately sobered me up. “Lina.”

  As I released a breath, my shoulders fell with defeat. “I know, okay? I deserve some of that smacking.” I knew how fucking dumb I had been. How blind and stubborn. I knew she was right. But I was also starting to understand what I felt for Aaron and how big and scary it was. “Rosie, I think … no. I know that I—”

  “Oh no,” she cut my words off.

  And at the same time, a head popped up in my field of vision.