Bullied Cinderella - Hollie Hutchins Page 0,27

with finding a vase for the flowers.

“Oh, good. You and your cousins do have a lot to apologize for,” I answered plainly.

“Ah...yeah. I suppose so. But I meant...I wanted to apologize for Leo.”

I froze at the sound of his name. “For...what, exactly?” My heart pounded in anticipation of his response. Sorry for the way he kissed me without asking? Or sorry for the way he didn’t hesitate to carry me off into the woods the second I didn’t pull away?

“I heard about the fence debacle, and I know he said some petty things at the party,” he explained sheepishly. “I’ll talk to him for you...See if I can’t get him to act right.”

I tried not to let my sigh of relief be too obvious. Hopefully, this all meant that Dario didn’t know the full extent of exactly what transpired over the fence. By the time I turned around from arranging the flowers, Dario was standing inches away. It was close and sudden - enough to startle me. But his face was nothing like Leo’s. He wasn’t outraged and looking to take it out on me. His features were tender and soft.

“You’ll have to forgive my cousins. And me. You see, none of us are accustomed to being around a woman who is not only beautiful but so intelligent and daring on top of that.”

His voice was soft and he kept his eyes locked intently on mine. I could feel a desire emanating off of him, and I didn’t pull away as much as I should have. It had less to do with Dario, and more to do with the fresh memories of Leo’s heat and his smell...the lingering burn of his touch. It was all so vivid that I could almost pretend any man standing in front of me was him.

My secret fantasies about Leo must have seemed like something else entirely to Dario because before I knew it he was pressing his lips to mine. It was the complete opposite of Leo’s passionate abrasiveness. It was sweet and gentle, and...a little dull. It was okay, but not enough to inspire the heated dreams that Leo gave me - the ones that kept me tossing and turning with desire for the remainder of the night.

Dario was respectful and pulled back with a quiet groan. “Can I see you again?” he asked immediately with his eyes closed. He seemed to be imagining what more could happen, rather than just taking it the way his cousin had.

To be honest, Leo’s method was much more thrilling and satisfying. But I had to remind myself of the purpose of all of this. I needed to rope each of them in close to me so I could find some way to destroy their reputations - something bigger than the rumors about the fence and whatever gossip I managed to spread at parties.

“Sure, Dario,” I faked a sweet smile. “I would enjoy seeing you again.”

9

Leonardo

I woke up to what I assumed was the splitting headache of a hangover, but I rapidly gathered it wasn’t an ache inside of my head at all. It was a dull throbbing pain to the side of my head conked out against something cold and hard. My ear was bent in on itself and stinging. I opened my eyes and slowly gathered the scent of grass, leaves, and dirt.

The stiffness of my joints and bones made it hard for me to pull myself up, but soon my body flooded with the warm sweet relief of remembering just how it was I came to be sleeping out in the middle of the woods. I remembered looking down at Lucia and hating her more than I had ever hated anyone in my entire life...and then being more aroused than I had ever been before. I wanted her with an insatiable, unquenchable kind of desire that I knew right then and there wouldn’t be quenched in the least until we just let go and acted on it.

What happened between us was just a drop in the bucket. The brewing flames were only encouraged now, and I was burning up with a need for more. The most unsettling feeling was...I didn’t know if there would be more. Lucia may have given into me for a moment, but women are different from men. Whatever stirred in my cock spoke far louder than anything reason or rationale in my brain. She on the other hand likely woke up, went home, and came to her senses. Her guard