Vain - Part Two (The Vain Series Book 2) Read Online Free

story would hold much more weight than mine.
    "Tell me your version of reality, Alexa."
     

Chapter 5
     
    I feel like a caged animal that is about to get pushed to its limits by an aggressive, skillful handler. "It's in my past." I run my hand along my hip, pressing it into the soft denim of my jeans.
    "It didn't look like it was your past when I saw you two together in New York."
    Another woman might have given in to the overwhelming desire to snap back at him. He's trying to pull me into a web. A web where I'll confess to him that I love Brighton and that seeing him in New York has unhinged the deepest parts of my heart. "Noah." My foot taps hard against the wood floor. "What I had with Brighton ended when I left Paris. It was before I met you."
    "He's one of my oldest friends." His mouth tightens. "He's also an asshole."
    I watch as he pulls his tall lean body from the couch. He takes a step towards me. I want to agree with his declaration. Brighton is an asshole but looking at Noah's beautiful face, and seeing the pain within his eyes, makes me wish that Brighton Beck would just drop off the face of the earth.
    "You don't have anything to add, Alexa?" He moves closer. "Tell me if you still want him."
    I shake my head slightly from side-to-side as he narrows the gap between us. "I don't want him."
    "He wants you."
    "I don't want him," I repeat as he steps even closer. "I don't."
    "You loved him." It's a declaration, not a question. "He told me you loved him."
    "It feels like a lifetime ago." I take a step back, needing to separate my insatiable desire for his body from my need to stay level headed. "I fell in love with who I thought he was."
    "Who do you think he is now?"
    I take a shaky breath. "Someone who is bad for me. Someone who lied to me."
    "What about me?" He crosses his arms across his broad chest. "Am I bad for you?"
    I nod slowly. "You left me there alone. You abandoned me in New York City."
    He rubs wearily at his forehead. "I had to calm down. The thought of his body inside of you," he hisses the words out through clenched teeth. "If I would have come to that hotel room, Alexa, I would have said things that hurt you. I would have lashed out at you."
    "You didn't call or text to tell me what was going on." I pat my hand over my chest trying to slow my racing heartbeat. "I stayed awake all night waiting for you."
    "He touched all of that." His chin bows as his eyes rake over my body. "He's tasted it. He's come inside of you." A thick vein pulses in his neck. "He owned that heart."
    I push my hand against my chest wishing I could stall my heart for a beat. "Not any more. It was so long ago."
    "I had to decompress." His hand jumps into the air before he pulls it into a tight fist. "I had to get away from Brighton and from you. I had to process it all."
    "You made me feel like shit," I spit out. "You just took off."
    "I had to." His gaze hardens. "I knew if I didn't, I'd fuck it up with you. I'd say things… things you'd never forgive me for."
    "Things about how stupid I was in Paris?" I'm not looking for a verbal confirmation; I can see the agreement in his eyes.
    He steps forward again, his muscular chest and arms on full display. "You and I are more alike than you realize, Alexa."
    I feel the hard wooden door against my back and I realize I'm trapped in that web he's been weaving for me. "How so?" I pull my tongue across my bottom lip.
    His left hand jumps to cup my cheek as his right hand falls to my hip. He's towering over me, his eyes so dark and haunting. "We both fell in love with the wrong person."
    I nod replaying in my mind the tender confession he made about loving a woman who was devoted to someone else. "We did," I whisper back, my eyes fixated on his mouth.
    He sucks in a heavy breath before his mouth brushes over mine. My hands jump to his shoulders to gain balance. I reach out to deepen the kiss and he pulls me into his body. A deep, low growl pours from within him and into me. I feel my breasts