An explosion won’t help.
“What are you hiding, huntress?”
“What are you hiding, killer?”
I step toward her. She steps back, until the counter hits her ass, and there is nowhere for her to go.
“You won’t again, huh?” I ask, encroaching on her personal space and taking up all the oxygen around her until I control when she breathes. My body hovers over her until a buzzing shoots between us, increasing her pulse.
She licks her lips.
I run mine over my teeth hungrily.
“I won’t—I won’t hurt her. Not after what she’s done for me.”
“What if I told you it didn’t hurt her?”
“It does. She loves you.”
She’s probably right that Phoenix loves me, but it can’t be true. Phoenix is too smart to have already fallen for my dumb ass.
“And if she were to stop caring about me? What then?” I breathe over her lips, tempting her to close the gap.
“Then…” she purrs but doesn’t answer.
“How do you feel, huntress?” My thumb touches her swollen lip, begging her to give in to me. To want me. To let down her guard so I can figure her out. “What do you want?”
My tongue darts out of my mouth to taste hers.
She closes her eyes as my tongue brushes against her lip. They fly back open a second later.
“No.” She puts her hand on my chest and pushes me hard. “You can tease me, tempt me, lust after me, but it’s a waste of time. I don’t regret what we did. I thought we were going to die in that tower. But things are different now. I won’t hurt the mother of my child.”
The mother of her child. The mother of my child.
I take a deep breath and sigh.
“Then I guess I’m the bigger monster between the two of us because I want to sin with you no matter who it hurts.”
5
Liesel
I’m stronger than I ever imagined. It took every bit of my strength to resist Langston. The wetness of his tongue against my lip, the heat from his breath, the pull of my soul. My body comes alive when I’m with Langston. I’ve never felt so alive as when he’s inside me. And I’ll never feel that alive again.
I meant what I said—never again.
I will take the memories with me forever, but that’s all I’ll take.
Langston’s words will taunt me, though. They beg me to give in, and I’m sure his latest attempt was only the beginning. I can’t be alone with him. I’m strong, but I’m not strong enough to keep saying no. Especially not now that I know how it feels to be with him.
I hear footsteps upstairs—Phoenix getting the kids ready. If I could make him fall in love with her, I would. It would be better for everyone.
All I can focus on now is the threat made against Atlas. My entire life has been about keeping him safe. It’s the only thing I’ve succeeded at, and I’ll do everything I can to keep him safe.
Langston is desperate to know what the note said, but it’s my burden to bear. It’s my fault Atlas is in danger. And Langston knowing will just get him killed.
Monsters come in all shapes and sizes, but they all hide in the dark. Creeping through the shadows, pretending that they have the power to destroy, but that makes them easier to catch. This monster left a clue as to who he is. Now, all that’s left to do is to decide if I want to set a trap and catch the monster or give in to his demands.