When my eyes refuse to move away from his hand, when my lips pop open and my tongue darts out to moisten them, when he makes his point – that I’m a prude with regrets – he stops at that same set of drawers from ten minutes ago, opens the third, and pulls out a fresh pair of jeans.
Penis bobbing, muscles rippling, he snags a fresh pair of boxers from the second and begins pulling them on. “Sorry, Blondie. You don’t mind, do you? I have to change boxers. Mine were a little…moist. I woke up to a pretty girl in heat.”
He’s trying to torment you. He’s looking for a reaction. Don’t give him a reaction!
Snapping the waistband of his boxers into place with a playful wink, he goes to work on the jeans, but his eyes don’t leave mine for a single second.
Bastard.
Bastard.
Bastard!
“Are you hungry?”
“No. I just want to go home.”
“I’ll drop you off up the street from the office. You can walk down to get your car and pretend you stayed wherever you stayed. I’ll follow you home to make sure your low blood pressure doesn’t kill you.”
“I don’t need you to follow me anywhere. I’m capable. I’m fine.”
Shrugging, he secures the button on his jeans and moves to the couch to collect his belt. Snapping it between his hands, pathetically, my body reacts in a way that shames me. “Fine. Your choice. Don’t come to this side of town again. This is twice we’ve met, and both times I’ve had to stop you from killing yourself.”
Enraged, I swing my arms like an idiot. “I didn’t come over here! Youbroughtme. You basically kidnapped me!”
“And now I’m releasing you. Don’t come back. Don’t go to Infernos again. My world isn’t like yours. You’re too soft to know the shit I know.”
“I’ll be back.” Like a promise, perhaps a warning, I pop my hands on my hips and pretend I’m not wearing his shirt.Crap! I’m wearing his shirt.Spinning, I find my suit coat on the floor between the bed and the wall. “I’ll be back, because I have a case to build.” I clumsily work my arms into the coat. “This is your warning, Bishop. Myfemaleboss and I will take Abel Hayes down. If you’re caught up in the mess… well, you’ve been warned not to play with those boys anymore. You’re sexy. Seriously, you are. Go dance for women for a living. You’d make a fortune, then you could move out of this crappy apartment and live onmyside of town.”
Shrugging his shirt on, he stalks closer. “Don’t come back, Jess. I’m not always at Infernos. I might be out… working. There are a million Lances, and I won’t always be there to protect you.”
“Lance.” So much for anger. That name alone turns me back into a helpless idiot in an alleyway. “He… I…”
“He won’t be a problem for you anymore. He’s gone.”
“Gone?” I try not to read the tattoos peeking above the neckline of Kane’s shirt, but it’s too tempting. Too taboo.‘What's your rush now, everyone will have his day to die.’“Gone where?”
“He’s dead.”
“He…” Blood roars in my head. Spots fill my vision until my legs turn weak and Kane jumps forward to catch me. I’m not an incompetent weakling. I’m not usually a damsel. But I just can’t keep up with this rollercoaster ride. “He’s dead? Like, actually deceased?”
He nods.
No words, because that would be an admission of guilt.
Just a nod.
“Was it… did he die of natural causes? Hit by a bus? Allergic to bees and got caught up in a killer swarm?”
Seriously, he stares into my eyes and shakes his head.
“Did Hayes do it?”
He shakes his head a second time.
“You?It was you?”
Lifting a brow, he releases my arms and forces me to stand on my own two feet. “Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answer to, Blondie. If it’ll hurt you, then I don’t wanna answer. If it’ll help you sleep better at night, then sure; I did it. He was going to kill you. He killed others this month. You were just one of a number. I rid the world of a monster; I’m not sorry.”