My tongue weighs heavy in my mouth, absorbing all the moisture within, making my voice come out tight and small. “No.”
He tsks, and I can just imagine him pacing inside the faceless cottage, a wicked smirk on his face. Enjoying how he riles me up, maybe even palming himself as he considers his fantasies.
Between my thighs, an ache flares, dull and pulsing. Needy. I shift in the seat, checking to see if Luca is anywhere near done yet—he’s not, although he does at least spare me a single glance, turning his head just as quickly, making me wonder who the hell he’s talking to.
“Lying is a terrible disease.” His voice drops, dipping into a smooth caress, making me tremble. My fingers grip the phone tightly, keeping it from falling from my hand. “Am I going to have to cure you, kitten? Fuck the denial straight from your body? Break you open with my cock and steal your tired little soul?”
I can’t speak—my breath hitches, my chest heaves, and my stomach warms at his words. And even though it’s not actually beenthatlong since I’ve been fucked, something tells me the experience would be entirely different with Kieran.
Satisfying in a way it’s never been with anyone else.
Which makes me positively sick, because he’s essentially threatening me with violence. But Christ on a cracker, no one’s ever said anything hotter. No one’s ever been able to turn me into a quivering puddle just with the sound of their voice.
“I hear you breathing. Quick, labored breaths that tell me everything I need to know. So, are you ready to tell me who’s had you this week?”
“No one,” I say on an exhale, hating the way I cave. Hating how it makes me feel simultaneously aroused and weak.
“You’re sure? No one else?”
“No.”
He hisses, but I can’t tell exactly why. “Good girl. In that case, I’ll forgive your little outburst tonight if you agree to do one thing for me.”
“I’m already on the hook with you, I’m not sure I should be adding to the list.”
The shadow reappears in the window, and this time it pulls the left corner of the curtain aside, and I can almost make out his bright, gemstone eyes in the dark. Which is crazy, since I’m over a hundred feet away and tucked between the trees, but still. I know he’s there, looking.
What do you see?
“Go out with me.”
My eyebrows shoot into my hairline, anxiety rising in my throat, clogging my windpipe. I catch a glimpse of Luca from the corner of my eye as he switches his phone off, stuffs it in his pocket, and makes his way back to the car. “What?”
“Honestly, Juliet, I don’t make a habit of repeating myself.”
“I don’t think I can—”
“I’m not requesting your presence, love. I’m demanding it. Go out with me or I’ll give your necklace to my terminally ill mother. Ever asked a dying person to return a gift? It feels like getting sucked into a black hole and never being able to find your way out.”
Luca’s at the side of the vehicle, yanking open his door and climbing back into his seat. He glances at me as I shrink into the opposite door, dropping my voice to a whisper. “What’s wrong with your mom?”
“Go out with me and maybe you’ll find out.” I bite my lip, aware of the way Luca’s head tilts, straining to hear my conversation. I tuck myself even farther into the door, trying to shield it from him, carefully considering my response.
I want the necklace back; every day that passes without it fills me with unending dread, making me feel like an asshole for losing the only gift anyone ever gave me.
But is it worth selling my soul?
“Juliet,” Kieran continues before I’ve spoken again. “If you don’t agree in three seconds, I’m coming outside.”
Everything inside me freezes, and my gaze darts to the curtains; he’s pulled them back entirely, so I can see the faint outline of his hard, lean body and nothing else. Like an angel of death lying in wake.
Luca’s watching now, too, his hand reaching for the .22 strapped into his belt.
“What are you—”
“Don’t play dumb and don’t fucking lie again.”
That sharpness is back, the dominant, unwavering edge making me dizzy with unbidden desire. Making me feel like the only thing I can do is agree. “Okay.”