“Excuse me?”
“You want to be a superhero, wielding Bob against the evils of this world? Well, I’m helping you right now. How is that selfish?”
“You are only doing it so the key to your freedom doesn’t escape you,” she shot back.
Okay, that was true, but the situation had become more complicated than that. I genuinely cared about Miranda’s ability to protect herself. But she’d hit a hot button, and I wasn’t up for admitting that.
Foolish little mortal scoffed at my attempt to help her? A million other people would beg for the chance to be favored by me. And she threw it back in my face.
“You’re damn right. I don’t want you fucking things up for me because you are too proud to get help. And that’s what I’m doing, helping you.” I said the words with as much condescension as I could muster. Fire flashed in her eyes. I’d pushed her too far.
“Please, you have nothing better to do. Is this really about making me spend time down here with you, so you don’t feel so lonely?”
She might as well have cut me through the heart.
The instant look of regret told me she knew she went too far.
“You’re right. I don’t have anything better to do. Maybe I do just want you down here, trapped in this cage with me. I want you for entertainment, Miranda. Because I’m so bored and lonely.” I laid the sarcasm as thick as a slab of butter on toast. Even so, I slunk toward her in lazy strides. Her back stiffened as she watched me approach.
“Although if I wanted you to help me pass the time, I could think of far more fun things to do than sparring.” I looked her up and down, not bothering the hide the hunger I felt.
“Stop,” she said, her tone stiff.
Even from a distance I could hear her heartbeat kick up. Fear? Or excitement?
“Maybe we could spend our time more pleasurably between deaths?”
What was I doing? Acting like a sexual predator, and I couldn’t even blame my crazy on this one. Miranda had simply frustrated me into wanting to cross lines. I wanted to cross all her lines. It was only fair, wasn’t it? A prisoner’s compensation?
I studied her from top to bottom. From the absolute perfection of those long, tight braids, to her luscious lips, to the fullness of her breasts, the flare of her hips, and to the impossibly white sneakers.
This anal-retentive woman needed someone to shake things up for her. She was as brittle as a twig from all her pent-up emotions, and she had no idea. And fuck if I didn’t want to be the one to break her.
Blood rushed south as I imagined what it would be like to get her to lose control. Could I get her to scream, to beg for more, as I pounded into her tight body?
Miranda’s gaze bounced between my crotch and my face. The loose pants did nothing to hide my sudden arousal.
“Don’t make me kill you,” she warned, holding Bob up. Fear shone in her eyes. Was she scared of me? No, she was scared of what our argument had morphed into.
“You are going to have to, or Miranda,” I said it slowly, licking my lips, “I’m going to kiss you so deep, I’ll taste your soul. And then there will be no hiding from me.”
Pain speared through my heart, taking my breath. We’d had quite a bit of time to recover from our sparring match, but Miranda was breathing as hard as if she’d run a mile.
Copper filled my mouth, and though I’m sure I looked gruesome, I couldn’t help but smile. Because I learned something Miranda may not be fully aware of. She wanted me. She wanted me badly.
ChapterSixteen
THE BADASS
What the fuck was I doing?
“A date, Miranda.” I muttered to myself. “You are going on a date. Like a normal woman with a normal life.”
My phone turned over and over in my hand. Last night I found one of my online matches was amenable to meet me for lunch.
The Mexican restaurant had brightly colored chairs and tables and mariachi music blared from the speakers. The place was relatively empty for a weekday at noon. It was my second day off and I’d found a totally new way to spend it.
After tossing and turning, dreaming of Xander, his hard body sliding against mine, in tandem with blood spurting out of his mouth from being stabbed, I got up extra early and hit the gym again. I’d gone until I’d exhausted myself, then cleaned up and showed up at the restaurant fifteen minutes early.
