That shuts her up, which is good timing since we’re about to enter a crime scene and I can’t have her interfering with my system.
“Ok, ground rules.” I plant both hands on her shoulders which mercifully breaks what I like to call the touch barrier, and grants me her full, undivided attention. “Don’t touch anything. Even when you climb inside, don’t put your gloves on the window. Don’t move anything out of place. Stand still, observe, ask as many questions as you want, but don’t interfere with the crime scene unless you want the police knocking down your door. Understood?”
With a little sass she says, “Yes, sir.” I’d love to fuck the sass right out of her and hear her call me sir in a very different way.
I slip inside the apartment first then give Noelle my hand to help steady her as she clambers in after me. Her gaze locks on the dead body immediately. Hard not to since he’s lying in the middle of the living room. Not to mention all the blood, that’s a bit of an eye sore.
There’s no fear in Noelle’s eyes, no grief over the lost soul, no trepidation at the sight of a corpse just a few feet away. She’s curious by nature and this entirely new experience seems to spark something in her brain that’s just out of reach.
Watching her wrestle with her moral compass and inquisitive mind is something to behold.
Now to find the heart. I can’t exactly remember where I left it in my panic. Losing a human heart isn’t something I do on a regular basis, I’m usually much more careful with the organs I take from my victims.
You wouldn’t think tracking down a bleeding heart in a small apartment would be that difficult but in the dark it’s like a game ofWhere’s Waldo.
Only in my case it’s a game ofWhere’s the Evidence?
Thinking back to the panic of trying to get out of here before I got caught, I retrace my steps and find the heart in the ziplock bag I stored it in sitting on the entryway table by the door.
“Bingo,” I congratulate myself on successfully finding evidence that could get me thrown in jail for the rest of my life.
Noelle cocks her head to the side as she asks, “You keep the hearts in a ziplock bag?”
“Yea. Why? Where do you keep yours?”
“In my chest where it will stay until I die of old age.”
“Or I cut it out,” I joke. When her eyes grow to the size of snowballs I placate her. “I’m kidding. I’m kidding. Your chest is way too pretty to cut into.”
A soft blush creeps over her nose and cheeks at the complement. “So you don’t kill the pretty ones?” She spars with me.
This time when I move closer, she doesn’t back away. A fire ignites in her eyes. Excitement. Good. I had a feeling she’d be into this. Not that I’m about to ravage her next to a dead body, though, that would be unsanitary.
In a moment of wild abandon, I shoot my hand up to her throat and encircle her pretty neck in my grasp. Her lips part, a shocked breath escapes her, but she doesn’t look terrified. No, she looks ready to combust. I wonder if she’s known the thrill turns her on or if this is all new for her.
“There’s a lot of other things I’d rather do with you. Killing you would be a waste.”
And to my utter delight and surprise, she replies, “Are you going to keep teasing me or are you going to kiss me already?”
Chapter Seven
Noelle
My audacity catches even me off guard.Who is this girl?I don’t go around hitting on strangers. And I certainly don’t get turned on by the threat of murder.
But every time Cole gets near me, his threats sound more like a promise of pleasure, not pain.
His eyes fall to my lips, his lids growing heavy with desire and I fully accept that I want him to kiss me. I want a serial killer to press his lips to mine and devour me. That was not on my bingo card this year but what’s life without a little recklessness?
His head lowers a fraction so our faces are just inches apart. He’s going to do it. We’re actually going to do this.I’mactually going to–
“Not here,” he breaks the moment. “Frank’s apartment kind of gives me the creeps.”
Glancing around the average space, I wonder what about this place gives a literal serial killer the creeps. You’d think nothing would scare the guy that goes bump in the night.
Taking my hand in his, Cole leads me back to the window as we both climb out. Careful not to touch anything, I let Cole close the windowand lead me back down the fire escape.
When we pass Rex and Mel’s place, the soft tune of vibration carries through the sound of their cries of ecstasy.
