Was it possible for a threatening, computerized voice to be gentle? Because it sounded like it.
How did heknow? Not only had he sensed I wasn’t that into it, but he stopped me.
Graham was never like that.
“I’m sorry…” I shifted on my knees, the casket bruising. “It’s just the logistics of this are severely glossed over in the books.”
Void rubbed his collarbone, like he was trying to suppress a smile. “Logistics.”
“Yeah, like, I can’t stop thinking about where that knife has been. Or this bone. Like, is it properly sanitized?Canit be properly sanitized? How porous is it?—”
Void’s gloved hand landed between my thighs, cutting me off. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move. His palm was so big, I felt completely at his mercy.
He cupped me, ever so slightly. “It’s sanitized.”
Void removed his hand.
“Oh.” I swallowed. “Good. But, I mean, like,whosegrave is this?” I gestured beneath me. “What if the person in it, like, I don’t know, liked the Netflix season ofGilmore Girls?”
I swore he laughed, but it was quickly smothered. “Never seen it.”
My eyes popped, momentarily forgetting I was in a graveyard, having almost fucked myself with a bone. Because,what? “You’veneverseenGilmore Girls? That’s a crime.”
“Told you I was a criminal.” He shrugged one shoulder, and the motion was almostsoft.
Silence fell, and I once again wished I could see something of him—even if it was just a real look at the tattoo on his neck.
The ends of my honey-blonde hair lifted off my shoulders with another cold, winter breeze. The logistics of the sexy outfit had also been severely glossed over. I was freezing. Barefoot.
And I was becoming deeper and deeper aware that I was still in a grave. That I’d met this man for sex. And instead we were just sitting here.
In silence.
“I was my high school’s mascot,” I said, needing to break the silence. “I had to wear a full body suit, and it was so fucking hot. I hated it. I was always so sweaty after and could barely breathe. And I had to act like I was fine, when inside I was starting to hallucinate from the heat…” I trailed off. “Anyway, I keep wondering if that’s what’s happening to you.”
This time, he did laugh.
“It’s a little hot,” he admitted.
Another silence stretched, demarcated by the crackle of dead leaves skittering across bone-dry winter grass.
“I’m sorry,” I said, rubbing my neck, eyes darting back to the casket. “I’m ruining this. I just… I thought I would be cooler. This is totally not hot, not what you signed up for. I just?—”
It was on the tip of my tongue to sayyou’re the first one since my fiancéwhen Void’s forefinger crooked beneath my chin, lifting my gaze back up.
“Don’t apologize for having a boundary, Shay.”
My brow pinched as I studied him. Whowasthis guy?
Of all the things I expected my masked stalker to say, it wasn’tthat.
“I don’t want this to be over,” I said.
I didn’t want to leave. I just—I don’t know. What did my sister say about going from the kiddie pool to the Mariana Trench overnight?
Void tilted his head in a way that was like a lion finding its prey tripping over a patch of grass.
How cute.
