Page 115 of A Wild Darkness

“I was thinking Harry.”

“Harry?”

“Yeah, we could make it look like a suicide, like what was supposed to happen with Larry,” I explain.

“Hmm. Yeah, especially if you’re trying to go for poetic justice,” Stevie teases, resting her head on my shoulder.

I chuckle.

Before long, she’s napping comfortably.

Sleep evades me because my mind is more active than I’d like it to be. And I’m completely surprised by how distracted I am with thinking through our next moves. Could River be right when he prefers to plan over going with the flow? Am I open to this?

There is no way I’m allowing any one of these killers to leave this season alive.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

STEVIE

I’m returning to Seattle a different person than when I left. Not only have I aided in the killing of two men, but I also gave in to the sexual tension between Sebastian and me. I have grown to care for him deeply in the time we’ve spent together. He’s complex and infatuating—and dare I say he understands me? Or is “handles” a better word?

Last night was insanity. The high I’m still riding is visceral. His energy pulses through my veins as if I’ve injected him for survival. It’s strange, but alarming at the same time. Are we together, together? Or was last night an explosion of long-awaited pent-up tension?

I have no idea. And I fear I’m worried to find out. I’m not the type of woman who falls in love every time she hooks up with a guy, but why did last night feel more than that? Being wrapped in his arms, the way he needed to stay inside of me to sleep, an erotically heady and intoxicating vibe I want more of.

All I can think of as I watch Sebastian carry our luggage into Thompson Manor is how soon can I experience it again?

“Thank you.” I tuck my hair behind my ear.

Sebastian throws me a knee-buckling smile over his shoulder, walking down the hall toward the West Wing.

“Wait. Where are you going?”

He turns to face me, but continues to walk backward. “My bedroom.”

“Why? Aren’t I staying in the East Wing?”

“Not anymore.”

My eyebrows snap together in confusion. “Wait, what?”

Poe rounds the corner from one of the rooms. Sebastian sets down our things, then crouches to the floor to pick up the kitten. “Hey, buddy. I missed you.”

Poe head-butts Sebastian’s face and meows a greeting.

“Sebastian.” I approach them, scratching Poe on the top of his head. “Why am I not staying in the East Wing anymore?”

He sets the cat onto the floor, and Poe walks back and forth between his legs before coming over to me. “I want you with me…”

My heart flutters. “You do?”

“Yes. You think this weekend was just a moment of fun?”

I glance away. “Maybe?”

Sebastian steps into me. With his arm looping around my lower back, he yanks me into him. “Not a chance.”

“I never said I wanted to give up my space.”