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“What? What are you thinking?” I ask.
“Well, if you were drugged...”
“I don’t do drugs. I didn’t do anything. Shit, I couldn’t even afford to eat.” I look up at him, and sadness washes over him. “Don’t pity me. I am who I am because of my past, as much as anyone else.”
“I know that. Of course, I know that. But it’s just thinking of you without anyone in your corner...It hurts my fucking soul, Carina.”
I notice he’s called my name, instead of some nickname as he usually does, and it’s causing vibrations to move through my belly. And they’re traveling southward.
“If I was drugged, somehow, or had a concussion, can I trust anything I remember?” I ask.
He pushes his hood back, running his hands through his unruly hair.
Seeing him unkempt does something to me. And I have to remind myself of the situation I’m in. Though all I can think about are his veiled threats to make me bleed for him, and my body heats at the thought.
He turns towards me. “Yes, you could be seeing bits and pieces, and your mind is trying to make sense of it all, and...” He trails off, looking at me and narrowing his brows. “Little one, please, don’t look at me like that. Because I’m trying to give you space, and there will be no space between us if you keep it up.”
I realize I was lost in thought, biting my lip, and letting my mind wander to a dark and dangerous place. I straighten and clear my throat and my head. “How is bursting in here with a loaded weapon giving me space.”
He looks down at his boots. “My darker nature got the better of me. I was headed to Ryker’s house, and I saw the blinds, and I couldn’t help but to come over here. When I saw you with him...” He growls, and it does nothing for the heat accumulating at my center.
“Wait,” I put a hand up, “why were you going to Ryker’s?” All the dirty thoughts of what I’ve done with this man drift away, replaced with intrigue.
“I had a case I had to...fix earlier, and his name came up. Seems your neighbor is a little dirtier than he lets on. He’s doing favors for people for money. Well, at least that’s what I think he’s doing. I was going to start looking into him, starting tonight, but I got distracted.”
“Because my blinds were open,” I say absently, looking over towards them.
He nods. “You were trying to shut me out.”
His realization makes my chest sting with emotion. I had been. But then I’d been yearning for him to try and weasel his way back in. Because whether I like it or not, he’s slowly branding his mark on me. And it’s one I want to wear proudly. Regardless of what’s happened before.
Because, like I already told him, the past made me.
“I can’t... You don’t have to stay away,” I admit sheepishly, and his answering smirk is delicately dark. The very definition of sinful.
“Oh, I don’t?” he asks, stepping towards me slowly. His movements make the old floors creak under his weight, and it speeds my heart up.
I shake my head.
“I’m still concerned that you have no sense of self-regard. You want to play with things you shouldn’t,” he says, and the gravel in his voice makes my hackles raise.
“I know. And I know I need to stop. Need to stay away from you. But you said you wouldn’t harm a hair on my head,” I recall as he looms over me once more.
“I did say that,” he agrees. “I didn’t say, however, I wouldn’t harm a hair on your body...”
A clicking sound makes me turn to look at his raised hand, where he’s just opened a blade. The light from the living room glimmers on its metal surface.
“No, you didn’t,” I whisper.
“I think that our next step is to question this Conner. Don’t you?” he asks, and I close my mouth, wetting my lips with my tongue and trying to find words.
Because he might be able to carry on, business as usual, while we stand this close. But I can’t. He’s short circuiting my brain, yet he wants to have a full-on conversation.
Get it together, this isn’t you!
I snap to attention, meeting his eyes, and letting thoughts of the sharp blade skimming across my skin flutter away.
“We?” I ask.
