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“Of course I’m angry,” I respond, shoving at his chest, but he remains as unyielding as a boulder. “You just summarized my entire life in one breath, in a tone that was anything but interested. This is my life.”
“And I’m protecting it,” he snarls, leaning so close that his lips brush mine as he speaks. “You unwittingly jeopardized this entire town the moment you dialed the police.”
“How was I supposed to know?” I snap back, the tension between us escalating.
His nostrils flare—a telltale sign that I’ve struck a nerve. “You weren’t meant to know,” he admits, his voice tense.
“You really would have left me in the dark?” I scoff.
“I assumed you’d leave,” he replies darkly.
“You really thought I’d pack up Milo and move him to another town to start all over?”Again,goes unspoken, but I feel the thought nonetheless.
“It is your pattern.”
“You prick.” I shove at his unmovable chest once more.
“You’re quite the charmer,” he quips with a mix of irritation and a hint of admiration as he grabs my hands. “Thousands of people depend on me, Charlotte. I’m not here to be pleasant,” he admits, his tone softer, despite his pointed words. “You weren’t meant to be on duty that night, and Harlow should have known better.”
Realization dawns on me, a thought that forces its way to the forefront of my mind. Did Harlow purposely schedule me to work that night so I would uncover the town’s bloody secret? I bite my tongue, refraining from voicing the question to Desmond. Can I even trust his answer? Perhaps I’ll need to talk to Harlow later and ask for answers.
Agent Hayes’ words resurface in my memory, a stark reminder of his suspicions. “Agent Hayes—”
“Is a problem,” he snarls. “My problem. Stay away from him, Charlotte.”
“Or what?” I taunt, allowing all my frustration, fear, and anticipation to surge forth, a reckless wave meant to test the limits of this man’s restraint. “You’ll end me? Erase me from existence? Bury me within my own garden?”
His laughter sweeps through me like the finest red wine and the softest silk sheets. He presses his body against mine so tightly that breathing becomes a challenge. His lips graze my ear as he bites down, his whisper sending a shock of both exhilaration and trepidation coursing through me. “Oh, Charlotte, never think that I would end your life, but I will certainly bind you to my bed, where you’ll remain until I’ve stripped every trace of insolence from you.”
A gasp escapes me as he licks my earlobe, the sensation igniting my nerves, sending my pulse racing as my thighs clamp together. An unbidden whimper slips past my lips, and a quiver of arousal courses through my body.
His chuckle is tinged with dark knowledge, a keen understanding of the power he wields over me. “You crave that, don’t you? The idea of me parting your thighs and tasting you from the apex of your need.” He shifts his knee between my legs, applying a delicious pressure that makes my hips respond involuntarily. “Tell me, Charlotte” —his voice lowers, heavy with promise— “do you want that?”
In that charged moment, all I can do is catch my breath, my mind whirling with desires I’ve barely allowed myself to acknowledge. “Yes.” I grind my teeth as I flirt with the living embodiment of death himself.
“But that’s not what you’ll be getting, now is it, Charlotte?” His voice is a velvet caress as he leans his forearm against the wall. “You know why, don’t you? Tell me, kitten.”
My mind races to make sense of his words, to decipher the layers of meaning woven into his question. “What?” I whisper, my confusion merging with the growing tension.
“Why won’t you get what you desire, Charlotte?” His tone drips with playful teasing, as if my desire is a game he delights in.
“Because I pried,” I confess, my admission punctuated by a moan as his thigh presses against me, intensifying the sensation between my legs.
“That’s right, but that isn’t the only reason why.” He nips my lip, tugging my bottom lip down and teasing the cut Lyric left there. “When I spread you out on my bed, it’ll be because you are ready for me to call you mine, Charlotte, and you aren’t ready for that.”
He retreats, leaving me breathless against the wall, my chest heaving and my eyes fixed on the moon above—an unspoken witness to our tangled desires.
“Youwantme,” I muse aloud, my gaze shifting to the man pressing his body against the opposite wall.
“I’ve desired you since the moment you stepped into my diner for the first time,” he confesses, his admission resonating in the charged air between us.
With a finger pressed to my lips, I trace the phantom sensation of his kiss. I yearn for more and crave it deeply, but he’s right—I’m not prepared for him to stake a claim on me. I don’t understand what it means or the implications for us. He’s more than just dangerous, there’s a darkness lurking in his gaze, a shadow he conceals from me. Although I’m tempted to unravel that darkness and uncover the secrets he hides, just as he’s unraveling me, I have Milo to consider.
“The first time?” I question, my curiosity insatiable.
“I remember. You entered with Milo, worn out and weary. You only looked at him, oblivious to the dangers around you.” His voice carries a growl of both frustration and resentment.
“Why are you angry?” I ask, genuinely puzzled.
