“We don’t have to discuss it again.” She moves farther along the corridor.
“Bold of you to say that, walking around this place with my cum inside you. You told me it wouldn’t be the only time we fucked. Did you mean that, or were you lying?”
“Are you saying I owe you more sex?” Her tone is deadly calm. “As if you have some sort of claim on me now?”
“A claim on you?” I savor the words. “A claim on the pussy of the exquisite and talented Devilry. A debt of sex owed to me, Ravager, to be collected when and where I choose. I won’t lie, sweetheart, I like the sound of that.”
It’s a joke. A stupid one, because there’s a thread of truth in it that she senses immediately, and it makes her whole being revolt.
She whirls so fast that I instinctively raise my hands. She’s aiming the cannon at me, her teeth biting at the swollen part of her lower lip.
I look into her stormy gray eyes. “Are you going to kill me, love?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
She’s seriously thinking about it, having a moment similar to what I went through yesterday, when I slid my knife between her ribs. Among people like us, there’s a visceral terror of trusting someone too far, of becoming pathetically vulnerable. Sometimes it’s easier to destroy the thing we want rather than risking the pain of its loss.
“Kill me, and you’ll have to face it all alone,” I say calmly.
“I’ve been alone before.”
“So have I. It’s not something I would choose.”
She stares at me, teeth clenched, the fire of indecision raging in her gaze.
“We’re a team at the moment,” I say. “The thief’s code says—”
“Fuck the code. There’s no one here to witness me breaking it. Our alliance is tenuous at best, Ravager. You know this. Now that I have the weapon, I don’t need you. Not that I ever did. You should never have been here. You ruined fuckingeverything.”
“It’s a talent of mine.”
“Stop making jokes.”
My smile falters. “Can’t help it.”
“You can’t, can you? Because that’s how you cope with how miserable you really are. You cover it up with humor and flirting and laughter, but inside you’re darker and lonelier and more violent than I am. You’re not the cheerful rogue and talented criminal you portray yourself to be—you’re a careless man, a mediocre thief who works with horrible people, men I’d sooner kill than speak to. You’re a true villain.”
So she does see me, exactly as I hate to be seen.
All the light rushes out of my heart, leaving my chest as dark and cavernous as she claims it is. The ruined, wicked Ravager in my soul springs to snarling life.
My thumb flicks over the ring on my index finger, triggering a puff of dust and a single spark.
I shut my eyes against the bright flash that fills the hallway, and I dart forward as Devilry cries out in shock. My hands close over the weapon and I wrench it from her grasp. She’s still blinking from the flash powder, so I set the weapon down before shoving her up against the wall, pinning both her wrists.
“Fuck you!” she screeches, writhing and bucking.
My entire body is pulsing with cruel desire, aching to crush her into submission beneath me. “Stop fighting me, Devilry.”
She lunges and clamps her teeth on my right earlobe. I yell as she bites deep, nearly detaching it. But she doesn’t finish the job. Despite her bold talk, she’s too merciful for that.
I press my face to hers, snarling against her mouth. “You want an easy way out because you feel it too, this thing between us. It doesn’t fit with the persona you’ve created for yourself, this image of the noble thief who only robs assholes. Guess what, sweetheart—not all of us have the luxury to choose exactly the jobs and the partners we want. Some of us are just trying to fucking survive.”
Devilry twists, nearly escaping my grip. I shove my body against her harder, until we’re sealed together from thigh to chest. Recklessly I grind my hips, making sure she feels my erection.
“Let me go,” she hisses.
“How bad am I, Devilry?” My lips skim across hers, every word hot and bitter. “How far do you think I’ll go? I could kill you now. I couldtakeyou now—” I shudder against her. “I would commit murder to get inside you again.”
