He turns, and when his gaze lands on me, a spark lights in his eyes. His lips curl—a little dangerously, a little sensually.
…That toxic wickedness coils and slithers in my core again. And Ilet it.
Bane slowly walks toward me, where I’ve stopped near the wall. He moves closer, then closer still. I step back, but he’s still coming nearer.
He’s almost right on top of me.
My pulse thuds in my chest. My throat works. Warning bells begin to blare in my head, but I’m not sure how to respond to them, even when my back suddenly hits the wall, stopping any possible retreat.
I don’t like men this close to me. Even him. Maybeespeciallyhim.
“Bane,” I blurt. “What are you?—”
“You look just like her, you know.”
Bane takes another step toward where I’m boxed into the corner.
“Somuch like her,” he murmurs.
I swallow again. “I?—”
He closes the remaining distance between us, his chest to mine.
“Bane,” I choke, beginning to tremble, my stomach twisting. “Please don’t?—”
I shudder as he presses me to the wall, his hands planted on either side of my head, utterly caging me in.
Everything slows down. Even the wind whistling up the side of the building next to me, and the twinkle of lights, and the dull hum of the traffic below.
My hands land flat on his chest, trying to push him away. But suddenly, without warning, the world stops turning.
Or at least, mine does.
Because suddenly,Bane iskissing me.
Savagely. Malevolently. Consumingly.
I feel fire. I smell smoke. I hear screaming and alarm bells caterwauling in my head.
I see lights flashing.
Then another. And another.
That wasn’t in my head. That’s real.
With every ounce of my strength, I shove him away, wrenching my mouth from his just as his tongue teases over my lips. I pull back with a choked sound…
And freeze when I come face to face with the guy taking pictures not ten feet away, and a second guy with a video camera right next to him.
What the fuck?—
My entire world narrows to the cold, brutal sensation of Bane’s fingers laced around my throat as he pins me hard to the wall, pure venom in his eyes.
He leans in close, and his lips brush my ear.
“Should have fucking jumped, little bird.”
5
