“My arraignment,” Cold replied. “At which I will be released on bail and most likely placed on house arrest.”
“How can you possibly fucking know that?” Jimmy groaned, reaching down to pull his underwear up.
“Because I do.”
Jimmy, grimacing when he realized he was still sticky with Cold’s cum and it was quickly drying, glared at him. “Let me guess. You remembered lube, but you purposely got nothing for me to clean up with?”
“Maybe I like the idea of you sitting there covered in my cum,” Cold said smugly. “A reminder that you need to trust me... and that you’re mine even when we’re apart.”
Jimmy got his pants back up with a soft sigh. The dried cum was tugging at his hair, and it was uncomfortable. His cock was still ridiculously hard and had to be tucked up into his waistband so he could sit down. “You’re really going to make me wait until tomorrow to freakin’ get off? You’re insane.”
“I’m confident,” Cold corrected sternly.
“What if I decide to jerk off anyway?” Jimmy taunted.
“I’ll know if you do,” Cold warned, his gaze dangerously intense as he met Jimmy’s eyes. “If you wait for me, I promise that you’ll be rewarded. Should you fail me, well, then you’d have to be punished.”
Jimmy’s cock twitched at the thought.
“Do you understand, Mr. Poe?”
“Yes,” Jimmy said, sweeping his hand through his hair to fix what a mess it probably was. “And thank you.”
“For what?” Cold quirked his brows.
“For trusting me,” Jimmy said with a bright smile. “I know you’ve always tried to protect me from what you are and the things you do, but Rod? I already know.”
“You knew that I had stabbed someone a hundred and twenty-seven times and buried their body in cement with the knife still in his eye socket?” Cold drawled.
“Holy shit, a hundred and twenty... Jesus freakin’ Christ!” Jimmy shuddered. “I’m not even going to ask how you remember exactly how many. No, no, it doesn’t matter! Even though I didn’t know what you did, I meant that I know what you’re capable of and I still don’t care.”
“No?”
“It doesn’t change who you are when we’re together,” Jimmy said, taking Cold’s hands in his. “It doesn’t change the man you are inside, the man I love, and the man that I will eventually marry one day.”
Cold thought all of that over for a moment, asking curiously, “So, if I were to try and propose to you right now...”
“My underwear is currently stuck to my butt with your freakin’ cum. I’m going to say no.”
“Fair enough.”
Cold knocked on the door for Christine to come back in. She said nothing about Jimmy’s obviously disheveled appearance, sitting down and getting right back to business.
“Your arraignment will be tomorrow morning,” Christine said curtly. “Nine o’clock. The prosecution is pushing to get this case to trial as quickly as possible. They’ve been preparing their evidence for weeks.”
“And I’ve been preparing for years,” Cold said with a cool smile. “I am going to destroy their case, piece by piece. Starting with Thirdsies’ testimony.”
“You have the original recording, don’t you?” Christine accused.
“I may have thought that a copy of it would prove useful.”
“Then where is it? I need it, Roderick.”
“It’s safe,” Cold said. His sharp tone indicated he would not discuss it further.
“The DNA evidence is a problem.” Christine opened the briefcase again and flipped through some papers. “It’s on the blade as well as the handle. Are we claiming self-defense?”
“Not going to be necessary.”
