Evangelina moved past me, cheeks flaming red. Her ire was intoxicating, and I suppressed the grin fighting to the surface as she was so pissed, she’d want to cut off my dick. And I had other plans for her and that part of my anatomy.
Careful not to touch the device on her arm, I tugged her body flush to my chest.
“You haven’t answered my question.” My tone was softer now. “Why did you come to me, beautiful? Do I make you feel safe?”
She felt so goddamn good in my arms and against my body. Every dip and valley, that sweet, toned ass, and how I eclipsed her petite figure so wholly.
“Answer the question.”
She was tense, but made no effort to wriggle free.
“It was a last-minute decision. And you have heavy surveillance. Don’t flatter yourself, Cain. Like you said, I don’t know you, so there would be no other reason besides convenience.”
I dipped my mouth close to her ear, lips brushing the soft skin there, and whispered, “Liar.”
Evangelina shuddered, goosebumps scattering across her exposed flesh.
“Derek, why are you fucking with me?” Pushing out of my arms, she backed up against the cabinet, eyes holding no fear. Just a deep curiosity. “If you want us to leave, just say so.”
I slipped my hand inside my pockets and grinned. “Yeah, I would very much like your friend to be gone.” Evangelina nodded and put a hand on the doorknob. “You, however, should stay.”
She stilled, knuckles blanching against the brass handle. “I’m not staying.”
“You said it yourself; you could be in danger. Those men could go back to your home to finish what they started. And surely, you don’t expect me to babysit the girl, do you?”
Turning back around, Evangelina squared her shoulders. Despite her size, I could tell she had a fire to her. Without grit and a sharp tongue, she would have been hard-pressed to achieve her current status of local badass cop and detective.
Over the last month, I’d extensively researched her life and career, attempting to find weaknesses, scandals, or anything advantageous to use against her. My ace was her father’s double life, though that minor detail would be used against the man himself at a later time.
She huffed out a humorless laugh. “I can’t stay here.”
“Why not?”
“I just can’t. Not here, with you.” Her eyes darted away from mine, and I drew closer.
“Please, elaborate.” Head shaking side to side, she moved for her jacket, but I blocked her path, inching her back and trapping her against the wall, thoroughly enjoying this game of cat and mouse. “Well?”
She put a hand to my chest in either a move to push me away or because her need for contact was just as strong as mine.
“There’s just something about you, Derek.”
There was a guarded gleam in her eyes, her instincts singing, warning her of the monster lurking on the fringes of my being.
She had to feel it. She had to know I was death incarnate.
The ink on my body was a road map, a graveyard, and an altar to the dead.
It bore the demons of my past, born of tears and despair. And those of ghosts forged in blood and darkness.
And one day, a piece of her, too, would carve my flesh.
CHAPTEREIGHT
EVANGELINA
Despite the pain, I drew my lip between my teeth as warmth settled and throbbed between my legs. He knew exactly what he was doing, and his arrogance was maddening. Not even a full twenty-four hours since we’d first exchanged glances, he was already buried deep beneath my skin. Derek unsettled me in ways I couldn’t quite explain. I’d always prided myself on being the woman others weren’t expecting me to be. It was a survival mechanism. Yet, all it took was this man with alluring eyes, a cocky grin, and the DNA of a man I so dearly loved to weaken my defenses.
I was still trying to get over the very alarming fact that he’d licked the blood from my lips as if it were nothing. My stomach wobbled at the memory, and I suppressed the shameless part of me that couldn’t help but feel turned on by the gesture.
