“And now things between us have become complicated, haven’t they, Nadi?” He wasn’t going to let her escape him so easily, draping an arm over her. His face was only inches away now, those crimson eyes flicking between hers, drinking in her every expression.
This was what she was trying to avoid. The real peeling back of everything.
“I suppose.” She wanted to roll away from him. To hide it all. To deny every ounce of it—every scrap of the truth. To look him straight in the eye and tell him that he was wrong, she feltnothing,and everything that had just passed between them had been a ploy.
Or to tell herself that she was playing him. That this was all still just a game. A game to ensure that she was properly positioned to get her revenge when she had her chance.
But it would be a lie.
“Nadi…”
“What do you want me to say, Raziel?” She tried to keep back the tears. “What more do you want to cut from me? I lost myfamilyto you. I learned to kill for you. I killed myunclefor you. I?—”
His lips crashed against hers, silencing her. And she couldn’t have been more grateful. Because the demanding kiss pushed the encroaching pain from her thoughts. There was only him.
Only them.
When they parted, he rested his forehead against hers. “I know, Nadi. I know.” His voice was quiet, barely more than a rumble of thunder in the distance.
He didn’t apologize. And she didn’t want him to. Hell, if he tried to, she’d probably knee him in the groin. It was the last thing she wanted. She made her choices. And she wasstillmaking her choices, when it came down to it.
Whatever this was that was growing roots.
Wherever it took them.
It was her choice to let it continue…
Or rip it out and let it die.
“Tomorrow is going to be a long day.” Raziel pushed away from her, climbing from the bed to unbutton his shirt and shrug out of it. “Word will already have been sent ahead by the captain that I came aboard with a vampiric Monica.”
“Yeah. I know.” She shifted back into her legged form. Her tail was just too ungainly. She slid under the covers and the sheets. There was no reason to even fuss about who slept where at this point. “No way to stall your mother for a day?”
He huffed a laugh. “You’ve met her.” He tossed his shirt aside. Undressing the rest of the way down to his boxers, he kicked his clothes carelessly into a pile. “What do you think?”
She laughed once as well. Yeah. She knew the answer to the question. Lying back against the pillow, her head swam with how tired she was. “I think we should kill her first.”
The bed sagged as Raziel climbed in beside her. He pulled her in close to him, tucking her against his chest. She fought the urge to go rigid against him. It was instinctual.
“While I don’t disagree, and I hate the bitch as much as you do, I have other plans.” He kissed the back of her head. “But we’ll discuss it another time.”
Right.
Plans.Hehad plans. On how to kill his family. And now they were workingtogether.No, worse than that. He assumed he was in charge, of course. That was a harsh and uncomfortable realization.
That, plus the horrible truth that some part of her was starting tocareabout this monster she was now about to sleep with.
It didn’t matter how much she wanted him.
It didn’t matter how much she cared about him.
She needed to find a way out.
Shehadto find a way to salvage this mess.
One way or another.
FOUR
