“I want to dig up everything we can on this second Red Ribbon Killer,” she said. “I feel…I don’t know, responsible in some way.”
I didn’t like the idea of someone running around carrying on Ed’s sick legacy, either. “All right, but someone being a sadistic fuck is not your fault. I’ve had my security team monitoring for any other RRK murders and gathering all the intel they could find. This guy and Ed killed all across the country, spread over separate jurisdictions.”
“Who the hell is this guy? I’ve wracked my brain for anyone Ed mentioned, or seemed close with. I’ve got nothing. Ed wasn’t close to anyone. Other than us.”
Her dark hair was loose, and I couldn’t stop myself reaching out, and tucking it behind her ear.
She looked at me. God, that face. Sharp features, pretty lips, those big eyes. She wasn’t beautiful in any standard sense, but there was something arresting about her. Combined with her wit, intelligence, and attitude, it was a hell of a combination.
Not to mention the petite, fit body. My gaze dropped to her lips, then ran along her delicate collarbones, down to her bare legs, then to her feet tucked under the stool.
“Bastian?”
I looked up.
She licked her lips. “Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“You know exactly what.”
“Like I want you?”
She shivered. That chin—the one I wanted to bite—lifted. “I have no desire to be one of your pussy parade.”
My eyebrows went up. “Pussy parade?”
“I’m not some leggy airhead who’s happy to jump into your bed for a night.”
“I’ve always been upfront and honest with the women I fuck. One night, just a good time, no strings. I’ve never wanted anything more than that.”
“Well, I don’t want that at all.” Her mouth flattened. “I’m no one’s notch on a bedpost.”
Reaching out, I gripped her stool and pulled her closer. “I know that. And that’s not what I want from you.”
Her chin lifted another defiant inch. “I don’t care. I don’t like things messy, and good assassins never get too close. No?—”
“Connections. Fuck Ed’s rules, Lark. You know we’re already connected.” I reached out and touched the hem of her shirt, fiddling with it.
She sniffed. “Sex isn’t worth it.”
Now I tilted my head and looked at her. Anger fired in my chest. “Did someone hurt you?”
“What?” She stared at me, face blank. “No. I just find sex isn’t worth the effort.”
I leaned closer. “Then you haven’t been doing it right. Or rather, you haven’t been doing it with the right person.”
She scoffed. “And you’d recommend a man who clicks his fingers and women fall over themselves to jump on his cock? That kind of guy doesn’t seem like a great candidate.”
“How about a man who’s wanted to know for a long time how a certain little hellcat tastes?”
She froze, her lips parting.
My hand pressed on her thigh, and I stroked my fingers over her smooth skin. “A man who wants to explore every part ofyou. Make you come, over and over again. Make you scream my name.”
She pulled in an unsteady breath. “Those sound like some big promises.”
I leaned even closer. I loved the rainstorm scent of her, mixed with the sweet musk of her arousal. “I always keep my promises, Lark.”
