I stop talking and call her name to bring her back. “Inara.”
She blinks slowly. This is not unlike a power exchange scene, where I give her pain and take her to a higher plane of consciousness. Only this time, she’s being devoured by the darkness. Subsumed into an underworld that I’ve never wanted her to visit. She’s sensitive to evil. It affects her.
She’s the reason I go hunting. To make the world safe so innocents like her don’t ever suffer.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I’m not sorry for killing them. They deserved it. But I am sorry it hurts you.”
Before my eyes, she steels herself. And I know this is why she is the woman for me. She’s the only one who can face who I am head-on. She’s strong enough to withstand me.
“You should be sorry for the victims.”
“I am.” The victims of crime. The victims of the monsters I hunt. Families like hers and like mine.
She shakes her head as if she knows what I’m thinking. I’ll never feel remorse for hurting people who hurt others.
“Any more questions?”
“Just one,” she whispers. Her tone is low and sluggish like the words weigh her down.
“Ask.”
“Who are you planning to kill next?”
“No one at the moment.” I dip my head as if sharing a secret. “I’ve been too busy hunting a little bird who amuses me.”
Her tiny scoff tells me she’s back.
I straighten so she can see me grin. “Did you hope I’d confess now so you could stop me?”
She rolls her eyes. “I’m sure you won’t make it so easy.”
“You don’t like it easy. You like it to hurt.”
“Oh yes, because you know me so well.” She folds her arms over her chest, but all it does is draw my attention to her breasts. My cock is stiff, straining toward her. “Because you’ve been hunting me. Like you hunt the rest.”
“No. Not like them. I’ve never hunted anyone like you.”
“What does that mean?”
“I hunted them to bring them to justice.”
“To kill.”
“Yes.”
“And how is that different from how you’re hunting me?”
“You think I want to kill you?”
She touches her tongue to her top lip, thinking. “I know you’re dangerous. But I don’t think you’re going to kill me. Not tonight.”
“Are you so sure?” I taunt, just to test her. “You came here tonight to tempt me. You like toying with danger. Do you know how easy it would be for me to reach out and take hold of you?” I lift a hand, letting it hover an inch away from her throat. It’s so large it could collar her. “Cut off your airway. Snap your neck.”
She stares up at me, her eyes clear. “I don’t think you will.”
“How do you know?”
“I just know.”
