“I could report you! I could go right to the cops and tell them. What were you thinking?” I screamed, but he just chuckled.
“You won’t.”
“You don’t know that!” I spat back, still reeling from the fact that he had just casually admitted to brutally dismembering a man the way someone might admit to borrowing a pencil without asking.
His eyes crinkled at the corners as if my reaction was amusing to him. “Idoknow. You won’t tell anyone.”
“How can you be so sure?” I breathed, my heart pounding in my chest.
“Well, for starters, you’re already a person of interest in a death related to Voodoo. Pointing the finger at me, the new bartender who just startedafterSam’s death is only going to make you look more suspicious. You also have a motive to frame me, considering everyone we work with knows you hate my guts, so it would really just be drawing more attention to yourself.”
My blood ran cold. He was fucking right.
“You also just wouldn’t out of principle. It’s not your style. You kissed him because you wanted him dead. You knew he was a shitty person. If I hadn’t killed him, whatever it is you do to kill people would have caught up with him eventually. Howdoyou do it, by the way?” he asked me, his eyes shining with mischief. “Do you put something on your skin? I’m so fucking curious.”
I squirmed in his lap again, trying to pull away, but he just chuckled and pulled me closer into him.
“You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you,” I whispered.
“Try me,” his voice was just as low as mine, and he had pulled me in close enough that our noses were nearly touching. We sat like that for a long moment, and I breathed in his scent, staring into his eyes from inches away. My hands still rested on his warm shoulders. His soft, black T-shirt bunched between my fingers. I toyed with the idea of telling him. Ofreallytelling him, but I couldn’t. There wasno way of knowing what my demon would do if I told someone and they actually believed me, and right now, I had the feeling that Reaverwouldbelieve me.
Death would surely take him from me the moment he realized he was someone worth cherishing. Allowing him to become the only person in the world that I could truly confide in seemed like it was more than certainly a death sentence. One that even my demon’s new fascination wouldn’t save him from. Instead of answering him, I asked a question of my own.
“How could you kill someone in cold blood so easily? You don’t even seem upset by it.”
Suddenly, the smile on his face turned sinister, and the look in his eyes flipped from tender to deadly.
“Oh, deathtrap. You’re not the only one with a murder streak,” he murmured, inches from my lips.
My heart was beating so hard in my chest that I was sure he could hear it.
“You’re a serial killer?” I breathed. His nose brushed against mine, and his lips were so close I felt my mouth water. “How? Why?”
“You show me yours, and I’ll show you mine.”
“I can’t.” My voice was so small that I wasn’t sure he would even hear me.
“Then I guess we’ll both keep our secrets for another night.” He smiled and used the hand he had wrapped in my hair to pull me away from him. “Now, go make us some gnocchi. I’m fucking starving.”
It might seem strange,but it was easier than I thought it would be to sweep Reaver’s admission under the rug. I finished making the gnocchi and showed him how to make the butter, pumpkin, and sage sauce. We ate together and watched an episode of Bly Manor while Chaos snored his little kitty ass off between us on the couch.
I would be lying if a dirty, selfish part of me didn’t hope, the entire time, that Reaver would try to kiss me. Despite the evening’s events, my body was still feeling the effects of the endless hours of edging I had endured at the hands of my demon. I kept catching myself stealing glances at Reaver as he watched the show. I wishedhecould be the one to satiate the relentless fire that continued to smolder between my legs. Every move he made caused me to catch my breath. However, the entire evening passed, and he didn’t do so much as put an arm around me. In fact, he didn’t touch me again until he informed me he was leaving.
“Goodnight, deathtrap. Lock the door behind me,” he ordered softly, curling his finger under my chin as I saw him out.
I nodded wordlessly, and he gave me one of his lazy, cocky smirks. I shook my head, suddenly remembering he had paid for thegroceries.
“Here, let me give you some cash for the ingredients,” I muttered, reaching into my back pocket. He barked out a laugh and shook his head.
“Consider it a reward for asking permission before leaving.”
I scowled at him, but he just chuckled.
“Also, don’t get any ideas. Tonight was cute, but you’re still mine. You’re not to leave this apartment unless I tell you to, or you need to go to work.”
With those infuriating parting words, he turned on his heel and left.
“The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.”
