“I said I was the expert, Jules.”
Something in his voice makes me look up at him. His pale eyes are accentuated by dark, smoky lashes, and the hunger on his face makes my stomach swoop. I think he’s going to make a move, like lean in and kiss me, but instead, he smiles and pulls me along again.
“Come on, Little Sapphire. The night’s still young.”
The pet name makes me blush, something I’m not in a habit of doing.
“I’m hardly little,” I mutter to myself.
He hears me, though.
“You’re little to me.”
I shouldn’t be letting him get to me. He could be a killer, for fuck’s sake, and here I am, swooning over nicknames that make me feel things I’ve never felt before.
Elias brings me to the Ferris wheel, and I tilt my head back to look up. The cages at the apex seem like they’re touching the stratosphere.
“Afraid of heights?” His lips graze the shell of my ear as he murmurs, and I shiver again, my heart stuttering.
“A little bit,” I admit. “I’m better with speed.”
“We can go back where the kids are. I haven’t been on the teacups ride since we bought it.”
I elbow him in the side—damn, he’shard. That actually hurt a bit.
“Ha ha,” I snark, rolling my eyes. I resist the urge to rub my elbow. “I’m fine on the adult side.”
“Only if you’re sure,” he drawls.
Grumbling, I march to the back of the queue, letting him trail after me. His laughter is smooth, resonant, as hypnotizing as the man himself, and when he catches up, I can’t help myself—I lean into his side, surrounding myself with his delicious scent and powerful presence. I press my palm over his stomach, feeling the hard ridges under his suit.
A low purr rumbles in his throat. His hand glides down my back to my waist.
“Behave, Little Sapphire. Or we’ll give these people a show they didn’t sign up for.”
A moan catches in my throat at his words. I picture myself displayed at the center of the ring, the spotlight shining down on my naked body as he prowls around me, poking that cane in places it has no business being.
“Maybe I’d like that,” I hear myself saying. Elias freezes for a moment before he pulls me closer into his side. His breath ruffles my hair.
“I knew you were a sinner the moment I saw you in the crowd, Jules.”
I open my mouth to respond, but just then the attendant waves us through. Elias tells him something I can’t hear over the crowd, and the man bobs his head. Observing them, I realize that most of the carnival workers we’ve run into don’tmeet their boss’s eyes. Are they afraid of him? Should I be? Am I about to be suspended in the air, high above the safety of the ground, with a criminal?
Before I can start answering those questions, Elias’s hand gently guides me onto the bench.
“A clown for your thoughts?” he asks me once we’re seated, and I burst out laughing.
“Keep your clowns to yourself, mister.”
I gasp when the Ferris wheel jolts into motion, and Elias chuckles again before pulling me into his arms. Finding myself pressed against his side, our faces inches apart, all I can do is stare. His pale eyes are all I see, clear pools he could drown me in.
“May I kiss you, Jules?” he asks quietly, the request sounding jarringly formal.
Numbly, I nod, then don’t wait for him to make the first move—I surge forward, pressing my lips against his. A rumbling groan vibrates in his chest when he kisses me, parting my lips and conquering my mouth.
I forget where I am, that we’re climbing higher as the cage gently sways, that there are people below us. I whimper against his mouth, my hands trying to get under his suit, under his shirt, searching for skin.
Elias grabs my wrists and pins them above my head.
