And if anyone is going to be marking him, it’s me. Bending, I bite down on the space above his left nipple. A deep groan rumbles up his chest.I’mdoing this to him. Only me. I bite harder, needing it to stick. To linger.
Kendrick hisses, half pain, half pleasure. His hand moves back into my hair and presses me harder against him, urging me on.Good.I lick and suck until I’m satisfied that it’ll take longer than a day to fade. I’d tattoo it permanently on his skin if I thought he’d let me.
I pull away abruptly, and he blinks in surprise, eyes glazed over. He looks so fucking good like that. It makes me want to do this all day, every day, so he’ll stay just like this.
“Spence?”
“Get a tattoo for me.”
Kendrick slips a hand under my T-shirt, skin warm against mine. “What?”
“A tattoo.” I flatten my palm over his heart, my thumb grazing the mark I’ve made. Imprints of my teeth, still slick with my spit. “Right here.”
“Spence…”
“I’ll get one too.”
Kendrick hesitates, unsure. But he’s thinking about it now. He likes the idea of me marking myself for him. I’m not the only possessive one in this relationship.
“What kind of tattoo?” he asks.
“An orchid. They’re a symbol of love.” With the pad of my finger, I trace where I want the tattoo to go. “Black ones. Say yes.”
He searches my eyes, and I stay still, letting him see it all. There’s nothing about me that I’ll hide from him. Whatever he wants to know, whatever he wants tosee, he can have all of it.
“Alright.”
“Soon?” I ask hopefully. We can talk about putting my name—or my initials, I can compromise—with the flower later.
“I’ll make an appointment for next week.” He spans his hands over my hips and then lifts me off him, depositing me back in my chair. “It’s getting late, and we still have a lot of emails to go through.”
And more. All the Microsoft Teams correspondence too. At this point, I know too much about the lives of all the staff members. More than I ever wanted to know.
My stomach begins to protest an hour later, and I drop my forehead to the desk. “I can’t look at another email. Please don’t make me.” I may cry. In fact, it’s almost guaranteed. I’d rather be out there kicking people and throwing my weight around. There shouldn’t be this much paperwork in espionage. It’s a cruel punishment for something I did; it has to be.
Kendrick massages my nape, almost absently. “Have you seen the name Colin Trine pop up in what you’ve been reading?”
“A few times,” I mumble. Probably more than a few. I don’t know. No more questions, Your Honour. My eyes slide closed, a shiver running down my back from Kendrick’s talented fingers. He can keep doing that, and I’ll have a nap.
“Have you noticed anything off about it?”
“Everyone that works there is fuckin’ off,” I slur. Backstabbing. Complaining. Two-faced assholes. It’s a goddamn viper’s nest. It wouldn’t surprise me one iota if someone there is the killer. More than one.
“Come look at this.”
Why does he want me to move? Does he hate me that much? It’s a cruel world. With a heavy sigh, I lift my head and scoot closer, hooking my knee over his. “What?”
“He has twice as many emails sent to Veronica than anyone else in the business.”
“Maybe they work closely together?”
“He’s a property lawyer, so while I’m sure they interact, not over a hundred emails a month kind of interaction.”
That is weird, I’ll give him that. “Have you looked at all of them?”
“Not yet. But I’ve seen his name enough it’s sticking with me. Her emails are friendly and open to start with, and then her responses get progressively shorter and colder, skirting the line of professional to outright hostility.”
“The entire environment is hostile.” More than. I’d have killed someone already, working in an office like that. Sliding my hand under his and taking hold of the mouse, I check the time stamps. Some of them are quite late, others around one in the morning. “Did his emails change too?”
