“Stop thinking. Thinking gets you killed.”
Her third shot is worse.
I step in behind her, my chest to her spine. One hand closes over both of hers on the grip, pinning and forcing them to remain steady. My other arm bands across her waist, locking her against me. She sucks in a breath.
“Control isn’t calm, it’s deciding which monster gets to eat the fear,” I tell her, my mouth brushing the shell of her ear.
I force the barrel up with her, forcing her eyes to mine instead of the target.
“I’m not the one who hurt you, but I’m the one who’ll teach you how to make them beg for mercy.”
Her finger tightens around mine on the trigger. The next bullet leaves the chamber and lands directly inside the bullseye.
She’s breathing hard, and I feel every inhale drag across my forearm. My palm is still over hers, the gun hot between us. I want to twist her around, shove her against the nearest tree, and fuck the nerves right out of her until she only shakes for me.
Instead, I take the pistol from her hand, clicking the safety off.
I press the muzzle beneath her chin, just enough for cold metal to kiss skin. Her head tips back on instinct, her throat exposed.
“Still afraid?”
“No,” she lies.
I drag the barrel down slowly over the frantic beat in her throat, the hollow at the base, and the soft rise of her chest until stopping just above her heart.
“Good. Jasper, Talon, and I are the only people you should trust. Anyone else can turn on you if the price is right.Wecannot be bought. Not when it comes to you.”
Her nipples are hard against that useless scrap of fabric, and before my cock leaks through my jeans, I step back.
“Empty it.”
She fires off five shots, each one tighter than the last, until the final round punches a hole so clean through center mass, the paper flaps with the wind.
“You’ll still die if you flinch,” I say.
She lowers the gun, meeting my eyes. “Then I won’t flinch.”
I rub my hand against the back of my neck and look at her, snow dusting her dark hair like ash, the pistol hanging loose in her gloved hand, barrel pointed at the found.
She doesn’t say anything, just looks at me with those fuck-me eyes. My cock is already hard enough it presses against my jeans. She doesn’t move in the two steps it takes me to reach her, nor when I rip the pistol from her fingers and toss it into the snow.
With one hand, I grip her throat and shove her back against the trunk of the nearest tree. Snow falls from the branches above us, dusting us both.
“You want to play out here, Hellcat?” I rasp against her mouth. “Want me to treat you like the needy, cock-drunk whore I think you secretly are?”
She tries to speak, but I tighten my grip, cutting her air off just enough to make her eyes flutter.
“Shut the fuck up. You don’t talk unless I let you,” I growl.
Her pupils blow wide as a soft, desperate sound manages to slip out of her mouth.
I drag my other hand down her body, shoving it under the waistband of her leggings without warning. She’s soaked through the lace and thermal layers, dripping down her thighs.
She’s so wet my fingers slide through her like silk.
“Listen to this greedy little cunt,” I growl, pumping two fingers so deep the wet sound is obscene in the quiet forest. “You stood there, shooting my gun, with this wet pussy the entire time? Filthy. Fucking. Whore.”
She nods frantically, trying to ride my hand.
