That’s a gamble. My lies kept her safe... right up until they didn’t. There are things I want to protect her from: things she doesn’t need to hear, but she deserves better than what she’s had from all the men in her life.
She deserves better fromme, sobetteris what she’ll get. I’ll rip the stars from the sky if she asks. I’ll steal the fucking moon. I’ll spend the rest of my life atoning for using her.
“Let’s test that, shall we?” she starts, every word clipped. “That night you came back with bruised knuckles and said your car broke down... where were you?”
Fuck... maybe lies aren’t that bad.
“I was in the forest.”
“Doing what?”
“Keeping you safe.”
With an exasperated exhale, she drums her fingers over her thigh. “Is Jensen missing because of you?”
“Jensen’s notmissing, pretty girl. He’s dead.”
She goes rigid beside me, still for a heartbeat before she cautiously turns to face me, eyes wide, lips parted. “Didyoukill him?”
“Technically, no.” That’s not a lie. He was alive when I left him in the woods. It’s not my fault he was such a weak fucking pussy. “We had a...chat.I left him strapped to a chair, so he’d think long and hard about whether threatening your safety was wise. When I came back three days later, he was dead.”
She jumps to her feet, pacing a path between the window and the door. “He was harmless! Clingy, sure, butharmless! You can’t kill people because they like me!”
I can and I will.
“He wasn’t harmless.” I get to my feet, crowding her by the window, the bulk of my body cutting off her escape route.
She doesn’t cower. If anything, her defiance shines brighter. My cock stretches my zipper, my balls so fucking full they’re painful. I want to rip her clothes off, drop her on the bed and remind her how good she feels with me... how well we fit together. She wants it too. Her eyes shine, lips part to let out a shaky breath, and cheeks flush a delicious shade of pink.
I barely keep from hooking my fingers under her chin, tilting her head back, and taking her mouth. I kissed her half an hour ago... that’s thirty minutes too long. Especially now there’s a Grand-Canyon-sized distance gaping between us because she doesn’t trust me.
“What did I tell you at Lakeside?” I grit out, flexing my fingers into tight fists. “Ikeep you safe.Idecide how. I toldyou everyone who comes near you will end up dead. I don’t kill for sport, but if your safety is threatened, I won’t think twice.”
She folds her arms over her chest, fighting to keep up the outrage. It doesn’t work, her anger’s corrupted with fear, arousal, and awe... that’s a dangerous mixture.
I think she’s scared of the things I’m capable of, and, moreover, she’s scared because she secretly loves the fact I’ll cross every line for her. My uncontrollable jealousy andterritoriality deepen her feelings and that’s why she’s my perfect bad drug.
I live for the high she creates when she fuels my psychotic side. It’s a disturbing balance, one that shouldn’t exist at all, but it works so fucking well with us.
“Will you kill everyone who touches me?” she asks, her voice thick with emotions.
She doesn’t want to love this... she’s a good girl and, on the face of it, my ways are glaringly wrong.Murderis fucking wrong, but Hailey’s been neglected for so long that my particular brand of crazy sounds appealing. She wants to be someone’s priority.
And that someone willalwaysbe me.
“Everyone who does it with bad intent,” I agree. “Jensen didn’t die because he touched you.”
My restraint was admirable. Not killing him the moment he laid his hands on Hailey was excruciating.
I reach out, brushing a few blonde locks behind her ear. “He died because he was planning to get you drunk and make sure you were incapable of saying no while he fucked you.”
She leans into my hand, gravitating toward my touch. She’s as starved for me as I am for her.
“Now...” I say, desperate to change the topic before I do something I might regret. “If you don’t have any other questions, tell me where those bruises on your back came from.”
She snaps out of her trance, jerking back. The alluring pinkness of her cheeks fades, leaving no proof it was ever there. “It’s the middle of the night. This can wait until morning.”
“Hailey—”
