“I promise to be a proper house guest, Lexie. Even the mafia has standards.”
“Do those standards include bending a woman over a table and taking out your personal offense to mafia literature on her bottom?”
“When it’s a bottom as lovely and worthy as yours…” I wink, then lift a finger. “But I always pay my debts. And I always take care of what ismine.”
She opens her mouth, but no words leave. I hold her gaze, my smile fading into something darker, possessive, and predatory.
Color high in her cheeks, she sets the tea down on the nightstand and reaches for another bite of hash.
Neither of us speaks. She’s intriguing. No anger. No demands. Just…acceptance. It’s unnerving, suspicious. I know she’s holding something back. But if I push, she’ll shut down.
She needs to know this is happening. This is no longer about the life debt. She is mine. Mine to keep, to protect, and to save as she saved me.
And while she had quite the collection of kinky toys, I can’t help but wonder about her experience. Is she all talk and noaction? Or has she been with men who didn’t know what the hell they were doing?
I want to savor her. But it’s only a matter of time before the savoring will end, and I’ll need more. Until then, I’ll treat her like the goddess she is to me.
Lexie finishes, sets her fork down, and glances at the clock. “I should get ready for work.”
I straighten. “No.”
She prickles. “What do you mean, ‘no’?”
“You’re not going to work today.. You’re calling in sick.”
She stares at me like I’ve grown a second head. “I can’t just call in sick. I have orders to fill. There’s a wedding this weekend, and?—”
“I don’t care. Those men who came to your shop yesterday? They’ll be back. And I’ll not let them interrogate you more.”
Her expression hardens. “You’re overreacting.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.” She slaps the bed. “I’m going to work, Liam.”
I shift closer, dropping my hand to her knee. “I must insist.”
She huffs, “Is this just an excuse so you can get in my pants?”
I tilt my head, my suggestive fingers climbing along her thigh. “Trust me, Darlin’, when I’m ready to get in your pants, you’ll be on your knees begging me to, or pouncing and humping me, or?—”
“I got it.” She shoves my hand away. “ButImust insist. I’m going to work.”
I shake my head, firm. “No, Luv, yer not.”
She rolls her eyes. “And how do you plan to stop me?”
I just smile.
CHAPTER 9
Elexia
“You potato-hoarding, whiskey-swilling leprechaun bastard!”
I yank at the restraints binding my wrists to the bed frame, but they don’t budge. He used my own handcuffs against me.
Liam stands at the foot of the bed, arms crossed, entirely too pleased with himself.
