He didn’t throw that at her.
He glanced at the clock on the mantel. “We’ve got about an hour until the party starts. I’m going to go back downstairs and scope out those parlors while you get ready.”
Mireille surveyed him, silver eyes narrowed. As if she could tell the real reason he wanted—needed—to go down there.
But she didn’t say a word as Ronin left the room to feed his addiction.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Mireille applied her lipstick, a deep burgundy shade she never would have chosen for herself, purchased as a replacement for her missing armor—the veiling potions that typically masked her identity during her assignments. And though it would do her no good tonight, she’d brought along the vial she’d concocted last week just in case.
She leaned further over the vanity, her dress hanging open and exposing her back. She couldn’t zip it up herself, but she hadn’t yet asked Ronin for help. Knowing how she’d reacted to his touch down in Kheimos made her hesitant to indulge the temptation.
Ronin had only spent about thirty minutesscoping out the parlors. She knew the real reason he’d gone down there, had felt his vibrating need for a Delirium as soon as they’d come upon the supply downstairs. But she didn’t want to call him out on it. If he needed the substance to steady himself, to get him through these next few days, who was she to judge?
“We need to discuss some rules,” she said.
“Discuss away.”
Through the mirror, she watched as Ronin undressed.
His ice-blue tattoos shimmered across his chest and arms, carving down his thick thighs. Though he wasn’t looking at her, she knew thatheknew she was watching him. And he was taking an abnormally long time shoving his legs into his black suit pants.
Wrenching her gaze back to her face, she smoothed on a second coat of lipstick. “When we’re downstairs together, you may touch me, but there’s no need to go overboard. Back only, and stay above the ass and below the shoulders.”
Ronin snickered, flicking white hair out of his eyes as he buckled his belt. “How long has it been since you’ve been in a real relationship?”
“Asks the male who doesn’t seem to know the meaning of the word.” She blotted her lips with a tissue. “Why?”
Ronin shrugged on his dress shirt, his long fingers making quick work of the buttons. “Because a new couple, especially one as attractive as us, wouldn’t be able to keep their hands off each other. In any type of crowd.”
“So what are you suggesting?” She tilted her head back to sweep mascara up her lashes. “That you’re going to bend me over a table and take me in front of the entire room?”
Ronin shot her a heated look. “Exhibitionism one of those secret kinks of yours, Valette?”
“No.” She dusted her cheeks with blush to hide the real one threatening to overtake her.
Ronin laughed, a deep rumble that was far sexier than it had any right to be. “Don’t worry. I don’t have any more desire to touch you down there than you do me. I’ll abide by your rules.”
She’d pretended so many times before, through all the unwanted but necessary pawing she’d been subjected to from her marks. Her body was a tool she wielded with exacting precision, whether onstage or on assignment. Attraction had never been part of the equation. At least not for her.
This assignment, however, was precariously different. If she ceded an ounce of power to Ronin, let him see just how much he affected her, the consequences could be disastrous.
She’d be damned if she let yet another male stomp through the broken shards inside her chest.
Time to nip this stupid crush in the bud and put up some boundaries.
“Also, since I am the senior agent on the assignment?—”
“I’m not an agent at all.”
“Don’t remind me,” she mumbled, then raised her voice, lacing it with all the authority she could muster. “Anddon’tinterrupt me. Since I am the senior agent on this assignment, you’ll do what I tell you. Do not question me, nor offer up suggestions. I don’t need your input. And if you think I do, Ireallydon’t. If I tell you to jump, you ask how high then leap for the sky with a fucking smile on your face.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Ronin’s grin had been growing throughout her speech and by the end, it was practically feral. She felt like she was missing something.
Makeup complete, she gathered her long fall of hair and began twisting it into a bun.
“Leave it down.” Ronin’s husky command prickled across her exposed flesh.
