Page 64 of Villainous Rise

“We need to leave. Now.”

I scooped her into my arms. She weighed nothing against my strength, her body fitting perfectly against mine. I expected resistance, Annie doesn’t like being told what to do, outside of the bedroom, but she surprised me. She didn’t fight. If anything, she seemed to lean into me, her body softening against mine. The unexpected surrender sent a possessive thrill through my veins.

The ceiling breach offered the cleanest exit and we rose through the jagged opening, emerging into the night air where a light drizzle fell. The cool droplets hit my exposed skin, but I barely registered the sensation. All of my focus was on the woman in my arms.

For a moment, we hovered above the chaos, suspended between the destruction below and the vast darkness above. She didn’t look away from my masked face, didn’t glance at the bodies I’d left behind.

She knew exactly what I was. And still, she held on.

I landed on Annie’s balcony minutes later, rain sliding down my suit in rivulets while she clung to me, her body pressed against mine, wet strands of her hair clinging to her face and neck. She looked wild. Alive.

“It’s locked,” she said, nodding toward the door.

“Not a problem.” I overrode the security with a subtle pulse from the Hammer, the door sliding open. “Your security system needs an upgrade.”

I stepped into her bedroom, still holding her against my chest.

The darkness of her room wrapped around us like a cocoon and my arms tightened reflexively.

I didn’t want to let her go.

But I needed to.

I lowered her slowly, letting her body slide against mine until her feet touched the floor. Even then, I kept my hands at her waist, unwilling to break contact completely. The same fingers currently resting against her fragile curves had just crushed a man’s vertebrae into powder. I could still feel the phantom snap of bone echoing in my knuckles. I was a lethal weapon, a machine built for slaughter, and yet she leaned into my grip. She trusted the monster holding her.

She was soaked through, her dress clinging to every curve, hair dripping onto her shoulders. In the dim light filtering through the balcony door, droplets caught on her eyelashes, making them sparkle. Her lips were parted slightly, her breathing uneven.

Perfect. Fucking perfect.

The killing had left something dark and hungry inside me. I could still feel the echo of it in my veins. The power, the control, the rush of eliminating threats. And now Annie was here, looking up at me, her body inches from mine.

I wanted to push her against the wall. Tear that wet dress from her body. Make her mine in every way possible.

My hands tightened on her waist.

Annie stared at me. “You didn’t kill them because of the season rankings, did you? You killed them because they threatened me.”

“Yes.” No point denying it. She’d seen the truth written in every line of my body when I’d snapped Technomancer’s neck.

Annie reached for my mask. For a heartbeat, I considered stopping her, a reflex born from years of hiding what I was. But she’d already seen beneath the mask. Seen the monster. Seen me.

I remained perfectly still as she pulled it away.

“There you are,” Annie whispered, her fingertips tracing the contours of my face.

Her thumb brushed across my bottom lip, the gentle pressure enough to light up every nerve ending in my body at once. I closed my eyes, surrendering to the sensation of her hands on my face. Fuck, I needed her to touch me. It was almost painful how gently she was touching me, like a whisper against my skin when every cell in my body screamed for more.

When her thumb traced my lower lip a second time, I caught it gently between my teeth, pulling it into my mouth. I sucked lightly, tasting rain and the faint sweetness that was hers. I opened my eyes to watch her face, needing to see her reaction.

Her pupils dilated, darkening those blue eyes to midnight. Her lips parted and a small gasp escaped.

I released her thumb, but kept her hand against my face, pressing it there with my own. “I’ll kill anyone who tries to hurt you,” I said, my voice rough. “Without hesitation. Without regret.”

Not romantic words, not by normal standards. But I wasn’t normal, and neither was she. And I needed her to understand exactly what she was getting.

She didn’t respond. Instead, her fingers continued their exploration, trailing down my jaw to my throat where my pulse hammered beneath her touch.

“I shouldn’t want this,” she murmured. “Not after everything.”