Page 75 of Knife For Hire

“You seem to be afraid to be tied to just one man,” he counters, his hand raising again, but this time he grabs the back of my neck, wrenching me to him. He bends whispering into my ear, his breath tickling and causing me to squirm. “I don’t mind sharing you. Pick a few men. But you will always come back to me.”

John and Reuben’s faces flash through my brain.

And then he moves, capturing my lips, replacing every rational thought with him.

Harsh, aggressive. He invades me.

And I recognize he is staking his claim.

I don’t fight it. Allow his tongue entry, allow him to cup my ass with his free hand.

My arms wrap around his neck, tugging him even closer into me.

Part of me wants to do the same. To stamp myself into his being.

Remember what happened last time.

I fall back, escaping his hold. Panting, I look at him. Terrified that he will be struck down.

After a few beats, I force myself to calm down. To dissolve the fear and hedge forward. Just as I always have. “Fine,” I agree, thinking it through quickly. “We can try.”

I offer him one last peck, and then I spin away from him. Grabbing my laptop off the counter and beelining it for the elevator.

To his credit, he doesn’t chase me down.

But he watches me.

A lion patiently waiting for its prey to lower their guard.

A man with nothing left to lose.

I spin around in the elevator.

Our eyes catch as the doors close.

My heart pounds in my chest.

And I come to the startling and abrupt reality, Orzo will not be allowing me to leave his orbit anytime soon.