So I tilted my chin up and met his gaze as he stopped right inside my personal space, close enough that I was at a significant height disadvantage.
“I have no idea who you are?” he asked softly, tracing a fingertip along the side of my jaw. I wanted to flinch away or lean into his touch, but I did neither. I stood strong and unaffected. “And yet, I know the silken feel of your skin. I know how your body responds to my touches. I know how you taste as you come on my face.” His fingertip skated across my lips, the lightest of touches that set my whole body on fire. “I know what sounds you make when my cock is buried deep inside your sweet cunt and how you moan when I fill you up with my cum. Maybe the rest was bullshit, Danielle, but that? No, you didn’t fake any of that. I might not know you, but I sure as fuck know your body.”
Christ. This. This is what I was so goddamn afraid of. I should have called Moana’s bluff.
I needed to swallow quickly before I could muster any strength or conviction in my voice to respond. “So, what I’m hearing, Malachi, is that you need to get laid. There are professionals who will handle that, you know? You shouldn’t need to risk your life just to get a good fuck.” I tipped my head to the side, dislodging his teasing finger in the process.
His full lips tilted in a smile. “You’re in trouble.” It was a statement not a question.
No shit, Kai. I’m in huge fucking trouble being here with you.
“Why’d you call Mo if not to reach me?” he pushed, not moving away to offer me even an inch of breathing room.
Arrogant ass. “This is possibly news to you, Ares, but the whole world doesn’t revolve around you. I called Mo because I wanted to speak to Mo. Is that such a hard concept to grasp?”
He stared down at me for a long moment, his eyes narrowed with suspicion. Then he gave a laugh and grasped my jaw in his strong fingers, tilting my head back further. Like he wanted to try and kiss me again.
I stood my ground, but it was tempting to knee him in the nuts just to deflate his ego a bit.
“You wanna know what’s a hard concept to grasp, ātaahua? That you can’t feel this electric connection between us. That you didn’t fall in love, even a little bit, for real. That’s what I’m having a hard fucking time wrapping my head around, because I sure as fuck did.” His dark eyes blazed with honesty and desire, with passion. But he was only lying to himself.
“Get it through your thick skull, beau fou,” I replied, hardening myself to the raw emotions he seemed so determined to drag out of me. “You fell for an act. I honey trapped you, exactly as my job required me to do. Nothing more, nothing less. The sooner you stop reading into it so hard, the sooner you can move on with your life.”
Anger and frustration flared across his face, and his grip on my jaw tightened. He was barely half an inch above my bruises, which my black collar was hiding.
“Nah, I call bullshit,” he murmured, “because you did do less, didn’t you? You were supposed to kill me, too, and you couldn’t go through with it.”
Motherfucker.
Rather than try to deny it—when we both knew he was right—I stepped away, jerking my face out of his grip. He wasn’t anywhere near ready to let me go, though, and he quickly followed.
“Don’t turn—” he started to growl, grabbing the back of my neck in an almost panicked need to stop me walking away. But his fingertips landed right on the swollen, scabbed line where the garrote wire had cut my skin, and I hissed a sharp breath, wincing.
Sloppy on my part, I was usually better at hiding my pain. But he’d taken me totally unaware, and I hadn’t spared a second to smother my reaction.
“Show me,” Kai demanded, and I twisted out of his grip once more.
“Screw you,” I shot back, folding my arms under my breasts and leaning my butt oh so casually against the altar. “I thought you wanted to talk? So talk, then let me leave. I have shit to do.”
His teeth ground together so hard I could hear it, and he stalked closer. Damn it all to hell, I’d cornered myself, and unless I wanted to be a giant wuss and climb over the altar, I had nowhere to go.
“Fucking show me,” he snapped, reaching for the collar of my top.
I batted his hand away, glaring. Then in a lightning fast scuffle of slapping hands, Kai somehow got me all twisted up in his arms once more, my back to his front and my hips against the altar. How?
My only logical explanation was that my greedy cunt was exerting her power over my mind, and slowing my reflexes. She didn’t want to fight Kai off. Not really. So she was making it easy on him. Stupid fucking vaginas with minds of their own.
Kai held my wrists pinned together against my chest with just one of his huge hands, and apparently I’d lost control of my own body. I didn’t fight against him, even though I damn well had the ability to free myself. Did my subconscious just want to see what he’d do when he saw my injuries? It was like driving past a car crash. Morbid fascination.
He gently peeled my high collar down, exposing the dark bruises and vivid welts all over my throat. Even with only candlelight, it couldn’t have looked good. Hell, it probably looked worse than it was, given all the shadows dancing around the church.
The tension vibrated through his whole body, and he swallowed hard. His lips were close enough to my cheek that I could feel his hot breath on my skin, and he ever so softly traced a finger over the garrote line welt.
“Who the fuck did this to you, siren?” he asked in a rough voice.
I sighed. His touch felt so good, so damn familiar, and the raw, possessive concern in his voice had me weak at the knees. “A dead man,” I replied, hardly daring to breathe. “He was dealt with, so don’t worry your pretty head over it.” Leon saw to that, just like he’d see to Kai if he found out about this encounter.
A low, angry sound rumbled from his chest, and my inhale hitched. I wasn’t strong enough for this. I’d never lost myself so thoroughly on an assignment before, and this was all uncharted territory.
“Someone is trying to have you killed,” he commented. He lowered his face, kissing my shoulder through the thin fabric of my top. “That’s why you wanted Mo’s help.”
I bit the inside of my cheek, my eyes fluttering closed as I relaxed into his hold ever so slightly. It was totally sick how safe he made me feel. The same man who assaulted me, abducted, imprisoned, tortured, and manipulated me. He was the same man who made me forget all my damage with the Guild and let me park my violent, blood-soaked past firmly in the past. He made me feel… protected.
“Someone is always trying to kill me, Kai,” I whispered back. “That’s hardly news.”
He huffed a short laugh, his breath warming through my clothing. His hand still pinned my wrists together at my chest, but his other hand shifted to my waist. To the tactical belt I wore clipped around my hips and secured over my belly button.
Still I didn’t push him away. This car crash was just getting interesting.
“This is different, isn’t it, Siren? Your own Guild has a hit out on you. It’s why they sent you to me.” He wasn’t speaking with prior knowledge, simply piecing it together as he processed. It didn’t take a genius, I supposed. “They thought I’d kill you the moment I worked you out… just like I’ve done to countless other mercenaries who have come for me.”