“Stop running, Siren,” he whispered. “What are you so afraid of?”
That was the million dollar question, wasn’t it? What was Danny DeLuna afraid of? Damn him to hell, he was questioning the size of my lady balls.
“Kai,” I replied with a sigh, my face tucked into his chest like we were made to snuggle like this. “What are we doing here?”
He gave a hum, the sound vibrating his chest beneath my cheek. Why was I letting him manhandle me like this? I could kill him with my bare hands, yet here I was, turning to fucking goo over a firm hug. I’d say I was sex-starved, but that definitely wasn’t the issue after my rendezvous with Leon a few nights ago. Dick drunk? Was that a thing?
“Right now I’d say we’re mending our bridges, wouldn’t you?”
I scoffed, my hand trailing up his side like it had a life of its own. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. At best, we’re forming a temporary truce.” He was shirtless, wearing just a pair of sweatpants, and the ink on his body was just as enticing as I remembered.
“It’s a starting point,” he murmured, his abs flexing as my nails scraped over his skin. One of his hands released my waist, coming up to stroke the stinging mess that Bryan’s garrote made of the side of my throat. “Want to tell me what happened?”
I inhaled sharply, then firmly pushed myself out of his arms to sit up. “There’s nothing to tell. The Circle is sending executioners after me, and I have no idea why.”
Kai didn’t move from his position, but raised his arm up behind his head. It was a cheap trick, making his muscles bunch and flex to draw my attention. “You have no idea?”
I shook my head, wincing at the ache in my neck. Bruising had stiffened the muscles up, and I was in desperate need of coffee. “None. But they clearly felt the need to escalate when you didn’t kill me. Why didn’t you kill me?” I frowned at him in suspicion.
His brow lifted and a smile ghosted his full lips. “My judgment was slightly impaired, Siren. If you remember…”
Oh. I remembered. How he’d chased me down, then fucked me with a loaded gun. How I’d come so freaking hard on the barrel while Leon listened, then how he’d violently fucked my mouth until he’d come down my throat, and my comms device got knocked loose.
Unable to help myself, I licked my lips at the memory.
Kai smirked, his free hand gripping his hard dick through his sweatpants. Like he was replaying the encounter in his mind just as vividly as I was.
“I see your point,” I muttered, clearing my throat and mentally scolding my pussy for being so wet right now. “What did they want me to steal from you? My original mission required me to lift your phone, then keep you distracted until the data could be verified before killing you.”
Kai studied me with the kind of intensity that made me want to squirm, or climb onto his face. Then he gave a small, frustrated sigh.
“Eli will kill me for trusting you, Siren,” he admitted, “but I figure we both owe each other a little honesty at this point. Don’t you?”
I arched a brow, not agreeing. I lied as easily as breathing, so if he thought I was going to reveal my hand from here on out, he was delusional.
Kai knew it, too. He had to. But still, he answered my question. “I don’t know what the Guild was searching for.”
I blinked. “What?”
“I don’t know what they hoped to find,” he repeated. “But if I were to guess, they’re trying to weed out their mole.”
Of all the things I was guessing he might say, of all the possible things the Guild could have been trying to steal from Ares, I wasn’t expecting that.
“I’m sorry, say fucking what now?” I exclaimed. Maybe I’d misheard.
His lips tilted in a smirk. “Take your shirt off, and I’ll tell you the rest.”
“What are we, fifteen? No. We’re not playing that game, Kai.” I scooted off the bed and out of his reach before he could call my bluff again. To add an additional layer of armor, I grabbed a pair of leggings and pulled them on. “You wanna tell me the Guild has a mole? How do you know?”
He pushed himself to sitting, not even trying to hide his near naked body. I mean, fair call, his body was nothing to hide. But it was also an unfair advantage when we were one step away from killing each other.
“What game, Siren?” he prodded, ignoring my important questions. “The one where you stop lying to yourself about this chemistry between us? That’s not a game, beautiful. Just admit it, you want me.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re hot, Kai. No one is debating that fact.” Then, because he was speaking way too much fucking truth before coffee, and I didn’t trust my pussy not to override my brain again, I pulled a gun on him. “Answer my fucking question, Kai. What mole?”
He grinned and it made my nipples harden. “You gonna shoot me, Siren?”
Holding his gaze with my expression impassive, I clicked off the safety and let him see the darkness inside my eyes. “You gonna call my bluff, big man?”
Kai held my gaze, studying my eyes like he was finally seeing the real me. The ruthless bitch who could kill without remorse, without question. Based on the way his smile evaporated and his brow tightened, he didn’t like what he saw.
Well, tough shit. Seducing him was no longer my job.
“Call Mo,” he grunted, climbing out of the bed and stalking past me with tight muscles. “It’s her story to tell, not mine.”
A deep shudder ran through me at the shift in his tone, and when the guest bedroom door slammed shut, I let out a long breath. It hurt, there was no denying it. But he’d finally seen Danny DeLuna instead of sweet, innocent Danielle the bank teller, and the rejection was so obvious it was gut churning.
I placed my gun back down with a slight tremor to my hand, then gave myself a mental slap and pushed the sour acid of regret aside. If Kai’s involvement with the Guild was Mo’s story to tell, then it was a good thing she still owed me.
16
Kai’s little tantrum only lasted as long as it took for us both to shower and dress to go out. I hadn’t bothered telling him that I was going to meet up with Mo, assuming she would tell him herself. Instead, I just took my time blow-drying my hair and putting on my makeup like it was somehow going to save me from his intense magnetism.
Part of me hoped Mo wouldn’t tell him, and I could get a bit of breathing space. But it was only a small part. The rest of me craved his close proximity like a fucking drug, despite how bad I knew it was for my common sense and self-restraint.
Then again, with the way he’d reacted to me pulling a gun on him, maybe it wouldn’t be such an issue after all. He clearly didn’t enjoy that little taste of Danny DeLuna. Submissive, docile captives were more his speed, apparently.
With a frustrated sigh, I grabbed my keys and headed out of the safe house. I barely even touched the car door when Kai’s heavy footsteps sounded behind me, and I braced myself for the tension of being in a car with him.
Instead of going around to the passenger side, though, he grabbed my shoulder and spun me around to face him. His body crushed me against the side of the car, and my breath hitched when his hand wrapped around my bruised neck. It was a gentle touch, but the promise was clear.