I have to remind myself as he sweeps his tongue against mine that this is for Spider. It’s for Kieran. It’s for me, too, but I’m pretty much already dead, anyway.
Second by second, this kiss is killing me. Whenever he decides to end it, I’ll slide to the floor and expire at his feet.
Maybe that’s been his plan all along. This is how he’ll murder me.
Death by estrogen overload.
“You taste so fucking sweet,” he rasps, breaking away. He’s breathing as hard as I am.
I say faintly, “It’s the Twizzlers. Are we done?”
“Not a goddamn chance.”
He kisses me again, fitting his mouth to mine, letting go of my neck to dig both his big hands into my hair. He presses against me and takes my mouth so ravenously, I’m bent back over the sink. I have to wind my arms up around his shoulders for balance.
We stand like that, mouths fused, pressed together from crotch to chest, kissing and kissing and kissing, until I’m dizzy and my knees are shaking and I’m about to pass out.
Then he sweeps me up into his arms and carries me out of the bathroom.
I panic as he approaches the bed. “What are you doing?”
“Anything I want.”
The only light in the room is from the bathroom, but it’s enough for me to see the intense expression of hunger on his face.
Holy shit. I’m about to be devoured.
The worst part is, I know the only thing I could do to stop it—namely, screaming for Spider and Kieran—is also what would end their lives.
On the verge of hysteria, I say, “Please don’t hurt me. I’d rather you killed me, instead.”
He knows exactly what I mean.
“If I were going to fuck you, little bird, I wouldn’t have to force myself on you. I’d make you beg for it. And you would.”
I go from horror to fury in two seconds flat. “You’re insane!”
“We’ve already established that you’re the crazy one. I’m the monster, remember?”
He drops me onto the bed. I gasp and clutch the towel closer to my chest, then scramble sideways, trying not to flash my vadge at him in the process.
Malek sits on the edge of the bed and drags me back to him.
He leans over me and plants his hands on either side of my head, pinning me in place.
Wide-eyed and hyperventilating, I shrink into the mattress.
We stay like that for a while, until I realize he’s waiting for me to calm down. I take a few deep breaths, watching him warily, wondering what he’ll do next.
“Better?” he says.
“No.”
“Yes, you are. You want me to tell you to kiss me again.”
“I can’t believe you have the nerve to call me crazy.”
Ignoring that, he says, “You also want me to tell you to spread your legs.”
My face goes hot. “You’re disgusting.”
“So I can put my face between your thighs and relieve that ache with my tongue.”
A vivid picture of him doing just that appears in my mind, affecting my entire nervous system. My heartbeat goes haywire. My mouth goes dry. I suck in a sharp breath, trembling.
He sees the effect his words have on me and leans close to my ear. His tone is low and gravelly.
“Say please, and I will.”
I can’t speak. I can only shake my head and pray that he gets bored of this game. Gets bored and disappears, this time forever.
He presses the softest of kisses to my throat, then whispers, “Say please. Let me taste you.”
Giving me a little preview of his skill, he takes my earlobe between his warm, soft lips, and sucks on it.
Blistering heat flashes over my body. A faint moan slips from my mouth. My nipples harden, and my brain starts screaming Please! repetitively. I bite my lip so it doesn’t come out.
Then Kieran bursts through the bedroom door and everything goes to hell in a handbasket.
20
Mal
As always in a gunfight, things happen fast.
The bodyguard makes his first tactical mistake by not hitting the lights. If he did, it would’ve temporarily blinded me. But my eyes are adjusted to the dark, and his aren’t.
Also, he’s standing in the middle of the doorway, outlined in light from the hall.
He couldn’t have made himself a better target if he’d tried.
I get off the first shot.
He drops to a knee and fires back.
He misses. The slug embeds itself into the drywall over my shoulder.
I’m aware of Riley screaming but block it out, concentrating on the bodyguard. I plug him with two more rounds before he’s down, coughing up blood.