Page 4 of Pretty Threats

Do not engage.

As I turn toward the gate to Meredith, I catch the scents of spicy shower gel and… Killian. Triggered memories of being near him hit me in a barrage. Between my legs, there’s already heat building. We have a complicated history.

My badge unlocks the gate, but when I pull, it doesn’t swing open. I glance up to where his hand holds an iron bar. Like everything about Killian, his hand is beautiful. His long, tapered fingers are almost twice the size of mine. They’re the kind that, in an advertisement, could hold a briefcase or a bar bell. Or, in the bedroom, push deep inside a partner’s?—

“Let go.” I don’t raise my voice, but my tone is firm. Which doesn’t matter. He never listens to anyone.

This close, heat from his body radiates into mine. With all his muscles, he’s like a furnace. I used to like that about him. Now it just reminds me of how physically dangerous he is.

He clears his throat, causing me to tighten my grip on the gate. Us standing this close to each other is such a dreaded thing.

“There’s something you need to explain.” His low, gravelly voice causes gooseflesh to erupt over my entire body.

My physical reactions to him infuriate me. Beautiful looks aside, there’s a part of his personality I hate. And it’s the part that’s usually in charge.

His stormy blue eyes remain fixed on my face. Killian’s capable of an intensity that’s impossible to ignore. Getting away from him is crucial because this close, I’m gasoline and he’s a torch. At the same time my mind explodes into flaming protests, my body will melt in a totally different way.

“I don’t want to talk, Killian.” There, at least my voice sounds sure and supports my words.

“No? So what do you want to do, Raine? ‘Cuz I’ve got time.”

My breath catches, and things low and deep inside my body clench. He never directs his flirting taunts at anyone else. The younger, naive Raine loved the special treatment. But now his words cause my muscles to lock, as if I’m bracing for a deadly collision.

Killian’s good looks camouflage his deeply disturbed soul. He’s prone to violence. Devastation. Innocent or guilty, no one is safe if they get in his way.

“The answer to anything you’re suggesting is no. It’ll always be no.” I tap his forearm. “Let go of the gate.”

“Why don’t you make me?” he asks with mock curiosity. “I’ve got a knife in my pocket. Go get it.”

I shudder, a wave of dread rolling through me. It’s followed by something else… the terrible connection I have to him is one I can never seem to sever.

“What are you doing here? We decided to stay away from each other. That was going well.”

“We decided?” His expression seems bored.

“You’ve stayed away,” I point out.

He rolls his eyes. “I was forced out of the house. And then I was out of town.”

“Still, you stopped doing the things you used to do.” I hold my breath, waiting for him to confirm that. The truth is I’m never completely sure whether he’s gone or just lurking. Changed passwords, blocked social accounts, and even locked doors are no match for him. If he decides he wants to be part of my life, there is no way to keep him out. But for a little while, it seemed like he’d finally given up on me.

Without warning, his hand grabs the back of my head so I can’t move. He lowers his face so his nose rustles my hair, inhaling me. His movements mimic a flame’s, fast-moving, hot, and ungovernable. Before my arms have fully risen to try to push him away, he lets go and steps back.

“You have eight hours, Raine, to take it down and cover your tracks. Otherwise, I’m going to visit you the way I used to.”

My eyes widen, and I taste my pulse pounding in my throat. Before things went so severely sideways—before I really knew him—we spent many hours alone. In secret.

“What do you mean? Take what down?”

He gives me a cool look. “Eight hours.”

As he strolls away, the world closes in. He hasn’t cornered me like this in a long time. I must’ve said something on one of my videos that upset him. For the life of me, I don’t know what. I would never dare mention him. It would be like tugging the devil’s tail.

That musing sends another shiver through me. I never once thought about the devil before I met Killian Callahan.

3

5 years ago

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