Page 44 of The Hunted

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Raven

My mind swirls with thoughts as I lie here in the arms of a confessed killer. Can I handle this? I’d be lying if I said I’m not scared shitless, but I know with everything I am, Knox wouldn’t harm me. I can’t deny I have some sort of connection with this man. Can I handle this? He takes lives. He decides if people live or die.

“How do you do it? How do you live with yourself, taking lives, innocent lives?”

“I no longer take innocent lives. After my father left, I restructured Albatross. Now, I investigate the marks or have Ace investigate them. If they are truly innocent, we don’t accept the orders. They will not die by our hands.”

I stare at the blank wall beside the bed while I try to process everything he’s just told me. Knox traces small circles on the back of my hand as it rests on his chest.

I can’t begin to understand how he takes any life, innocent or not. I can’t deny that day at the abandoned building, after I learned what Ethan had done to Scarlett, I wanted him dead. I wanted to kill him. I wanted to see him hurt, suffer. So, I can relate to Knox’s need for vengeance, to avenge his mother. I want my own for what has been done to my family. But to actually pull the trigger? I don’t know that I could do it.

I look at him as he waits patiently for my answer. He may do very bad things, but from what I see, Knox Bane is still a good man. I lose myself in the depths of his eyes as I seal my fate.

“I can handle this.”

His smile lights up his face, and it draws a return smile from me. His fingers cup my chin, and he raises up to press his lips to mine. He slides his hand from my chin and down the side of my body. Gripping my hips, he flips me over and settles on top of me. He nudges my legs apart with his knee. I squeal, slightly startled, and laugh when he begins to laugh, too. I can sense his need to be distracted from the ghosts that haunt him.

He palms me through my panties. “I can handle this,” he says, trying to lighten the mood. I laugh at his words then moan from his touch as it sets me on fire.

“Can you?” I whisper over his lips as our kiss deepens.

“Every inch, beautiful. I intend to handle every fucking inch of you.”

His words send shivers over my body as he brings his hands up to cup my face. He pulls back slightly, staring down at me. I see him clearly now. My first impressions of him, intimidating, dangerous, and terrifying, while still true, no longer threaten me. He is strong, loyal, and a fighter. This man is a warrior. The reason I am here may be shitty, but he’s my silver lining, my tarnished silver lining. I feel so many things with Knox I never thought were possible. He’s finding a way into my heart, and that petrifies me because I’m not quite sure if there is a happy ending to be had with this man. By his very own admission, he still kills, still plans vengeance for his mother’s death, and where does that leave me? I didn’t intend to come here and put my heart on a platter, but here I am, serving it up to him. Consequences be damned. I can only hope I’m making the right decision.

“You are more than I expected, Little Bird, so much more than I deserve.”

Butterflies swarm inside me as he kisses me with a passion I’ve never known. He pushes up from me, resting back on his knees, reaching for me he begins to slowly unbutton the shirt I’m wearing. One by one the buttons are undone, his warm fingers graze against me as they work causing goose bumps to spill across my body. He helps me slip my arms from it and tosses it to the floor. He brings his index finger to my bottom lip and traces it with the pad. I place a kiss to the tip of it before he begins to blaze a path across my chin and down my throat, he lingers between my breasts and smiles. He continues his descent between my breasts and down my stomach to the place I long for him to find.

Peppering soft kisses to my stomach, he settles between my legs. I feel the heat of his breath at my entrance and arch my back off the bed, seeking the warmth of his mouth. Knox sucks my flesh gently through my panties, and his fingers dig into my thighs. He blows a steady breath across the wet spot he’s creating, and I rake my hands through his soft hair, pulling him toward my center.

“Patience, my sweet Little Bird.”

His deep voice is a soft whisper against my wetness, a promise of what he’s about to deliver. He traces that sinful finger under the seam of my panties, missing everything I need him to touch. My body has been set aflame with need, and he’s the only one with the power to extinguish it. I groan from pure ecstasy of his tease, too much and not enough at the same time.

“Eyes, baby.”

I immediately do as he instructs. I want to know what he has in store for me. His teeth grab at the fabric of my panties. He releases a small growl before using his teeth to slide the offending fabric down. I lift my hips to him, and he grabs my ass in his hands and peels away the barrier between me and his mouth. He lifts me to his lips and inhales before his tongue descends on me. Jolts of pleasure wrack my body. My fingers dig into the sheets, twisting them within my grip.

He lays me back onto the bed, then sits back on his heels with my legs spread around him. He tugs his shirt off and drops it to the floor.

“I want to see you like this, lick you, fuck you every day. Every fucking day, Raven.”

I sit up, reach for him, and pull his lips to mine.

God, I want that too.

He drinks me in as I try to tell him with this kiss all the things I can’t put into words.

I long for him.

I need him.

I crave him.

As we kiss, I remove the rest of his clothes with his help.

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