Page 15 of Bound to Death

I almost thought I’d misheard him. But before I realized it, I moved to stand next to him as ordered.

What the fuck?

His hand engulfed my face, and as if my friend wasn’t in the room, Thanatos bent his head down and claimed my mouth in a greedy kiss. My knees buckled, nearly taking me to the floor in an outright ridiculous way, but he was quicker. His hand wrapped around my waist, and before I could fully gasp, his tongue stroked mine without any regard for who was watching. His lips tasted, and his teeth bit and yanked my lower lip. The tight, familiar coil in my stomach warned me any more and I’d make Emily a voyeur to some shit I’d regret later. But thankfully, Thanatos pulled away, leaving me sufficiently dazed.

“Good morning, little raven,” he whispered so sweetly that I’d never believe he was a demon if he hadn’t brutally killed those assholes last night. “I’m sure you have questions.”

Emily whistled, probably upset he stopped and didn’t fuck me right in front of her, the voyeuristic queen. “Holy shit. I’m going to need a list of the people you know. I’m willing to trade that hot piece for one of yours.”

Called it.

The awkwardness continued well past eggs and kisses Thanatos was apparently fond of stealing, but finally, Emily found a reason to leave. Mostly to avoid the guy who’d fallen in love with her after their night together. I was grateful that she needed an excuse to send him on his way by stating that she was a very busy lawyer person and needed to stop by work for “things pertaining to my deposition.” Incidentally, the same deposition she didn’t care about earlier when I’d asked about it.

But it was now just Mr. Killer and I, alone.

Thanatos regarded me from his chair, which he’d put as close to mine as physically possible. The way his ice-blue eyes traveled down my body, eating me up, it was clear he wanted to get me undressed and under him again.

And it was fucking distracting.

But he hadn’t burned up in the sunlight, so not a vampire. Or at least not one like the stories told. I wasn’t an expert, but I’d read a few paranormal romances in my time. He fit demon more than vampire, but what did I know? This was fucking reality, not some fictional romance written by a creative mind and depraved heart.

Not one to beat around the bush, and definitely not ready to let this gorgeous but dangerous killer tear my clothes off with the same hands he used to dismember five people, I got to the point, safe from being overheard by my roommate who’d practically sold me off to him for a phone number.

“What are you, some kind of…demon?”

His eyes flashed with something akin to contempt. “They should be so lucky to be as powerful as I am. But to answer your question, no.”

I could see we were about to play twenty questions if I didn’t get to the heart of things, so I followed it up by asking, “Mind elaborating there, killer? What kind of creature can tear five guys to pieces and murder them in cold blood like it’s nothing?”

Thanatos’s amusement reached his mouth and he leaned back in his chair, plenty happy to drag out this little conversation of epic, reality-upending proportions. “Murder is a strong word, little raven. More like…deliver their souls to where they belong. You haven’t forgotten what they planned to do to you, or is that part of the night fuzzy?”

Condescending ass.

“I remember it all perfectly. In a little too much detail, if I’m honest. Like, for example, the fact that some kind of symbol was burned onto their foreheads and their eyes fucking hollowed out. Well, Bad Lay, anyway. The rest you tore up at lightning speed, so I didn’t exactly get a good look at them before they were butchered. Unlike some of us in this room, I’m not used to the sight of carnage.”

His thick arms crossed over his naked chest, drawing my attention to it in an instant. I hadn’t forgotten the muscles. Or the piercings. My eyes took a stroll down memory lane, and the killer cleared his throat when I stared at his lap for a beat too long.

“I’m not a demon. Nor am I a vampire.”Mind reader!“No, just incredibly good at reading your expressions, Ash.”

I swallowed thickly around the intimate use of my nickname. It sounded both foreign and insanely forbidden in his deep, panty-wetting baritone, but I wanted him to say it again. He might if I asked or pretended I didn’t hear him.

My head clicked back over to the entire reason we were here, and now I was angry I got distracted by himagain. If he wasn’t a vampire or demon, what kind of creature could have this sort of enthralling lure? Nothing good, I bet.

Our eyes connected. The way he sucked in a deep, powerful breath then wet his lips as the blue of his irises faded to a haunting white sent alarm ringing through my head. I wanted to run, but I couldn’t. Call it a woman’s intuition—or maybe a trained fighter’s sixth sense—but I just knew I couldn’t outrun this monster.

“You still haven’t answered my question,” I pointed out, leaning back in the same manner, asserting my own dominance and refusal to get anything but the truth. “What are you? I know it wasn’t a dream. It couldn’t be. Those assholes are dead.”

“As I admitted only a second ago.”

Twenty questions, it is.

“So, not a demon, not a vampire, but something with a creepy shadow power and the ability to tear men apart, burn their heads, and steal their souls?” I searched my very limited database on the subject. “Reaper?”

His lips twitched, and I could almost fist-pump my brilliance. “Close, but not quite.” His eyes dropped to my mouth then my breasts before lifting. “I would think you’d be more interested in why I chose to show you.”

He wasn’t wrong. A normal person would wonder why them, why now, what for, but I wasn’t exactly normal. Of course, I did wonder why he’d fucked me like a beast. Or probably more confusing, why he’d saved me in the first place. Or maybe why he stayed when he could’ve let me think it was all a dream. What did he stand to gain from all of this? Who was I to him?

When my eyes sliced back up to his, the smile he offered me was the sexiest yet. “Now you’re getting there, little raven.”

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