Slick, wet, pulsing attraction. She’d always loved the powerful way he walked, and three years later, it still affected her nervous system to witness how he owned an entire room simply by existing.
What was he doing here?
It was as though time stood still.
She was seeing things. He wasn’t supposed to be out for five more months and six days. She hated herself for knowing the time frame, but there it was anyway, stuck in her brain, counting down in the background.
But he was here. He was out. And walking toward them.
Angela’s heart went into free-fall, bouncing against her ribcage like an out-of-control ball of energy.
The hidden part of her, dark and wrong, the bits of her he’d held together in his two hands until she could breathe again, flared to life at his rugged, unyielding glare. As if reminding her of who she belonged to.
Who she’d been born to belong to.
It mattered so little if she was angry with Lawless.
The anger felt very mundane and weak compared to her other emotions when she looked at the man. She’d died a thousand times over from missing him in the last three years. Yet, she could love him with every cracked piece of her heart, even when she hated him.
It was unbelievable what she saw when he came to a standstill. Angela had utterly stopped breathing.
Her lungs became useless as she stared and stared, mapping his rugged features.
Sweet, merciful God. She’d forgotten how incredible that face was.
He was still the most devastatingly frightening and outrageously sexy man she’d ever seen.
Every inch of Lawless screamed intimidation without even having to try, and his incredible looks were not diminished one bit by the frosty air around him.
His sharp bone structure was born from a very skilled angel who knew how to make a man both beautiful and deadly at the same time. The sharp angles should look severe, dusted with day-old facial hair, and maturity featured heavily on that beautiful face. An air of prominent authority had always clung to Lawless, but it had worsened since she’d last seen him and her knees threatened to go out from underneath her and land at his feet.
His stare-on with Jay went on and on, the pair in a weird, locked moment, and then without warning, Lawless switched his gaze to her and thank God she was sitting, or she would have toppled over as his eyes swept slowly over her, top to toe and back again.
The shudder became a full-on tornado of emotion, rattling her insides loose.
Her lips opened to speak, and no sound came out.
Oh,shit. Nothing prepared her for this.
His stare burned, those deep blue eyes so cold and ice-filled, and his tight lips put flames all over her skin and punched a hole directly into her chest as if someone had struck a match and lit a fuse within her.
It was as though he was speaking to her with only his eyes, screaming at her through the coldness. His gaze reprimanded, demanded obedience.
Thoughts she’d never had before piled one on top of the other.
Obey came to mind. Never had she wanted to drop to her knees and curl around anyone’s legs. She was strong, obstinate, very independent. Yet she was molding clay with him, willing to be in his hands and become whatever they made together.
The monster and his subject.
The teacher and his pupil.
The demon and his Hell queen.
Because that’s what she felt like, under his scrutiny. A queen. Like she could have anything she asked for, the sky was the limit.
Inhaling to gain composure to say something, she was beaten to the punch when Jay spoke first.
“How the fuck are you out so soon, Penn? And why didn’t you tell me? I went to see you yesterday and was turned away. I thought they’d shipped you to a different fucking prison. I nearly contacted a senator.”