Page 28 of Bonds of Pain
And it’s done.
His body goes slack and crashes back down in the chair, head lolling forward as the last of his blood pools on the floor beneath him.
The room falls silent except for Maya’s ragged breathing behind me. I can feel her trembling against my back, her fingers digging into my shirt.
“Is he dead?” she whispers.
“Definitively.” I wipe the blade clean on Darius’s pant leg before turning to face her. “Are you hurt?”
She shakes her head, eyes fixed on the dead man. Her face is splattered with droplets of blood, stark against her pale skin. “I didn’t mean to kill him.”
“You didn’t kill him. I did.” I glance down at still widening pool of blood on his shirt, that belly wound was deeper than I thought. Probably would have gotten him given enough time. “Though, I won’t say you didn’t help.”
I don’t see the horror that I expect in her blank expression. There are no tears in the eyes still fixed on the bleeding man at our feet. She isn’t falling to her knees or shrieking in terror, which I assume is the typical Omega response.
“How does it feel?” I ask.
She tears her gaze away from the corpse to meet mine. Her dark eyes are soft and limpid, not so different from the look they get right after she comes.
Her voice is strong when she finally acknowledges my question. “It feels like he got what he deserved. I just wish we’d made it last longer.”
Maya lets out an adorable shriek of surprise when I grab her shoulders and capture her blood-stained mouth in a searing kiss.
Chapter Nine
MAYA
Poe’s lips crash into mine, a sudden, violent collision that sends electricity racing through my body. I freeze, momentarily stunned by the unexpected contact. The metallic taste of Darius’s blood mingles with his sea salt scent, and the combination is enough to make me lightheaded.
I should be disgusted. I should push him away. But I don’t want to, not with the primal energy crackling between us.
I return the kiss because I don’t have a choice. Because I could have died. Because he handed me a knife and didn’t flinch when I turned it on him.
A jolt of surprise rocks through him, but Poe recovers quickly. He immediately turns teasing, pulling back so I instinctively chase after him. His lips curve into a smile as they lightly cover my own.
It’s somehow sweetest kiss I’ve ever experienced, and there is a dead body cooling on the floor only a few feet away.
A feeling of invincibility rushes over me. If I can withstand this, if I can survive, then I can do anything. It’s that realizationthat makes me wrap my arms around his back and pull him closer until his leg slots between my spread legs.
I grind against the muscled wall of his thigh until sparks of pleasure shoot down my spine. His chuckle vibrates against my skin as his hands shift to my hips to encourage the movement.
I’m chasing the high because that is the only way to stave off an inevitable crash.
When Poe pulls back, his dark eyes bore into mine, unreadable yet somehow knowing. “It’s natural,” he says, his voice a low rumble that vibrates through me. “After a good fight. Your adrenaline is up, and your brain hasn’t caught up to the fact that you’re safe.” His gaze drops to my lips, and he swipes at the corner of my lip with his thumb, coming away with a single drop of red. “All that energy needs an outlet. It doesn’t have to mean anything.”
His words are like a splash of cold water on my libido. Because that’s how he sees the entire world.
Nothing ever matters.
“Do you always kiss the women you save like you want to eat them alive?” I challenge.
Teasing warmth resonates in his voice. “You’re the first. I just couldn’t help myself.”
I’ve never seen Poe like this, loose and relaxed like the doesn’t have a care in the world. Killing must do something to dislodge the perpetual stick in his ass.
That doesn’t mean I should just forget what he is.
“You don’t feel bad at all, killing a bound man.”
