Page 106 of Ruthless Creatures
“Don’t worry about that.”
He lays me on the bed and settles the covers over me, then gets into bed on the other side and pulls me against him so we’re spooning. Drawing his legs up behind mine, he inhales deeply against my hair, then wraps an arm around me and kisses the nape of my neck.
“But they’ll be looking for you now. Here.”
“That sketch has already gone missing.”
He rolls over and turns off the light on the nightstand. Confused, I blink into the darkness.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean Deputy Dipshit isn’t the only one with contacts inside the bureau.”
I blink so much I might as well be signaling in Morse code. “But… you said if they found out about me—”
“They don’t know anything about you. And we’re going to keep it that way.”
“Chris might tell them, though.”
“Doubtful. He’s in love with you.”
That makes me snort. “Not even close. His ego’s just bruised.”
Kage sighs, stirring the hair on my neck. Clearly, he doesn’t believe me.
“Also…” I cringe. “I might have… sort of… threatened to shoot him.”
After a beat, Kage rears up onto an elbow and says loudly, “What the hell did he do? Did that fucker touch you? I’ll kill him!”
His tone is murderous. I can’t help but find that romantic in a twisted sort of way. “No, honey. He didn’t touch me.”
“What did he do, then?”
I think about it for a moment, then tell him the truth. “Basically, he annoyed me.”
I can’t see his face, but I feel Kage frowning at me in the dark. “You threatened to shoot a sheriff because he annoyed you.”
It sounds bad when he says it. I get a little defensive. “He’s been driving by my house at all hours of the day and night for weeks—”
He growls, “Hold on.What?”
“See? Annoying. And he said some insulting things about you, and about me, and wouldn’t leave when I asked him to, and just overall acted like a prize-winning dick.”
Kage is silent for a while, simmering. “Thank you for telling me. I’ll handle him.”
My eyes widen. “By ‘handle him,’ do you mean…”
“I mean your man will handle it. You don’t need to worry about him bothering you anymore.”
With a grumble, he lays his head back on the pillow and slides his arm underneath my neck. We lie in silence for a while, until Kage’s breathing returns to normal.
Then I whisper, “Don’t hurt him, though. Okay?”
He exhales in a heavy rush.
“I don’t want that on my conscience. Promise?”
“You pointed a gun at him, but I can’t?”
