Page 67 of Sinners Atone
My hand curls around the edge of the door, and every square inch of my brain screams at me to slam it shut, slide the deadbolt, and get a head start in the game of hide and seek that’d inevitably follow. But my body has other ideas. I’m too nosy, too foolish. I’m a little drunk on the idea of dancing with the Devil too.
And so, with a shaky breath, I step out into the night, following Gabriel’s retreat.
“Your first mistake was letting me get so close to you.” His heat shifts around my body as he circles me like a lion sizing up his prey. “You ever heard of fight or flight’?”
I’m viciously aware of the decking groaning under every footstep. “Yes?”
He comes to a stop behind me, the tingle of his presence making my back itch. “You have neither.”
Pursing my lips, I spin around to protest, but only a small breath escapes them when my shoulder grazes his stomach. My coat swishes over leather and the hardness beneath it, and both the feeling and sound are dizzying.
Proving him wrong, I choose flight and take a step back. Then I meet his eyes before my own can wander south to the stomach I came into contact with.
He pins me with a glare. “Since your punches are pathetic and you insiston letting men get this close to you, you’ll want to use your elbows.” Lifting his arm, he connects his own elbow to his palm with athawpso sharp it makes me flinch.“It’s more effective for shorter range and has a higher force-to-surface ratio.”
I frown. “And in English?”
His jaw tics. “It’ll hurt them more, and you won’t break a nail.”
“Well, why didn’t you say so?”
Letting my sarcasm slide, he continues. “Strike in a downward motion and aim for the weak spots. Face, throat, ribs.” I follow his finger as he points to them on his own body. “And if all else fails, you kick them in the balls.”
Instinctively, I look down at his crotch. Though, I realize my error in less than a heartbeat and quickly glance away, sensing Gabriel stiffen.
“Notmyballs,” he warns.
Heat floods my face. It touches more-private places too, because now I’m thinking abouthisprivate places and wondering what they look like under all that leather.
I bet his penis is huge.Like the ones in porn. I wonder if it’s tattooed like the rest of him, or evenpierced, because he seems like the type.
“Got it,” I mutter, raking through my bangs as if it’ll brush away the sordid musings going on beneath it.
“Good.” He rolls his shoulders and cracks his neck, then beckons me forward with a gloved hand. “Hit me.”
His demand drags my mind up out of the gutter and sets me on edge. I regard his blank expression with caution, unable to read it. “Are you going to hit me back?”
He drags his front teeth over his bottom lip, eyes sparking with something menacing. “Not to begin with.”
Well, that doesn’t sound promising, but knowing this man isn’t in the business of asking twice, I reluctantly bend my arm and strike down on his torso. Nylon glides over leather with a frictionlessswish, and I stumble forward.
Gabriel steadies me with a bitter hiss. His grip is impatient, and it lingers, soaking through my sleeve and into my skin. “We’ll work on that,” he states. But I can barely hear him. Can barely register my embarrassment because he’s still holdingme. Black-clad fingers sinking into pink fabric, so thick and long I’msure if I were to turn my arm over, the tips of them would meet his thumb.
I’m still staring with morbid fascination when the tendons in his wrist flex. He suddenly yanks me toward him, ducks, and drives his shoulder into my stomach. The force lifts me up and over his body until I’m looking down the length of his back.
A puff of shock escapes me, though I don’t know why I’m surprised; I’ve been over this man’s shoulder so many times I should be used to the view by now.
Then he starts walking. The deck turns into steps which lead into the garden path, and the sight of my front door slipping away from me makes me heavy with dread.
“Where are we going?”
“You ask every man who kidnaps you that question?”
“If I ever get kidnapped, I’ll let you know,” I bite back, thumping my fist on his back in frustration.
“Won’t be long, I’m sure,” he mutters.
He takes a few more strides, then with a rough tug on the bottom of my jacket, he finally yanks me back down toterra firma.
