Page 15 of Provocation
‘Maybe you can come with me next time,’ he says, leaning in to kiss my lips only to dive down to my nipple and wrap his lips around it.
I shudder as his tongue flicks it, but at that moment, my tummy rumbles loudly and he laughs. ‘Come on, my poor starving beauty. Let’s get you some of the good slices of pizza before you literally starve to death.’
I offer him my other nipple with a sound of annoyance.
‘I forgot,’ he grins and does the same thing to the other one to make them equal before he helps me to my feet.
I find that my legs are a little wobbly. He smirks. ‘That good, huh?’
My answering smile is shy. ‘It was very nice.’
He puts Shade’s robe back around my shoulders and I slip my arms into it.
‘Have you found out anything else about the person who’s been watching the cameras?’ I ask as my eyes fall on the piece of Duct tape that’s currently covering the lens of the one in the corner of my room.
He makes a noise of annoyance. ‘No, but I’ve written a program to hopefully undo some of the damage the virus did to the data, so I should have something more soon.’
‘There was something…’ I trail off, second guessing telling him this.
I never want them to know what The Heath really is. At the beginning it was just embarrassment. I didn’t wantanyoneto know the truth, but now… Blake, Mav, and Shade seem to believe that it was some kind of clinic-come-spa where all wedid was sit by a pool and watch Disney movies all day. I haven’t disabused them of their incorrect notions because I don’t really want to talk about how the past ten years of my life have been. And I definitely don’t want them to know about the Stinger, and the corrections.
Treating me and the others like that wasn’t right,isn’tright. I’m seeing that more clearly now, and I think they’ll be horrified if they learn about how it really is. I’d rather not see pity in their eyes when they look at me. It would be much like they were tonight, but times a hundred. I realize I’m rubbing my left leg close to the slightly thickened skin on my calf where the GED used to sit absently and I stop at once.
Blake interlaces our fingers together. ‘What?’
I peer down at our entwined hands and take a breath. ‘Joe Banderville. He said something that made me think he’s seen videos of me. Not from here, but from England.’
‘What was it that he said?’ Blake asks, his tone deceptively calm.
The only reason I know he’s getting upset is because his fingers tighten around mine almost imperceptibly.
I peer up at him.
‘Just something about The Heath that he wouldn’t have known unless he’sseensomething,’ I reply vaguely. ‘I just wondered… He said this marriage deal has been in the works for a long time, and he seems to think I’m already his. Maybe he’s been the one watching. He seems to view me as a possession that he owns, so he might have been keeping eyes on me for a while.’
Blake nods slowly and I can see he’s trying very hard not to lose it in front of me. ‘I’ll look into him. If he has any secrets at all, I’ll find them.’
‘Blake, look at me.’
The eyes that find mine are wild. Tortured. I think about when he came back late at night covered in blood. He gave me a plausible story, but what if…
‘You don’t get to be angrier than I am,’ I say quietly. ‘You just don’t. Not about this.’
He sighs and closes his eyes, putting his forehead to mine for a moment before giving me a peck on the lips.
‘Okay,’ he whispers against my mouth. ‘Okay. I promise I won’t do anything. Not yet. But their cards are marked, understand?’
I nod. ‘Agreed.’
He draws back and cups my face.
‘Come on. Pizza before you keel over. I’ll bet the guys are about to kill each other they’re so hungry.’
Chapter Two
SHADE
Daisy comes into Blake’s room in my robe looking much more relaxed than she was a few minutes ago and I raise a brow at my friend who’s literally swaggering in behind her.
