Page 59 of The Devils Melody
“Inside,” he says. Not a suggestion. A fucking order.
I blink, trying so hard to catch my breath. “Wait. Kage, I have to work?—”
He cuts me off with a low growl. “You think I give a single fuck about your schedule right now?” His voice drips with that possessive fury again. “I just caught some prick trying to put his hands on you and now you’re just standing in front of me, looking like this—” he gestures to my tight little running outfit with one hand as he grabs my ass with the other. “You think I’m gonna walk away?”
My chest rises and falls so fast, it feels like my ribs might crack. I should scream at him for knowing where I live, for dragging me here like I belonged to him. But instead, I find myself whispering, “I don’t need saving.”
His lips curve, slow and wicked. “No, little bird. You need something else.” And then he kisses me again.This time, slower. Deeper. I melt into him, my traitorous body aching to be touched by him. I hate how much I want him, but I love the way he makes me forget who I am.
His hands find my waist, sliding under the hem of my shirt, fingers digging into my skin like he owns it, because he does. I let out a gasp and he swallows it, pressing me tighter into him. I slip my hand between us, running my fingers down his abs and over the front of his jeans. Cupping his erection, I moan into his mouth, begging for more. He pulls away slowly, but not before pulling my bottom lip between his teeth and sucking.
“I could make you forget everything,” he whispers against my lips. “Your name. Your shift. Your rules. I could fuck the past right out of your bloodstream, Wren.”
God help me…I want that. I want all of that. I want to disappear into him. Lose the noise in his mouth and drown the ache with his hands. But I also know, if I let him inside tonight, he won’t just ruin me. He’ll brand me. Forever.
My fingers curl into his jacket, my forehead resting against his chest as I try to breathe and think. But his scent is all over me. Leather, smoke, cedar. And something that smells likemine.
“Go inside,” he says again, lower now. Almost gentle. “Get ready for work. I’ll be waiting.”
Waiting. He’s giving me the out. He’s letting me choose. But we both know I already have. I slip from his grasp without looking back. My legs feel like they don’t belong to me as I unlock the back door, step inside, and shut it behind me.
The second it clicks closed, I collapse against it, heart racing, lips tingling, and thighs aching. I don’t even care that I’m sitting on the dirty ass floor of the back room. Andeven as I try to catch my breath, one thought echoes louder than the rest.
He’s not going anywhere. And I don’t want him to.
20
Kage
THE EXECUTIONER
Ilight a cigarette the second the door closes behind her. She’s inside getting ready for work, and I’m out here pretending like I’m not seconds away from going inside after her. I’d probably scare everyone in the restaurant if I just barged in with the kind of look I know I’d have in my eyes, walking straight to the back room. I lean against my bike, exhaling smoke into the heavy late afternoon air. The engines still warm from the ride over, and I haven’t moved from my spot since she went inside. I couldn’t, too afraid I’d snap the neck of anyone who tried to get in the way of me getting to my girl.
I run a hand over my head and take another drag. She doesn’t need to see what’s eating me alive. She doesn’t need to know that her ex reminds me of the one man that made me feel small. The reason why I became who I am. The way he put his hands on her that night. The smug little smirk he wore after she hit the ground. I see it every time I close my eyes. She might not have seen it, but I did, and I’ll be damned if I let him lay another fucking finger on her.
Richard is exactly like Dan, and he’s still breathing. That’s a fucking problem.
I pull out my phone and call Nox. He picks up without a greeting.
“You already kill him?” he asks. Has he just been sitting there waiting for me to snap?
“Not yet.” I take a long drag of my cigarette and let the smoke burn my lungs before exhaling. “There’s something we’re missing here. I don’t know what it is, but we need to find out.”
“Where are you right now?”
“Outside her place. Waiting.”
“You’re not even trying to be subtle about it anymore, huh?”
“Was I ever?”
He doesn’t answer. Doesn’t need to. We both know I’d slit that bastard’s throat in the street if I thought she’d be safer because of it.
“I want him gone,” I say, cutting through the silence. “Clean. We need to do it soon.”
“Then we do it right,” Nox says. “We find the missing information and get rid of him. No loose ends.”
“I’m not letting him leave another mark on her.”
