Page 132 of Till The Sun Dies (Checkmate 2)

And I definitely don’t do anything that might hurt her.

But my finger slides along her spinal column as I bring the metal higher, and when I reach the top and brush a finger over the back of her neck, a brush that I know I’ll kick my own ass for later, her skin breaks out in goosebumps until her shoulders jump.

“Sorry.” I’m not sorry. Not yet, anyway.

“It’s okay.” Slowly, she turns and looks up at me. Her eyes flicker over my face, then down to my bare chest. Narrowing them, she leans in closer to inspect the chain around my neck.

As though to ask permission, she brings a hand up, but stops before she touches. “What does the tag say?”

“Case dismissed.” When her eyes narrow in thought, I add, “It’s a quote from a movie I once loved. It was about a hero who proved his status not with muscle, but with heart. He followed the law when it was just, but when it wasn’t, he did what was right, even if that meant he would be sentenced to death.”

She tilts her head to the side. “So… He broke the law to uphold the good?”

I shrug. “Basically. He followed the law when it was right, and he broke it when it was wrong.”

“Like Kane and Jay?”

I laugh. It’s a desperate sound, a plea for mercy. “Yeah, like them, I guess.”

“What law did you break, Ang?” She drops my chain and stands on her toes to get closer.

It almost feels like an interrogation, and when her eyes narrow, Graham’s face flashes through my mind. Then my dad’s. Graham’s. Dad’s.

The letters carved into Graham’s forehead, and the fire that killed my father while I stood by and watched.

“What did you do that took heart, even if the law would disagree?”

Tell her, and become her hero?

Keep it to myself, and spare her new nightmares?

I place a hand on her bare shoulder, and push her back to flat feet. “Nothing, it’s just a quote. I really like your dress, by the way. It’s beautiful.”

“Yeah?” She grabs the skirt and fluffs it out for a beat, but when she looks down, she makes an ‘Oh!” and dashes back to the bathroom. A citrusy scent lingers in the air, and just as I take a deep breath, she reemerges with her new crystal necklace dangling from her fingers. She starts toward me, taking a few steps before turning toward her bag and pulling out a tall pair of black pumps.

She walks and pulls them on; one step, lift a foot and slide it on, another step onto higher ground, lift the other foot and slide it on. By the time she reaches me, she’s a few inches taller and her eyes are now in line with my nose.

Fuckkkkk.

She extends her hand and lets the crystal dangle. “Help me out?”

“Sure.” Still bare chested, I barely manage to keep my perverted groans to myself when she turns and her silky hair brushes over my skin. With clumsy fingers and shaking hands, I dangle the chain around her neck and work on the catch.

Just lean forward and press a kiss to her shoulder.

It’s bare! It’s right there!

No! You’re not supposed to be the next wolf stepping up to her house!

“Um…” My fingers shake so bad, I have to stop and restart the chain four times. “Did you bring a sweater or something? It might get cold out.”

“No.” She slides a hand along her shoulder, and when she takes her hair to move it aside, her hand jumps when it feathers over mine. “We’re not leaving this hotel, I don’t think. Dinner’s on the second level, then we’ll come straight back here.”

“You don’t think you’ll go for a walk at the beach after?”

She turns when I finish the chain. Again, her eyes drop to my chest, my eyes, my chest.

“Do you wanna go for a walk after? It could be nice to wander for a few minutes.”

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