He smiled, then, a flash of white against his bronze face. Shockingly handsome in an I’m-about-to-kill-you way, the smile lent a certain charm to the sense of danger surrounding him. “This has been you playing nice? You knocked two of my guys out yesterday.”
“They should’ve been concentrating on guarding the perimeter,” she said primly. “They’re both fine, I’m sure.”
“Yeah, but they want your blood. Bad.” Amusement competed with the warning in his eyes.
They probably did want to retaliate. She tilted her head to the side and studied him. “Then I suggest you control your men. I doubt my brother will make that trade you want so badly if I’m damaged.” She hoped. There weren’t any other women in the Mercenary camp, and she’d caught more than one of the men staring at her tits. Only Greyson’s firm leash on his men had kept her safe, and she knew it.
“Oh, Raze will take you damaged, and don’t you forget it,” Greyson said silkily, his broad form filling the entire doorway.
She forced a smile. “I think you’re full of shit.” Her second curse word in an hour. It was a new record for her.
He stepped into the room, bringing the scent of ocean and man. “You’re pushing tonight, pretty girl.”
She stood and stepped his way, lifting her chin. For two weeks, she’d been held captive, and not once had he lifted a hand to her. In fact, he made sure she had privacy and food. Yet something about him inspired caution—even fear. In a world full of predators, Greyson Storm stood out as something dangerous.
She drew in air. “Do you think I don’t hear what goes on? What you did with those three teenage refugees yesterday who wanted asylum?” Three girls, all around fourteen years old and prepared to do whatever they had to do for food and shelter. “I heard every word.” She’d been sick about it ever since and needed to understand what had happened to those girls.
He breathed out, his nostrils flaring. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s a dangerous world, and they’re lucky to have survived this long.”
Oh, she was finished being frightened by him. She moved toward him, the knife in her hand hidden by her thigh. “Where are the girls?” she hissed.
Greyson’s face went blank.
She shivered but held her ground.
“Like I said, you don’t know anything.” He towered over her by at least a foot, his body harder than rock. A vein lined the hard cords of his neck. “I suggest you worry about yourself.”
She’d never been able to do that, and she needed him pissed so he’d go and leave her alone. Then she’d put her plan into motion and attack another guard. She wouldn’t win against him. “I know you’re a monster, Grey. How much of one?” When he’d kidnapped her, he’d done so easily and without causing a bruise. Would he have allowed those young girls to be harmed? It was unthinkable, but she didn’t know him. Not at all.
He leaned down until his nose almost touched hers. “Your only concern is yourself. For the rest of it, mind your own damn business.”
“I very well might kill you.” If she moved an inch, his mouth would be on hers. She immediately shook the thought away. “Because there is no way my brother will bring Vinnie Wellington here to you. He wouldn’t sacrifice an innocent woman. Not even to save me.”
His gaze bored into hers. “I disagree. I barely knew your brother in the military, but his loyalty was well understood. I bet he’d do anything for his baby sister.”
“Why do you want this woman so badly?” Maureen asked for the umpteenth time.
“None of your business.”
Was this a lover’s spat? The idea kicked Maureen in the stomach, and she had no clue why. “If you lost your girlfriend, that’s your own damn problem. Leave me and my family out of it.”
His gaze dropped to her mouth. “I’ve never met the woman, so there’s no need to sound jealous, pet.”
Fire rushed through her, sparking temper. “Screw you, Greyson.”
“It occurs to me,” he said thoughtfully, “that you’re picking a fight right now. You did the same thing yesterday, I stormed off, and then you attacked two of the guards. What are you planning right now?”
She stepped back and out of his atmosphere. Her lungs seized. “Nothing.”
“Then I suggest you make a move with that knife in your hand. Let’s see where we end up, shall we?” On the last, he lunged.
Chapter Eighteen
Without the shadow, we can’t find the light.
—Dr. Franklin X. Harmony, Philosophies
Vinnie tossed in the bed, her mind spinning, her body aching. The first resulted from a full day of being bombarded by other people’s feelings, and the second from the energetic tussle of the night before. Raze Shadow knew how to play a woman’s body like he’d invented the entire concept of orgasms.
Moonlight streamed in through the broken blinds, and a slight breeze wafted as well. The rainy season had ended, and soon heat would pound them. For now, the weather refreshed instead of punished. That would change.
Heavy boot steps sounded outside the apartment, and she stilled.
The door opened, and Raze slipped inside. His face remained in shadow, but she knew his form and how he moved. Graceful and quiet, like a jungle cat, and yet with a weariness he failed to hide.
He set two guns and three knives quietly on the counter.
She watched him silently, allowing her breath to even out, as if she slept. The atmosphere changed with him inside, becoming heavy and electric. He overwhelmed the apartment, projecting his mood.
Yet she couldn’t quite read him.
He yanked his shirt off, revealing hard, smooth muscle. The moonlight captured the ripped ridges and play of strength as he moved, his hands going to his belt as he kicked off his boots.
Her lungs heated, and she had to subdue her breath to keep it even.
His jeans hit the floor, and he stood, clad only in black boxers.
Her mouth watered.
Not seeming to notice her watchfulness, he opened a cupboard and reached high for a bottle of some type of whiskey. A tumbler followed. He poured a generous glass and took both to the sofa, dropping something she couldn’t see on the table. Sitting, he tossed back the entire glass and then poured a second.
His bare feet settled on the table, and he crossed his ankles, lounging with a soft sigh.
The muted light played across his strong profile, leaving the other half of him in darkness, which he seemed to prefer. Just who was this man? She’d known him a little over a week, and she’d touched that stunning body. But who was he, really? Did he even know? What tortured him so?
He looked her way, sipping his whiskey.
She didn’t move.
He took another drink and set his head back on the sofa, closing his eyes. “You know, I’m not one of those guys,” he murmured.
She blinked. How did he know she was awake? “What guys?”
“The ones who’ll warn you off for your own good. Who’ll take the blue balls over hurting you.”
She bit back a juvenile snort. Blue balls? “You’re not going to protect me from myself?”
“Hell no. You’re smart, you’re strong, and you’re a survivor. You can live with whatever decision you make.” He took another healthy drink of whiskey.
“I get the feeling you’re trying to convince yourself of those facts more than reassure me,” she whispered.
He sighed. “My job is to protect you from any external threat. You have to protect yourself internally.”
“Somehow I don’t think you’re talking about contraception,” she drawled.
“No.”
She might be a little nutty right now, and her instincts might be fried, but even she knew when a guy warned a girl that he’d break her heart, he’d definitely break her heart. “Maybe I’m not as fond of you as you think.”
His feet hit the floor, and he sat up, his eyes opening. “I’m getting fuckin’ tired of the subtext here. It’s like living in Jane Eyre.”
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“I would’ve gone with Pride and Prejudice,” she said.
He ground his palm against his left eye. “Stop being clever.”
“I think it’s a natural state.”
He swore beneath his breath.
Fine. “What do you want from me, Raze? Absolution? Guarantees? Forgiveness?”
He dropped his hand and studied her. “I want to put my face between your legs again and make you scream my name. Twice.”
Heat flushed through her so quickly, she gasped. “That certainly lacked subtext.”
“I want to pound into you so hard we both forget about the world.”
She gulped.
“I want you turned around, beneath me, knees spread wide, face in the pillow, my hands at your hips, my dick so far inside you I’ll never be free, while I smack your ass until you come.”
More words like that, and she wouldn’t need his help reaching an orgasm. She pressed her thighs together. Why did such obvious danger draw her so? Even before the illness and the drugs, she would’ve been intrigued by Raze Shadow. But this need? This overwhelming, painful, frightening need for him? That was from already having had a taste.
One taste and one night . . . and she craved to have him again.
Was it the same for him? Was that why he was drinking so late and warning her off? Did he know they’d combust? While he’d claimed he’d never warn her off, he was trying to do just that with his crass words. Too bad he’d aroused her to the point she could barely move without moaning.
“What are you so afraid of?” she murmured.
He barked out a laugh and stood, deliberately setting the glass near the bottle. “We don’t have enough time to go through that list. Make a decision now.”
She could play coy and pretend she didn’t understand his meaning. There was a freedom in having already slept with him; the uncertainty of whether or not he wanted her was gone. The energy pouring off him should give her pause. Instead, it intrigued her. He intrigued her. “I have received your warning. Now come to bed. We’ll deal with the world tomorrow.”
He didn’t twitch, but a tension swelled from him to choke the room. He seemed to vibrate. Several seconds ticked by, and he reached for something on the table.
Ah. Condoms. What she’d been unable to see. He’d tossed condoms on the table. “You sure?” he asked.
“Yes. Make me say your name,” she said.
He reached the bed in long strides. “Scream my name,” he whispered, lifting the covers and jerking her to her knees with one hand around her arm. “I said scream.”
Chilly air assailed her a second before his mouth descended and captured hers. It wasn’t a kiss. Not from the first touch could it be considered a kiss.
His lips were hard, his tongue demanding, his hold unrelenting. He tasted of whiskey and determined male, which should’ve sent warning bells blaring through her. Instead, the harder he pushed, the more he took, the hotter the stirring desire attacked her. Instead of the slow burn of the night before, fire bombarded her from within, sparking each nerve and shutting down her mind.
For the moment, she wasn’t a doctor or a lost soul or a crazy woman. She was all female being consumed by a primal male too far gone to stop.
That thought, that reality, forced her beyond desire to desperate need.
He ripped her shirt in two and dragged it off her without releasing her lips. Her breath caught, and he still didn’t grant her a reprieve, his tongue sweeping inside her mouth in a blatant claim. His palm flattened between her shoulder blades, pressing her bare flesh into his, holding her exactly where he wanted her.
Her nipples hardened against his chest, and she moaned into his mouth.
Even then, he didn’t halt the determined assault on her lips. She kissed him back, trying to keep up, finally just accepting what he was giving. So much and so hard. Her body shook with need, and she burrowed closer into his warmth, into his fierce strength. A thumb at her jaw forced her mouth wider, and he took more, his taste burned forever on her tongue.
Every instinct inside her wanted to struggle against his dominance, if for no other reason than to push him farther. She curled her nails into his torso and tried to pull away.
He growled a warning that vibrated through her mouth and down her entire body, zinging erotic points on the way. The hand on her back moved up, and he threaded his fingers through her hair, jerking her head down, forcing her to arch her back. He followed her, his mouth still working hers, bending over her.
His knee landed on the bed and slid up, pressing between her bent legs. Minishocks licked through her abdomen.
She gasped into his mouth, helpless in his hold. He pressed harder, and her thighs naturally widened. He controlled her easily, his hand at her nape, his knee between her legs, bending her back. Her hand dropped from his chest to the bed, behind her butt, where she tried to find some sort of balance.
“Raze.” She spoke into his mouth.
He paused, his lips still over hers, his eyes right above hers. Awareness slowly cleared the lust from the blue.
Relief flowed through her.
The awareness turned to focus and then determination.
Her relief blew to bits. She blinked, and adrenaline, the fight-or-flight kind, spread through her to compete with desire. She couldn’t handle him in this state, and she knew it.
He lifted just enough to leave a millimeter between their mouths. “Too late, baby.”
She did a full-body shiver.
His lips tipped, his gaze knowing. Keeping her in the tenuous position, he slid his hand down her flanks, over her abdomen, and inside her panties.
Pleasure clawed through her.
He slid one finger inside her very wet folds. “Well, then.” Removing his hand, he tugged her back up on her knees. “Take ’em off, Vinnie.”
She pushed off the mattress and regained her balance while on her knees. “No,” she whispered, tilting her head to the side, keeping him squarely in her sights.
His chin lifted.
She smiled, meeting his gaze directly.
Slowly, his eyes darkening, he shook his head. “Don’t do this. Take them off.”
Her nostrils flared. She was so far out of her head, she’d never make her way back. If the badass wanted her panties, he could take them. “Do it yourself.”
She never saw him move. One second, she was facing him so bravely. The next, the entire room tilted, and she swung around, landing on her hands and knees, her panties ripped off. A hard, very hard, smack echoed from his hand on her ass.
She cried out, half laughing, and tingles spread through her extremities. “Raze—”
The crinkle of a condom wrapper stopped her entire world. “Don’t. Move,” he ordered.
Her arms trembled from her wrists to her shoulders. He was behind her, and she couldn’t see anything but the dingy wall on the other side of the bed. Firm hands grabbed her hips.
She sucked in air.
He slid inside her, inch by inch, taking his time but not slowing down. Her body flexed around him, taking him in, pleasure with a hint of pain.
Finally, he pushed all the way inside, his groin flush against her ass. “Are you all right?” he whispered, his voice low and hoarse.
She closed her eyes as sensation after sensation bombarded her. Even overcome, even in this state, he paused to check on her. He would never convince her he wasn’t one of the good guys. “I’m fine,” she croaked.
“Good.” He manacled her nape and pushed. “Down.”
She tossed her head, sending her hair flying, but he didn’t relent. Finally, she lowered her cheek to the pillow. He released her neck and ran his palm down her back, delivering a stinging slap to her butt.
A surprised laugh escaped her.
He chuckled. “Only you would laugh.”
Was it just her, or was that fondness in his gravelly voice? She clenched her sex around his dick.
He audibly sucked in air. “You wanna play, Doc?”
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She craned her neck, cheek still on the pillow, and looked over her shoulder. “You up to it?” she asked.
His lids half-lowered, but those incredible blue eyes still glowed. His bronze face settled as if sculpted into harsh lines, while his full mouth quirked. His nostrils flared like any predator’s on a hunt. “Let’s find out.”
He brought both of his knees onto the bed and then shoved her forward with his hips before reaching around her thighs and spreading her knees farther apart. Her weight fell fully on her arms and face, and she tried to shove back.
One hard hand planted in the middle of her shoulder blades.
She. Couldn’t. Move.
Her thighs quivered, and more wetness spilled from her. The ache between her legs spiraled out, making her entire lower body clench in the need of a release. “Raze.”
“Say please,” he murmured.
She stilled.
“Now.”
She had to bite her lip to keep from begging. Tremors swept through her. “No.”
Smack.
This one centered right in the middle of her butt and spread warmth. She arched as much as she could and cried out. “Please.” The word came unbidden and from way beyond the moment.
He gripped her hips again and slid out, only to power right back in. God. It was too much. The man, unleashed, was way too much. His tempo and power increased, and she closed her eyes just to feel, her face burrowing into the pillow. Hard and fast, he hammered inside her, bombarding her with a pleasure too sharp to be real.
Coils unfolded inside her, throwing sparks.
She held her breath.
The world detonated, flashing streaks behind her eyes. White-hot pleasure rode waves through her entire body, exploding out from deep inside, where his cock suddenly held still and jerked hard. The orgasm took her over, and a loud wail echoed through the apartment.
Finally, what seemed like a long time later, her body relaxed into mush.
He kissed her left shoulder and then withdrew. As his body left hers, she murmured a protest. Then her eyelids flashed open. “Did I just scream your name?” God. How loud had she been?