Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 144908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
“You bet your life on it, honey. You cheat on me after all this, I’m going to do something permanent to your ass. Since your entire body is a statement to the torture you’ve already gone through, I had to think of something really diabolical and nasty that you’d remember me by.” She gave him another sweet smile.
He couldn’t stop himself. He was on the job. Working, damn it. Still, he curved his palm around the nape of her neck and dragged her in close to him, his gaze moving hungrily, possessively, over her face. That little haughty princess face that told him she was far too good for him.
She gave him the smile she reserved just for him. “What is it, honey?”
He leaned over and brushed a kiss on top of her silky head because if he kissed her the way he wanted to kiss her, he wouldn’t stop and they’d be going at it right there on that rooftop instead of watching the house like they should be.
“It’s nice not to feel alone. Thank you for giving that to me.” He should have felt like a fucking idiot for saying that to her, but they’d promised each other the truth, and there it was.
Her incredible blue eyes darkened to violet and moved over his face, taking in every inch as if committing him to memory. Her dimple appeared, sexy as hell, making him hard as a rock on a stakeout, for fuck’s sake—when she’d just threatened to cut off his balls. Who wouldn’t love a woman like that?
“I intend to give you the world, Kir, if you’ll let me.”
He could only hear truth in her voice. See it on her face. “I’ve done nothing to deserve you. A few nights ago, I killed several men, and then I sat down to dinner like nothing happened. You know that, right? I did that. You know what I thought about while I was in the restaurant? It wasn’t the men I’d killed. I put them out of my mind. I thought about you and all the ways I wanted to fuck you. I thought about picking you up and carrying you out to the truck and throwing you on the back seat. Just looking at you makes me crazy.”
“That’s good.”
“No, princess, that’s bad.”
“I’d be open to back-seat sex in the truck.”
“Don’t encourage bad behavior. I’m trying to clean up my act just a little for you.”
Her smile vanished. “Don’t you dare. Well . . . you can clean up your astonishingly shocking dirty mouth, if you have to clean up anything, but not during sex. I rather like it then, especially when you’re coming and all you can do is shout the F-word at the top of your lungs in that raspy, sexy way you have. I really like that, so keep that.”
He could only stare at her for a moment, and then he found himself laughing. Really laughing. Bog. His woman. She was going to be the death of him. She brought more than a feeling of companionship to him. She brought the joy of living. The feeling of being alive.
He was very aware of the night breeze on his face, just touching his skin. The sound of a dog howling and another answering with a short warning bark. Something small rustled in the garbage can. Over his head was the night sky, stars visible, doing their best to peek through the heavy purplish clouds that streaked through the dark sky. It was a beautiful night.
“If you’re going in, Master, you’d better get to it,” Ink’s voice said, using the small radio to caution him. “I’ve got a feeling.”
Everyone participating in the mission was using an inserted earpiece that was nearly impossible to see if someone came across them. Mechanic was a genius when it came to making new gear for them.
Master had that same urgent feeling growing as well. Still, he hesitated taking Ambrielle with him. He’d promised her, but seeing things go south wasn’t the same as discussing it. She’d blown it twice now when she thought he was in trouble. And more than that, if he had to kill Stoddard or get information out of him fast, it wouldn’t be pretty.
“This is your last chance, Ambrielle. You can stay back, keep eyes on us from here. You have to be absolutely certain you can stomach anything that happens in there. I might have to kill him. Worse, I may have to question him in a way you won’t like. I tell you to walk out of the room, you do it. Understand me? You do it, and you don’t look or listen.”
She swallowed visibly without taking her eyes off him, but she nodded. “I want to stay with you, Master. I can’t explain it, but I need to be with you. I’ll follow directions. You have my word.”