Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 106312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
“I was being polite. I could’ve aimed for your chest.”
“So why didn’t you?” I ask, twisting my features into an uncharacteristic smirk. “Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for me already, sweetheart.”
She seems to shrivel at my smile. “Hey, pretty boy, you’re going to have to train him better at smiling because that shit is creepy as fuck.”
In my peripheral, I can see Dutton is trying his hardest not to grin.
“Leave us,” I say to him. He seems hesitant as he looks between me and Kitten, the tension palpable, but he makes the better judgment to excuse himself. Because I don’t take disobedience well. The length of time it takes him to leave the warehouse sobers her up enough to realize the precarious position she’s in.
I drag a chair closer to her and hang my hands casually over the back of it. I’m curious what she looks like. I can tell she has high cheekbones, come fuck me lips, and a sharp nose. I pull the knife from my pocket, and she swallows hard. Her jaw is clenched, and I can tell she’s trying her hardest to save face. I’m impressed.
“Are you sure you want to die for this cause? I can be very accommodating if you tell me the truth. Tell me who sent you,” I say as I casually lift the blade toward her face.
She’s grinding her teeth but doesn’t break eye contact. I can sense and smell the fear on her all the same, even if it doesn’t break through to the surface.
“I told you I don’t know,” she responds tightly.
“Vengeful lies will have you winding up dead, Kitten,” I explain. Curiosity gets the better of me as I slice the ribbon of her mask, and it falls to one side. My eyes widen slightly at my first glimpse of her.
Too beautiful.
Too tempting.
As most deadly things are.
And those iridescent amber eyes, despite the hint of fear flaring in them, refuse to look anywhere else.
A tigress indeed.
When she doesn’t speak, I do. “What’s your name?”
Her eyebrows crinkle in confusion. It’s barely noticeable as she tries to mask her reactions, but very few things go unnoticed by me.
“I don’t have any family to go after if that’s what you’re angling at.”
My lip twitches. Beautiful and smart. But deadly being the most vital factor to remind myself of.
“I’ll make you a deal. You tell me your first name—your real first name—and I’ll let you go. Lie to me, and I’ll kill you.”
Her eyebrows bunch again. “And why would you let me go?”
“Perhaps I’m feeling merciful tonight.”
She bursts into laughter, and it’s the wildest, most unhinged, beautiful thing I’ve ever heard. “You’re fucking with me, right? You’re just going to let me walk out of here?”
“I’m a man of my word.”
She looks me up and down. “Even though I put a knife in your leg and I’m still most likely going to try and kill you?”
She’s either too honest or cocky to mention the fact that she’ll still go after my life. Maybe I’m a sadist, but I feel hardly satisfied by this short-lived cat and mouse game. And I can’t help but feel there’s something more going on here. I need to figure out who the puppeteer is pulling her strings.
“I’ll have you know, my mother shot my father in the leg on their wedding day, and they’re still happily married. So a knife wound is nothing but foreplay to me, Kitten.”
“Why don’t you hand me the knife and let me tie you up, and then we’ll see how much foreplay you can handle.” The imagery her words conjure shoots straight to my cock.
Fuck me.
Where has this woman been all my life?
“Tell me your name,” I demand.
Most sane people would do anything to survive, but this woman seems to be built as stubborn as they come.
Finally, however, she exhales, defeated. “Jewel. My name is Jewel.”
I stand, pushing through the pain in my leg that is most certainly stirring a reaction in my cock. I have every belief it has nothing to do with the wound itself but with the woman tied up in front of me. With a clean slice, I cut away the ropes. I almost expect her to come out swinging, instead, she remains still, warily watching me.
“If I were you, Jewel, I’d make sure not to leave town. No matter where you run to, I will find you. You stay in town until I flush out your client.” I turn my back to her and head for the door, satisfied with the way she looks dumbfounded and furious at the same time. I make a point to flip her knife in my hand as I walk out, deciding to add it to my collection.
“I’ll have one of my men drive you home. Full disclosure: if you try anything on them, they will brutally murder you,” I say as I look over my shoulder with a cruel smirk.