He approached the edge of the bed and stared at me with those brilliant blue eyes. He wore a cold expression, annoyed just like he was every time I asked him to stay. He held my gaze for a long time, letting the silence rise like smoke to the ceiling. “Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like the sexiest thing in the world.” He pulled the sheets back then snatched me by the ankle. With no effort at all, he pulled me across the bed until I was close to him. “Don’t beg me to stay when you know I can’t.”
“You can do anything.”
“Yes, I can do anything. But I honor my commitments.” His hand moved up my leg to my knee, his fingertips grazing my soft skin. “Would you want a man between your legs who abandons his responsibilities?”
I couldn’t answer that clearly. I was selfish and wanted him all to myself. “All I know is I want you here with me every night.”
“You’re perfectly safe here, baby. Just because I’m not here doesn’t mean I’m not protecting you.”
“That’s not why…”
His hand moved to my inner thigh, his large hand gripping me tightly. He watched me with those eyes that were so pretty but so masculine at the same time. He had such a hard face, sharp cheekbones, and a constant look of threat, that the prettiness of his eyes balanced him out.
“I like listening to you breathe. I’m so used to it at this point that it’s hard to sleep without that sound. You heat the sheets to a perfect temperature, and when you aren’t here, I can never get comfortable again. I prefer your body over the pillow. I like feeling your chest rise with every breath you take. I like knowing that nothing could ever happen to me with you by my side. Men have only betrayed me…and you’re the first man who’s actually loyal to me. You’re my safe place.”
His hand slid down to my ankle and gripped me gently, like he might yank on me again. He stared at my long legs and then looked at the area between my thighs, turning into a wolf that examined its prey before it struck. His eyes lifted back to mine, just as aggressive as before. “Baby, you’re torturing me…”
“I don’t have to torture you. You could just stay.” I opened my legs slightly, inviting him back to bed.
He stared at my pussy once more before he grabbed the insides of my thighs and spread me wide apart. His large body bent down, and he moved his face right between my legs, kissing the pussy that he’d filled multiple times that night.
My head rolled back, and I moaned when I felt his tongue lick my clit. “Oh…” I felt my legs shake at the touch of his kiss, felt my heart flicker in arousal. My fingers dug into his short hair, and I ground against his face.
He gave my clit a hard suck before he righted himself. “I’ll be home in the morning.”
I shut my legs and pouted. “That was mean.”
“You tortured me. I tortured you.” He grabbed his phone off the nightstand and shoved it into the pocket of his jeans. “Bye, baby.”
I stared at him in disappointment, missing him before he even left. “Can I come with you?”
He stopped and turned back to me. “I’ll drink with the guys at the Underground. Then I’ll make some of my rounds around the city, collecting taxes from the men under my domain. It’s no place for you.”
“But I’m always safe by your side.”
He stared at me hard.
“You’re going to have to accept that your man won’t always be here with you at night. I’m the star of nightmares. And nightmares only happen in the dark.”
“Do you ever think about walking away from it all?” I whispered. “Do you ever wonder what life would be like if you were just a man, not the Skull King?”
He looked at me in profound silence, his gaze becoming more heated with every passing second. “No.”
I held his gaze, not showing my disappointment.
“I will always be the Skull King—never a man.”
6
Balto
“Any ideas?” Heath sat with me at the bar, his fingers wrapped around his scotch.
“No.”
“I figured killing Lucian would be the only thing you cared about.”
I thought about getting my revenge all the time. I was prepared to end the feud permanently—and hoped I’d find the diamond afterward. Once he was dead, I would claim all of his possessions and burn down his house. “It’ll happen when it’s meant to happen.”
“Yeah?” He drank from his glass and watched Denise wait on a table. “Or you’re dragging your feet because you aren’t ready to let Cassini go?”
I stared at my brother, my hand resting against my glass. He wore a slight grin, like he’d said the perfect thing to get to me. Truth be told, he did burrow under my skin.