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  I raise her up a little higher and chuckle in her ear. “And if I fancied wearing boots, love, you can rest assured I’d be shaking in them right now.”

  “Stop calling me love!”

  “I’ll call you whatever I damn well please!”

  Lilah slams her head back against my nose, smashing it for the third damn time in two days. Spots cover my vision and my strength slips. She slides one arm free and she throws her elbow back to connect with my eye.

  “Stop that!” I snatch her wrist before she can pull off another hit.

  Lilah spins away and shoves me, but I maintain my footing. I pull her back in, refusing to let go of her wrist as I pin her against the refrigerator.

  Her head smacks against it. “Ow!”

  She raises her other fist to strike me again. I grab it before it connects with my face.

  “I said, that’s enough!”

  I slam both of her hands against the freezer door above her head, leaning in as far as I can to press our bodies together. Her chest heaves with intense anger and she glares up at me in the dark with fire in her eyes.

  “Let go of me,” she says, “or else I’ll—”

  “Or else you’ll what?” I challenge. “Is this really all you’ve got? If you ask me, you’re not even trying—”

  She crushes her lips on mine. Heat spreads from her mouth, flourishing up my cheeks and down my neck like a shock wave. I act on impulse alone, feeling our lips twist together until I release her hands to touch her body instead.

  I lift her onto the counter and she tugs my belt loose. My pulse pounds in my ears, overwhelming every other instinct except the urge to fuck.

  This damned woman. Just one taste of her and I’m bewitched to the core. I’m a dead man walking and part of me doesn’t even care as long as I finally get to take my frustrations out on that perfect body she’s been teasing me with this whole time.

  Lilah spreads her legs as my hands move beneath her dress. I hook my fingers in her panties and pull them down to her ankles. She kicks them free, letting them dangle off one foot as she wraps her thighs around me.

  I take hold of my cock and guide myself between her slit, barely even hesitating before penetrating her as deep as I can go.

  Her jaw drops. Mine does, too. We freeze together with wide-open eyes, our chests heaving and bodies roaring. Her insides throb around me, begging me to fuck her, but I keep still for another moment to let it all sink in.

  I pump her once and a moan instantly falls from her lips. I kiss her, hard and fast, as I take her over and over again. Each pound draws an even deeper moan from the back of her throat. Fire burns through my loins, tempting me right to the edge but if I’m about to die then I’m going to take my time and enjoy this.

  I grab her wrists again and pin them to the cabinets above her head. She lets me do it. She submits, pulling me even deeper inside with the power of her legs alone. Adrenaline pumps through us both, refusing us even a moment’s thought as we get completely lost in each other.

  I step back and she grips my jacket, tightening the hold of her thighs as I carry her to the table. I drop her down on it and she settles back, spreading her legs even wider for me. I grip her waist and groan, feeling the trailer thump back and forth as I rail her hard into the table.

  Lilah mewls, arching her back off the surface, and I feel everything she feels as I look into her blissful face. Ecstasy falls from her mouth, matching my wild thrusts, and it takes everything in me not to fill her to the fucking brim right here and now.

  She raises one leg and rests it on my shoulder. A quick, unsettling fear tickles at me but as she twists her hips slightly, I know this move isn’t to kill me.

  She clamps her jaw and moans, swaying her hips to fuck me back.

  My god. She’s amazing.

  I dig my nails into her skin, overwhelmed with passion as her pussy hugs my cock. She comes hard for me, screaming and twitching tight enough to throw me over the edge.

  Before I can burst inside of her, Lilah reaches down and pulls me out. She grips my shaft with tight fingers and jerks me off, easily making me come all over her open thighs and navel.

  We both stare at each other, grunting and groaning and gasping for air as our bodies reset.

  I step back and my cock slides from her fingers. She sits forward with stunned eyes and grips the table’s edge to hold herself up. After several long and silent moments, I pull up my jeans.

  “We should get out of here,” I say, swallowing to wet my dry throat.

  Lilah slides her toes to the floor and bends down to grab her panties. “Yeah, okay.”

  I shuffle slowly to the driver’s seat as she escapes into the bathroom and slides the door closed. If there’s any fear in me at all, I can’t feel it over the throbbing desire still plaguing my groin. Lilah could easily come back in here and grab a knife from the drawer to stab me with or shoot me in the back of the head before I even sit down.

  I insert the key into the ignition as the bathroom door opens again. She walks over, calm and composed, and sits down in the passenger’s seat beside me. Her eyes stare straight ahead. Her chest rises and falls. She barely even blinks.

  Finally, she looks at me and nods.

  Chapter 13

  Lilah

  What the hell did I just do?

  I look at Archer again for the hundredth time while he keeps his eyes forward on the dark road ahead. Neither of us has said a word since we left the silos. We’re a few miles outside of Chicago right now… I think.

  Archer pops the turn signal and veers quickly off the highway onto a dirt road. I say nothing, constantly searching the darkness for where we are or where we’re going.

  Finally, he pulls over and shuts the vehicle off, casting the world around us into pitch darkness.

  “Come with me,” he says as he stands up.

  I sit still, glancing over my shoulder as he moves toward the back. He turns on a light and it flickers above our heads.

  “What are you doing?” I ask.

  He grabs a first aid kit and a bottle of rubbing alcohol from the cabinet by the sink. “You’re hurt.”

  I glance down at my dress. Dark blood stains my right side but not nearly enough to make a big deal out of. “So?”

  “So…”

  He opens the kit on the table and gestures at the bandages as they spill out.

  I shake my head. “I’ll have Elijah take a look at it. No offense.”

  “All right, then…”

  Archer slides his jacket off, revealing a trail of bright red down his spine through his white shirt. He carefully pulls his shirt off over his head. I suck my bottom lip between my teeth. A thin layer of sweat coats his skin, making the few scars he has stand out in the dim light around him. Beneath that lies plenty of well-taken care of muscles. Deltoids, abs, and lats. The man must have started lifting when he was twelve or something…

  He stands in front of the mirror by the door and cranes his neck back to get a better look at the scratches down his spine.

  “Seems like you’re fairing worse than I am,” I say.

  “Well…” He side-eyes me. “I suppose that’s what I get for messing with you.”

  I stand up, catching sight of a bit of glistening glass shoved into his back. “Here…” I say. “Don’t move.”

  He obeys, but he keeps a wide, unblinking eye on me. I lay my hands on him and my fingers tingle as I pinch the shard.

  “This might sting a little.”

  I yank it out and he flinches as I reach for the alcohol.

  “Yes,” he says, exhaling hard. “Yes, it did…”

  “Then, you’re gonna love this,” I say, shaking the bottle in his direction. “Sit down.”

  Archer bends over the bench beneath the shattered window and brushes the broken glass to the floor before sitting down.

  I move in beside him with the first aid kit and he shifts sideways to show me his back. Luckily, that was the only glass left from me slamming him i
nto the window. Just a series of scratches, nothing more, but leave no wound unclean, as Elijah always says.

  “This is odd,” he says.

  “What is?”

  “You nursing my wounds.” He glances over his shoulder and smirks. “Aren’t you supposed to be killing me?”

  “Eh, don’t remind me.”

  “Does this mean your plans have changed?”

  “I haven’t decided yet.” I soak a cotton ball with alcohol and dab it along his scratches. He flexes his back to deal with it. “You didn’t bat an eye when I mentioned Elijah before. Does that mean you don’t plan on cashing me in?”

  He exhales a laugh. “I haven’t decided yet.”

  I glance at the table beside us. When I turn my attention back to his scratches, I catch him doing the same. He blinks away, pretending like he wasn’t staring at the location where he just fucked me into oblivion.

  Heat spikes between my thighs. I will myself to ignore it. I’d be flat out lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it. In fact, I haven’t enjoyed it quite like that in a very long time, but I must keep a shred of focus here. Archer sitting half-naked in front of me isn’t helping maintain a professional atmosphere either.

  I toss the pink and red-stained cotton balls aside. “You’ll be fine. Just try not to slam into any windows for a while.”

  Archer grins. “I’ll try my best, love.” I frown and he holds up a hand. “Sorry. Not love.”

  I slide off the bench, but he reaches for my arm.

  “Wait,” he says. “Let me look at your side.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “You’ve been shot,” he says, amused. “By the time you reach your brother, it could be infected and dripping with puss and other unsightly fluids.”

  “It’s just a graze, Archer.”

  “Please.” He gestures to the bench beside him. “You took that bullet saving my ass, it’s the least I can do.”

  I sigh, but the logic is sound. “Fine.”

  I take a seat again. Archer slips the dress straps down my shoulders. I raise my right arm, instantly struck with more pain than I anticipated. With my jaw held tight, I inhale an extended breath as Archer peels the fabric away from dried blood and torn skin.

  He keeps a stern face, but I notice his eyes fall, drifting over my breasts and landing on my tattoo again.

  “Is what you said to Enzo true?” I ask, taking any distraction I can.

  He grabs the alcohol. “Which part?”

  “That you don’t kill.”

  “It’s true.”

  I shudder as he lays his hands on me. “So, you were never really going after my brothers, too?”

  “I was not,” he says, slowly wiping the damp cotton along the wound. My nerves twitch and scream but the pain doesn’t last with his warm touch balancing it out. “He asked me to. I said no, I’m a hunter. Never really been much good at anything else.”

  I nod as he lays a bandage in place over my wound.

  After a few moments, he takes hold of my wrist and slowly guides my arm down to my side. “Well, you were right. It’s barely even a scratch,” he says, sliding the straps back up. “You should be fine. Just try not to get shot again for a while.”

  “I’ll try my best.”

  Neither of us moves. We sit still, stuck in an endless loop of awkward glances and denial.

  Finally, I snap.

  “Why did you come onto me before?”

  His eyes widen. “Why did I come onto you?”

  “Yes.”

  “I believe if you run that instant replay again in your head, you’ll find that you kissed me.”

  “That was just supposed to be a distraction...”

  He laughs. “Well, it worked.”

  “Yeah, no shit.”

  “Let’s do it again.”

  My jaw drops. “Are you serious?”

  “Why not?” He gazes at me with expectation. “Here we are — alone — out in the middle of nowhere. No one will ever know.”

  “You do realize that you tried to re-capture me to sell me to the highest bidder, right?”

  He shrugs. “So?”

  “No.” I shake my head. “I don’t trust you.”

  “The feeling is mutual, love,” he says, enjoying the anger on my face. “But that never stopped me before and I bet it hasn’t stopped you either.”

  I grit my teeth. “Archer—”

  “I want to fuck you, Lilah Hart.” He pauses, letting the words sink in. “I want you to sit on my face. I want to shove my tongue so deep into your cunt, I taste your fucking eyeballs.” He stands up and stares me down. “You can distrust me all you want. That’s fine by me. But I get the feeling you like a little danger in your bed. I know I do.”

  He walks backward, taunting me as he slowly creeps toward his bed. I sit in silence, softly buzzing on the bench, until he disappears into the shadows.

  Well, shit.

  My blood pumps through my veins, reawakening the same lust from before. It struck me so hard then, standing in front of him, pinned by his hands. I wanted it. I wanted everything he gave me and more. I still do.

  But I have a job to do.

  I close my eyes. For nine years, every decision I’ve made was for them. Help the organization and they’ll help you. That’s how this has always worked. It has kept me and my family alive, but…

  My eyes open with annoyed clarity. “Hang on…” I stand and follow him with a few wide strides. “Is this why you parked out here?”

  His lips curl in the doorway. “Will you hurt me if I say yes?”

  “Probably.”

  “Then, yes.”

  I scoff. “Why would you say yes to that?”

  “I’m a glutton for good punishment.” I turn and he grabs my arm. “Stay.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you want to.”

  “I really don’t.”

  “Then, I want you to. That should count for something.”

  “It really doesn’t.”

  “Well, go on,” he says, calmly releasing me. He takes a step back and leans against the wall, crossing his arms over his bare chest with smug delight. “Leave.”

  My heart pounds into my ribs with passion and rage. There are a hundred reasons to turn around and walk out of here, preferably leaving him an ice-cold corpse on my way out, but none of them account for that throbbing power between my thighs.

  Archer steps forward, his face tilted downward to stare into my eyes. “What are you afraid of?” he whispers. “That I’ll hurt you… or that you’ll like it?”

  I roll my eyes. “You couldn’t hurt me even if you tried.”

  “I’ll take that bet.”

  He touches my chin, guiding me closer to his lips. Warm breath glides over my cheek, followed by his hand resting just below my ear. “If you have a safe word, you best let it be known now.”

  Our lips graze, just barely touching as his fingers curl around my neck.

  “I can’t remember it.” I smile and lay my palms on his chest. “I’ve never had to use it.”

  He kisses me, long and firm, and my knees quiver beneath me. “Was I right about you?” he whispers, pulling my dress down my arms. “You need a man who can give you what you need…”

  His teeth sink into my shoulder and I tremble with the pain. “Yes,” I breathe.

  My dress falls to my ankles. Archer lays his hands on my breasts, feeling and squeezing me as he nibbles at my neck.

  “Tell me what you need,” he growls, sliding one hand into the front of my panties.

  He cradles my clit between two fingers. My breath catches in my throat as he massages me with firm strokes.

  “Lilah…”

  His voice passes through my ears and travels down my back, igniting every dormant nerve. My entire body shakes for him and he knows it.

  His lips curl. “It’s not just the orgasm, is it?” He leans in closer as his hands work me a little faster. “You could just do that yourself. No… you need to get fu
cked.”

  I gasp as climax takes hold of me. I hold onto his thick arms, relying on his strength to hold me up as my knees give out and I writhe against his hand.

  I find my balance again and heave an impatient breath. “You need to shut up and do it already.”

  Archer laughs and bends over to pick me up. I wrap my legs around him as he carries me to the back. “Any final requests?” he asks.

  I fall to the bed and reach for his belt. “You can come anywhere you want. Just don’t do it inside.”

  His brow bounces. “That’s all?”

  “Do not come inside me,” I say, adding bite to my tone to show I’m serious.

  He raises his hands in surrender. “Yes, ma’am.”

  I slide his zipper down and my mouth waters. He pushes my hair back to get a better view of my face. I’ve honestly looked forward to sucking this cock since I first saw it in that hotel room. It stands hard in front of me, veins pulsing and precum smeared along the tip. Archer burrows his fingers in my hair and bites his cheek, waiting until I part my lips.

  I grip the base and guide it toward my mouth, licking my lips before finally taking him inside. He sighs above me as I suck the tip, turning me on even more as his grip on my hair tightens. He doesn’t force it deeper. He lets me do as I please. His pleasure, his warm flavor. It spurs the need in me and before I know it, the throbbing between my thighs returns with a vengeance.

  Archer leans back and his cock slips from my mouth. “Lie down,” he tells me.

  I slide backward, watching as he pushes his pants down to his ankles. I lose myself in his naked form, letting my eyes travel over the hills and valleys of his thick muscles as he makes his way onto the bed.

  Archer grabs my panties and pulls them down. He tosses them away and his eyes stay bewitched on my curves as I spread my knees for him. He crawls on top of me, his cock pressing against my entrance, but he doesn’t thrust. He towers over me, letting his eyes wander my body and they once again linger on my cobra tattoo.

  “What?” I ask.

  Archer guides my arms upward and he pins my wrists above my head. “I love the way it looks on you,” he whispers, kissing me harder and I twitch with urgent need.

  He releases my hands and descends me, leaving a trail of kisses between my breasts and down my abs. He traces the black ink with his tongue, fueling the fire in me as he travels closer to my begging slit.