Page 58 of Aftershock
As if she knows.
No chance in hell.
She wouldn’t have been able to hide it with a smile. Wouldn’t have been able to flirt and tempt me.
My secrets are safe.
“Yes, Lilith.” My cock is throbbing. Lilith’s fluttering pulse beneath my palm is just another invitation to bite, suck, and lick every inch of her. “Oh.”
In my periphery, I notice Hope eyeing me, shoulders tight, ready to come to her friend’s rescue.
No one’s taking her from me.
“You know what? I call bullshit,” she whispers, her breath hot on my cheek. “These past two days, it was like I never existed. Why would you kill anyone because of me?”
“I said I was sorry.” And fuck, am I ever. “I should’ve dropped by. I wanted to.”
“Words are cheap, Dr. Lockwood. I am not.”
I pull back and study her face, thrown by how calmly she says it. There’s no anger in her tone or on her face.
If anything, she looks…at peace. Like she wants me to understand she won’t be played, but that she isn’t upset either.
Why?
“You’re right,” I murmur eventually, deciding that I don’t care what’s going on. I’m going to make it right. “You aren’t cheap. But neither are my words. You’ll find out soon enough.”
She’s silent for a beat. A million of them. Hope’s already finished the coffee she was making for the couple waiting. The machine behind Lilith is no longer huffing and puffing.
And Lilith doesn’t say a word.
“What is it?” My head pounds. I need her to talk to me. “Don’t tell me to go away, because I won’t do it. I warned you”—I press closer until our noses brush, not caring if anyone sees us—“back in the supply closet. You’re mine.”
“Do I even get a say in this?” For the first time this evening, her cheeks flush. The bright crimson turns the pressure in my jeans into pain. “Seeing how it’s the twenty-first century and all.”
“No.” I tighten my grip on her neck to drive my point home. “You don’t.”
“I could get you fired.” Another tease. The corner of her lips tics up. “Or locked up.”
“Fine by me. I have the resources to send one, two, or a dozen men to kidnap you and bring you over for conjugal visits.”
An empty threat. As long as I’m alive, no one will put their hands on Lilith.
Besides, I won’t let anything, even the law, keep me from her. These past two days have been hell.
She quirks an eyebrow. “You’d do that?”
“Test me.” My threat comes out as a growl. I’m feral for this girl, and I don’t even have her last name.
She won’t tell me anything unless…
“Will you be back?”
The ghost of that question slithers up my spine.
The memory itself remains vague. Who Lilith was. What happened to her.
I still can’t tell if I took out her abuser, either.
