Page 24 of Villains Never Die

“No.”

“Then you’re an idiot,” he said. “We’ve cost each other money, I killed you once, and you failed to kill me. Let’s just call it quits.”

“No.”

He shrugged. “Okay, then I’ll keep killing you until I figure out how that little trick of yours works, and we’ll exhaust ourselves until we go crazy.”

I couldn’t tell if he was serious. That was the problem with his snark—I could never tell if he was very cocky and actually threatening me or fucking with me and making me the subject of some inside joke. But if he was serious—if he would attempt to kill me over and over again—it was a risk I couldn’t afford.

“What would this truce entail?” I asked.

He made himself comfortable on the edge of my mattress. “You don’t kill me, I don’t kill you. No physical harm, and we don’t mess with each other’s businesses.”

“So we just share the city?”

He crossed his arms and smirked. “Didn’t your mom ever teach you to share?”

I bristled at the mention of my mother. “We just ignore each other?”

The bright blue of his eyes shifted, darkened. He stood and stalked toward me, and even though I was a little taller, I had to fight the urge to step back when he stopped in front of me, as if he towered over me. He reached out a hand that did not hesitate and rested it against the side of my neck.

“We don’t have to ignore each other.”

I told myself to pull away. I told myself to punch him in his beautiful face, but I was trapped between his gaze and the warmth of his skin, and I did not move.

“Get the hell out.” My voice was so hoarse I had to clear my throat afterward.

“Kiss me again and I’ll leave.”

Everything about that statement confused me. Why would he want that, and why did I have the urge to lean in? What if I didn’t want him to leave now that he was touching me, so I didn’t kiss him? Where had my rational thoughts gone?

Our eyes locked, and neither of us blinked. “I honestly cannot tell whether you are rage-baiting me or flirting with me right now.”

He smiled and I glimpsed his gleaming white teeth. “Can’t it be both?”

The tendons of my neck pressed against his hand as I shifted, but I still couldn’t bring myself to pull away from him. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because I have a theory.” He moved his thumb up and down my tense muscles and it took every ounce of willpower I had not to push further into his hand.

“What is your theory?”

“You liked that kiss as much as I did.”

I tried to pull away then, and his fingers gripped around the back of my neck and held me in place.

“You’re absolutely mental! I tried to kill you. I hate you.” When I struggled against him, his fingers dug into my skin.

“Fortunately for you, hatred isn’t really a deterrent for me if I want to fuck someone.”

“I don’t want to—”

He slid the hand that wasn’t holding me down my chest, past my belt, and cupped it around my cock. I gasped as I hardened under his touch.

“Are you sure about that?” He squeezed slightly and every thought I had rushed straight to my dick, to how it would feel in his hand if there wasn’t fabric between us.

“You need to leave,” I said, a slight tremor creeping into my voice.

He leaned close to my ear, his breath ghosting over my face and neck. “Kiss me and I will.”