Page 8 of Where Sinners Repent

If there is one thing I know about men like Kai and Ash and Jacob, they don’t half-ass their orders.

Falling back against the plush pillows, I blink at him tiredly. “I should kill more people; I could get used to this.”

Dark humour. It’s a coping mechanism...

Yet Kai doesn’t even blink. Not a reaction twitching his features.

“It was a joke,” I murmur, rolling my eyes.

This is going to be a long night. I don’t do silences.

“Oh,” I sit upright, chewing my bottom lip. “Um, well, I haven’t told Maddy and Ash about the whole living in my office thing. So, if you could, you know...”

Of course, he doesn’t respond. But I swear I see the muscle in his jaw tick. Just once.

It brings me satisfaction. I want more.

My eyes drag down his body. Even through that shirt I can see his stomach muscles and the rounded curves of his chest.

His sleeves are so long they cover most of his hands, but swirls of ink peek from under them. And I just know they crawl all over his body. I wish I’d done them.

Flashes of him and me, dark hair and dark ink, tangled in the pristine white sheets, makes my core ache. It’s impossible for the thoughts not to sink in, when I’m watching him from here, watching me.

Dangerous. Thoughts like that are dangerous.

Why does he have to be so damn sexy?

After the night I’ve had, every other rule I’ve made regarding men like Kai slowly melt. I need a distraction. Remnants of adrenaline and terror still swirl inside me, and I feel like I’m wired.

Slowly, I peel myself off the bed. Until my feet press against the soft carpet.

With laser focus, he watches my every step. Each slow one, until I’m in front of him.

“Well, if you’re going to be here all night...” I blink up at him through my lashes.

I have to tilt my neck just to look into those dark eyes. Up close, it’s terrifying. The intensity and the coldness.

His eyes remain on mine when I press my palm to his chest, slowly sliding it down the carved muscles under his shirt. His heat and pure strength make me think that this is exactly what I need.

Just for the night.

Just something to drown out the screaming in my mind.

His heartbeat is unnaturally slow beneath my palm.

“I made this stop for someone tonight,” I whisper, forgetting for a split second that I’m standing in front of someone that isn’t Jacob. With the feeling of life under my hands, after I made that very organ stop in someone else. Biting my lip, I look back at Kai. “I bet you do that to people all the time...”

He doesn’t reply. He doesn’t have to. Like a statue carved from granite, he watches me with those unnervingly empty eyes.

My fingers curl into the fabric of his shirt.

“Come on, babysitter,” I tease, closing the distance between us. “Look after me.”

I’m a grade-A flirter. It’s what makes working with the men that I do, bearable.

“I’m a killer,” I purr, this time with a smirk. “I bet you’re scared.”

The slightest twitch of his lips makes me giddy.