Page 9

I think of the bartender’s warning, the comment about registration, and the way he’s been looking at me since he stepped out of the dark.

Did he know who I was before tonight?

Then he shifts, driving his thigh harder between mine and forcing my legs apart, hitching my hips higher against his until I’m pinned open between his body and the wall.

A broken sound escapes me. “W-what are you doing?”

He leans in until I feel his breath against my skin. “Shh.”

But I can’t stay quiet. I’m terrified. The pressure hits low in my body, my nerves misfiring as heat shoots through me.

I feel the exact moment he notices. One corner of his mouth lifts, and he tightens his grip as though he’s found something he was looking for. “That’s what I thought.”

Please don’t have an attack now. Please.

For one awful second, he just watches, taking in the way my breath keeps catching while the edges of my vision darken. Then he brushes the damp hair back from my temple, the touch so wrong against the force of the rest of him that I flinch harder into the wall.

“Breathe,” he murmurs, his voice low against my ear, his thumb shifting under my jaw and holding me steady when I try to turn away. “In.”

My breath stutters, catching halfway, but I drag in a ragged inhale because his voice gives me something to follow.

“Again.”

I do it, shuddering. The next inhale hurts less than the last.

“Slow.”

He never eases. His thigh stays between mine, his body pressed into me as he keeps me pinned against the wall, walking me back from the edge of my own panic as though he has every right to touch me, command me, make my body listen.

The air finally starts going all the way in. My pulse is still racing, but the darkness recedes from the edges of my vision, and I hate the relief almost as much as I hate the way he watches my face while it happens.

“That’s it,” he murmurs. Then his free hand leaves me just long enough to pull a holophone from inside his coat and snap a photo.

That makes me jerk right back into the present. “What are you doing?”

Satisfaction flickers across his face. “I needed confirmation.”

Confirmation for what?

Before I can ask, his thumb hooks the cuff of my coat and shoves it back, exposing the warning amber line. For the first time since he cornered me, the amusement slips. “What do we have here?”

I try to wrench my arm away. “That’s none of your business.”

Ignoring me completely, he tightens his grip and turns my wrist. Then he presses his hips harder against mine and drags the tip of his nose along the pulse point of my wrist.

The warning pulse flashes amber against my skin as his mouth brushes my ear.

“Sure about that?” His grip flexes.

“Please,” I gasp, though I don’t even know what I’m asking for.

“Please what?” he whispers, his breath warm against my damp skin. “Please stop? Or please don’t let go?”

He leaves his thumb there, feeling my pulse hammer beneath the sensor. Then he lifts his head, his eyes dark and unreadable, watching me like he’s enjoying every second of it. “You should be more careful what you show people. A heart this loud is practically an invitation.”

“I didn’t...” I suck in a breath that catches halfway. “I didn’t show you anything,” I hiss, my voice shaking with rage and the heat I can’t suppress.

“You’re showing me everything right now.” His gaze drops to my throat, watching the way I swallow as if every reaction belongs to him.