Someone is coming.
The rasp of shoes against cement, slow and menacing, rises from the stairwell above. Kai’s eyes flicker with calculation as he places himself between me and potential danger.
Protective. Deadly.
I grip his arm tighter, seeking reassurance in his solid presence. The footsteps grow louder, each one a ticking bomb counting down to our discovery. Every muscle in Kai’s body is coiled and ready to unleash violence.
The rasp stops. Silence is deafening.
Kai inches forward, peering through the gap. His expression shifts from tense focus to something darker, more frightening. I see it in his eyes—a lethal edge that promises retribution.
He pushes me back to the deep end of the alcove. “Stay here,” he whispers.
Before I can respond, he slides out the alcove, leaving me alone in the dark. My palms are slick with fear as I clutch my bag tightly to my chest, trying to ignore the pounding in my ears.
Minutes tick by like hours. My breath hitches as a dreadful thought crosses my mind—what if Kai doesn’t come back?
No. Don’t go there, Marianne.
A muffled thud from above makes me gasp.
I bite back a scream when a shadow falls down the stairs with dull clings. Kai materializes in a blur, leaping from one landing to another until he reaches the floor and barrels into the shadow-man with a force that sends them both barreling on the cold floor.
The shadow struggles and trashes under the pounding of Kai’s fists.
Crack.
Bones snap. The shadow stops moving.
I get out of the alcove, my legs wobbly with adrenaline.
Kai’s hands are coated in blood, his knuckles scratched and bruised, but his eyes shine with sinister satisfaction. “Come on, love. We need to go.”
He’s not even out of breath!
I blink up at Kai. “Who’s this?” is all I dare ask.
“Bounty hunter.” He gives me a wicked smile. “Some entry-level dirtbag.”
Blood pools under the dead man’s head like a macabre halo.
Kind of pretty against the concrete.
I frown at Kai busted left eyebrow. “You okay?”
He strides up to me and presses his forehead to mine, smudging his blood on me. Sweat, cedar, and spice curl up my nostrils, and I shiver.
“Of course. I just lost my focus a bit when he saw you,” he replies.
Aww…
Before I understand, I squint at him and coo. “My hero.”
A wolfish chuckle erupts from his throat, and he kisses my temple. “I’d rather be your villain.”
That’s hot as hell.
His lips linger there, a wet tongue darting out to taste the sweat on my skin, creating a spark we don’t have the time to explore.
If this is a dream, I never, ever, want to wake up. In the distance, an engine vrooms.
A single drop of sweat rolls down his temple, and from this close, I can see the dilatation of his pores. My mouth waters at the thought of licking the salty trail as it glides down his chin and along his jugular, disappearing into the collar of his shirt.
Tires screech.
There’s a vibration inside of me when I look him in the eyes again, and I’m trapped there, my lower lip languishing. Kai’s jaw tenses, teeth tight, his upper lip ticks, and he bends a bit, pulled down by an unknown force until his nose rests above mine.
Oh, dear god. I’ve never wanted to fuck a man this badly.
Our bubble is so thick we forget the world.
We should move.
Kai pulls away. “Please… Save that feral look for later,” he murmurs, brushing a thumb across my flushed cheek.
Feral? Me? What an unusual thought.
Kai’s fingers linger for another heartbeat before he steps back, wiping his bloody knuckles on his jeans.
The clicks of guns being cocked resound next to us. A red dot appears on Kai’s chest. Then, a low whistle.
And that’s when everything goes black.
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