Page 45 of Scars Run Deep

“Yeah, it’s got that whole cozy vibe going on for sure.”

“To offset the fucked-up world you were stepping into when you moved here and first came at us?”

“Pretty much. Also, it’s out of the way, so if things had gone south, it put some distance between me and you guys and the rest of Hexwood too.”

“Things worked out better than any of us figured, yeah?”

I spun around as he shut the door behind us, and smiled at him. “Absolutely.”

“You made a real intense impression on Asher.”

“I think it was more about the impression my dad made.”

“You being the daughter of Revenant?”

“Well, yeah. He holds him in high esteem.”

“Believe me, of everybody, Asher doesn’t judge people on the reps of their parents. Nah, Princess, it wasn’t about your dad. You’re the one who won him over.” He folded his heavily inked arms across the chest of his white tank. “Me too.”

“Yeah?” I asked, coyly.

“Fuck, yeah. Our first interaction, actually. You had me right there and then.”

“Because I spread my legs for you? That’s guaranteed to elicit a favorable impression,” I jested.

“Not to me.”

“No?”

All sense of amusement went away and he told me, “I’m a serial fucker. When Asher wasn’t available, because us getting it on used to be a once-in-a-blue-moon thing, I was always searching for someone—or someones—who could bring what I needed. A partner who wouldn’t break so fucking easily. And more than that, somebody who loved the down and dirty way I liked to fuck just as much as me. Believe me, that’s hella difficult to come by.” His eyes shone. “But you, you had that in you. Let’s just say your demons played really well with mine. Not just me either. You mesh well with Kill’s and Asher’s too. The whole fucking package, aren’t you, Princess?”

“I wouldn’t go that far.” I waved my hand with a chuckle. “And tone it down, you’re making me blush, and that doesn’t look good on me. Makes me look like a clown with the overly rosy cheeks.”

“A clown,” he chuckled. “Nah, the blushing is hot. It means I’m getting a reaction out of you. And I always like that.”

“It’s not one of your kinks, is it? The clown thing?” Off his look, I explained, “Killian mentioned that you have a lot.”

“That I do.” His eyes hooded. “You’ve even seen a couple of them up close.”

My core clenched at his callback. As if the need wasn’t already there with that built-for-sin body of his, all that bulk and hard muscle, those sexy tattoos. And then there was the way he kept looking at me, especially lately, a mixture of adoration and dirty intentions barely held at bay.

I swallowed hard. “I have.”

“Now you’ve mentioned it, I might look into the clown thing, though. Never say never to adding new kinks into the mix. You don’t know what’s gonna get you off until you experiment.”

“Well, you’re gonna have to keep that relegated to Asher. Clowns freak me out.”

“Is that right?”

“Yeah, ever since I saw one in a horror movie when I was a kid.”

He pushed up against me, all that hard muscle against my softness. My pulse picked up as he slid his hand into my hair, his fingers brushing against my cheek. “Next time we’re out here, I can introduce you to my primal kink.” A low groan escaped him as he looked me up and down, eye-fucking the hell out of me. “I fucking wish we could do it now, but there’s no time with the dinner, and I know how excited you are about it.”

“I’d be up for that.”

“Mmm, music to my ears.”

I looked up into his blazing emerald eyes. “You already knew I’d be into it, didn’t you?”

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