Page 107 of Lock Up the Darkness

“Well, that can’t possibly be true.”

She sighed and admitted, “I’m having a little trouble sleeping. Whenever I close my eyes, these awful images to go along with those awful sounds on those recordings inundate me.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed Ash to hand them over. I just wanted you to know the whole deal, and make it clear what you’re getting yourself into here.”

“No,” she said, taking his hand. “I’m glad you did. I don’t regret listening to them. I’ve wanted to know for so long what happened over my dad’s last days in the world before he faked his death and disappeared into the ozone. I regret that he had to suffer through that, that’s all.”

“All right,” Kill murmured, giving her hand a squeeze.

“You wanted it to put me off doing this, didn’t you?”

“I think I knew that it wouldn’t. You’re too determined and stubborn for that, too fucking brave and tough in all honesty. But I still had to try. And also, Asher keeping intel to himself is never a good thing. It’s dangerous. For us all.”

“I agree.” She hugged her stuffed dog to her, then told him, “Thank you for bringing him here to me. It’s really sweet and thoughtful.”

“Sweet? Wow, that’s the first time I’ve ever been called that.”

“Really?”

“I guess you bring it out in me, huh?”

“I guess I do.”

That intensity crackled between them again.

And then Kill shrugged off his hoodie and tossed it on the desk chair in the corner.

“Lay back.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “Why?”

He started snatching up the comic books and gathered them in a pile, then put them down on the desk top, before coming back to her and pulling his gray long-sleeve tee over his head, all that Grade A QB muscle rippling with his movements.

“I’m gonna help you relax, so you can sleep.”

Jeez, he was a smooth bastard.

I’d forgotten about his game, it’d been a long time since I’d seen it, because he was always being forced to play a fake role, and that wasn’t a part of it.

Surprising me, her eyes sparked with anticipation, then she sank down onto the bedspread, spreading out and laying down for him, her perky breasts rising and falling from her quickening breaths.

Kill knelt on the bed and grabbed her dog. “He’s not gonna be able to handle what’s about to happen.”

He actually had her giggling again as he placed the dog down on the desk on top of her comic books and turned the toy’s head away. “Much better,” he said, patting its head, before returning to the bed.

And then he was gliding his hard pecs and abs over her bare stomach, her lace encased breasts, making her moan and sink her head into her pillows.

Her hands came up, grasping his biceps.

He swept down and kissed her.

It was soft and sweet and very careful on his part.

At first.

The moment she responded, kissing him back, and undulating her hips against the noticeable bulge in his pants, the ferociousness rose, a hell of a lot of tongue coming into play.

I slapped my hand against the door to steady myself, licking my lips at the little show that was getting me as hard as a rock again. Hearing her raspy moans, watching his ass grinding up and down as he humped against her shorts… fuck me. So much for calming down before Asher got out here.

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