Page 113 of Raise Hell

My unease turns into painful knocking behind my ribs. “What do you want, Drake?”

“The truth, for once.” Wood creaks as he shifts his weight to pull me closer to him. “Everyone here lies like they breathe, except for you. You use the truth like a battering ram, crashing through everything that gets in your way. At least, that’s what I thought. But maybe you’re the biggest liar of them all.”

He speaks in riddles, but I can’t escape the hint of danger in his tone.

I yank my hand away. “It’s late, and I think you might be sleep-deprived.”

The confusion in his eyes transforms into something much more resolute.

He grabs me, too quickly for me to react. His hands slip under the thin fabric of my shirt, resting on the skin of my waist just above the band of my jeans. “I’m deprived of something, but it isn’t sleep.”

I suck in a quick breath. “What are you doing?”

Drake yanks me into his lap. “Making out with you in a church.”

My gasp is swallowed by his mouth on mine. Unlike in the cave, this kiss is slow and thorough and momentarily robs me of my ability to breathe.

Still kissing me, Drake uses his grip on my hips to spread my legs so I’m straddling him. Even through the thick denim of my jeans, I feel his dick harden where it presses against my ass.

His body is all hard planes and curved muscle. My hands stroke over his chest. When they shift up to touch his face, he catches my wrists in his hands.

“This is sacrilegious,” I say into his mouth.

He gently bites my bottom lip before breaking the kiss. “Seen any good movies lately?”

I pull back to look him in the eye. Fear knocks inside my chest. “You asking me on a date to the local multiplex?”

“Not exactly.” His fingers tighten in my hair. “Tell me what happened last year.”

I want to tell him. Desperately. I need him to pull the secret from my lips in the same way he wrenched the orgasm from my body.

But I can’t do it.

“I don’t know. I have amnesia, remember.”

He stares at me for a long moment, eyes burning with barely suppressed heat. “Of course, you do.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It’s strange that only last year is a blank, but you remember everything else about yourself.”

“I didn’t realize you’d switched your major to cognitive science, Dr. Van Koch. Care to tell me what else you know about how the brain works?”

“I think you’re lying.”

His grip on my wrists isn’t hard enough to hurt, but tightens when I try to pull away.

“Let me go.”

He does, but his arms settle solidly around my back so I still can’t get up.

His expression is considering as he stares at me. “How is it possible to forget something bad enough to get you taken away by paramedics?”

I lean back, still in the cage of his arms. “What do you want from me, Drake?”

“Just this,” he growls.

I let out a cry of surprise as he lifts me up and carries me to the silk-covered altar. Rough stone digs into my back as his mouth settles on my neck, kissing and nipping at the sensitive skin.

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