Page 63 of Killer Kiss

That Riddick would kill us both if he found out I was here.

That Augie was dead anyway, because by the end of the week, if I didn’t kill him, Riddick would take my job bag and kill him himself.

“I’m sorry,” I said again, not knowing what else to say.

He leaned back and put two fingers beneath my chin, tilting my face up so he could look in my eyes. “What’s happened? Tell me.”

I shook my head and tried to turn away.

But he wouldn’t let me. His blue-eyed gaze held me tight, refusing to give in. “Tell me. Whatever it is, I’ll take care of it.” He put his lips to my forehead and breathed in deep. “I’ll take care of you.”

I was sure my heart stopped beating. That the world stopped turning. That everything ceased to exist except for him and me and a connection I’d never felt before and knew I’d never feel again.

Not now that Riddick had claimed me.

I lifted up on my toes and put my lips to Augie’s.

He froze for the tiniest of seconds, and I let out a whimper, hauling him as close as I could get, the sound as desperate in my heart as it was to my ears.

“Lia,” he murmured, a note of hesitation in his tone.

“Kiss me back,” I whispered above his perfect mouth. “Please. Just kiss me back.”

His restraint snapped.

In a second, he had me up in his arms, his tongue running the seam of my lips and pushing into my mouth, hungry and desperate.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, holding him tight, fusing our mouths together as he climbed the stairs, kissing me with everything he had.

My head spun at the feel of him. At his taste. At his hold on my body and a new one that was slowly curling its way around my heart with something that felt scarily like feelings.

I kissed him harder, erasing the thought by sliding my tongue in time with his.

They weren’t feelings. I just needed distraction. Something…someone…to remind me I was still alive. That I was still here even if Fawn wasn’t. Someone to distract me from the fact I’d soon belong to a man I couldn’t stand.

Augie strode into his bedroom, kicking open the door so hard it creaked in protest, but he didn’t even bother trying to close it.

With the wall at my back, I whipped off my T-shirt, tossing it to the floor at our feet.

He groaned, holding me beneath my thighs, supporting my weight with a combination of his strength and leverage from where his hips pressed against my center. His mouth found my neck, and he sucked and kissed his way along the sensitive skin there, up to my ear where he mumbled words that sounded a lot like a promise to take care of me.

“What was that?” I asked between the breathy sighs his lips on my neck created.

He drew back, his eyes full of heat. “Let me go down on you.”

I widened my eyes. “Um, what?”

He took the full brunt of my weight again, carrying me away from the wall and to his bed.

I braced myself to be dropped there, but he lowered me so carefully, his hand behind my head, that it almost brought tears to my eyes.

He grinned at me. “I’ll be more specific. I want to take off your panties, run my tongue over your clit, and suck you until you come. Is that okay?”

“Does anyone actually ever say no to that?”

He shrugged, getting down on his knees and hooking his arms around my legs. With a sharp tug, he had my ass on the edge of the bed. He went for the button on my fly next, undoing it, and sliding down the zipper until my jeans were loose enough that he could get them down my thighs.

He groaned at the sight of my plain-black panties.

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