Page 36 of Flock This

I lifted my gaze to find Kelvin standing at the doorway, his shoulder against the frame, his arms crossed. He seemed calmer than before, more like the Kelvin I was used to. He smirked, though I sensed a danger behind that expression even stronger than before, like I could still feel the anger he’d shown me earlier.

I set it back down in the drawer and closed it. “I’m just surprised this is all you’ve got. I was expecting whips and chains.”

He hiked his thumb toward the vault door. “I keep that stuff in there.”

I lifted my eyebrow as I studied his expression, but I couldn’t figure out if he was serious or not. That was the worst part about him—I wouldn’t have been surprised to find the equivalent of a kinks-r-us store in there and I would have been just as unsurprised to find boring documents or drugs or dead bodies.

Basically? Nothing surprised me when it came to Kelvin.

I thought back to how he’d pinned me against the wall, then that kiss… Well, I guess some things would surprise me.

I must have made an expression, because he let out a soft sigh but didn’t come closer. “I’m sorry about earlier.”

“Earlier?” Playing dumb was easy for me, and people accepted the act way too quickly.

“Leave it to you to break my composure,” he muttered so quietly I wasn’t sure I was meant to hear him at all. Just as quickly, he went on, making me guess it hadn’t been for me. “I’m a little surprised you’re still here. I half expected to have to go track you down.”

“Good luck with that. I can’t be tracked.”

“Not by scent or trailing, but I know you well enough to guess where you’d go. So why didn’t you run? You’ve always been a runner in the past.” He didn’t move, and I was thankful for that. I didn’t think I’d feel quite so brave if he got any closer.

It was like staring a tiger in the eye at the zoo, where a thick pane of glass kept me safe, versus doing the same to a wild tiger in the forest.

“I’m here because I have to be. If I leave, I’ll never prove my innocence. I’ll never get my life back.”

“I told you to hide—that I’d take care of it all. Am I so untrustworthy that you can’t even give me that little bit of faith?”

I snorted loudly. He had to be kidding me, right? Kelvin? Trustworthy? What a fucking joke. I’d trust a starving stray dog with a raw steak before I trusted Kelvin with…well, anything.

He laughed, not appearing in the least bothered by my rejection. “Guess I’ve earned that. Well, I sort of messed up your little plan here, didn’t I?”

“Not really. I can just go right back to cleaning, can’t I?”

“Nope. You aren’t a thrall without a master anymore. You’ve got a master, now. I’m sure Lima won’t stay quiet about it—I don’t take thralls often, after all. It’ll be big news.”

“So?”

“So, thralls of people in my position don’t do general cleaning. Jobs like that are for unclaimed thralls or those of low-ranking vampires. Think of it like a status symbol. It’d be an embarrassment to me if my thrall were caught doing such menial tasks.”

“Oh, and we couldn’t dare embarrass you.”

“Obviously not,” he responded as though he hadn’t picked up my sarcasm. “So you have to work with me, now.”

“I’m not a ‘have to’ kind of girl.”

“Even so, it’s your only option. See, as my thrall, you’ve got no rights here. I could keep you here forever if I wanted, keep you safe by doing it.”

“You could try.”

He came closer, and somehow me sitting on the bed made me feel as though I held a dramatically weaker position—and my normal position was weak to start with. “Oh, I could. You see, I know you, so I could predict all your little rebellions. I could keep you here, out of the way, and ensure that your little plans don’t end up killing you.” He set one knee on the mattress beside me, leaning in so his face was just before mine.

And I suddenly wondered just how I could be terrified while also being this turned on. It wasn’t that I didn’t know Kelvin was dangerous, that he’d trick me into trusting him just to get what he wanted. It just seemed my pussy thought that a fair risk.

This is how praying mantis males get eaten, isn’t it?

“You wouldn’t,” I whispered.

He smiled, the look cold and calculating. “I might, someday, but not yet. Don’t get me wrong, I’m going to keep my eye on you, more so than even before, but I’m not going to stop you.”

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