Page 15 of Beautiful Dark Temptation

Oh, crap. I took a sip of my drink. “Yup,that’s me.”

She sidled next to me. Her fruity scenttickled my nose. “I’m Ashlee,” she said with a smile that lookedanything but sweet.

“Tomás,” I answered.

“You wanna dance?”

“Sure.”

I barely put my beer down when she hauled meto the dance floor. For the next fifteen minutes she made a show ofit right under Kieran’s nose. So obvious that she was making himjealous. She even kissed me. I didn’t care. Did I mention I had noproblem taking handouts? This girl was handing out. Her tonguetasted like watermelon. And I didn’t miss the sneer Kieran wasthrowing our way. Then, he actually had the balls to come down fromhis throne to the dancefloor. Okay, the guy dancing was a thing.And the girls flocked to him as if he were candy. He was not candy.The lights pouring on him made him shine. Never thought I’d usethat word to describe him. The fucker was handsome and knew it. Hecould have any girl he wanted. He’d probably fucked more than halfof them already. The thought made my stomach clench.

I knew what was happening even before thegirl left my ass to hang off him. Then Kieran and I were dancingway too close, and I couldn’t look away from him. He caught melooking. The edge of his lips lifted.

Check mate.

Asshole.

I pulled back. The crowd too damn thick forme. I returned to the bar, ordered something stronger, and drank itbefore I headed out. Arcas was empty when I got there and I lit upthe weed Jack gave me. It mellowed me out, pulled me under intosleep with Kieran still on my mind.

I hated him.

Chapter Eight

Kieran

Fox entered the dark living room like aghost. Not even the dim light exposed his shadow. Focused, he movedwith fluid movements as if the very air molecules around him bentlight, so he’d be undetected. Fox and I had been friends since wewere twelve-year-old brats in Arcadia Middle School. He’d been talland limber, while I’d been short and focused. He was the chaoswrapped in my precision. And he was beautiful to watch when setloose.

The guy in his way never stood a chance.

Like the angel of death, Fox spread hiswings and with one hand, he clamped the guy’s mouth, lifting hischin and stabbed his carotid all in the same motion. The guy’s eyeswidened as the back of his head fell against Fox’s shoulder. Hishands cupped Fox’s hips until he gave up and dropped them to hissides. Not moving.

“You’re dead, motherfucker,” I whispered andcovered his mouth with duct tape. The guy didn’t move. Didn’t makea sound. I winked at him and followed Fox.

As team lead, I knew my team’s strengths andweaknesses. River and Wren worked well together. While River had apenchant for safety, checking corners and shadows, Wren moved likeFox. Ghosts. Wren could sweep this place on his own, and that wasthe problem when setting him loose. River kept him grounded, so Imade sure to keep them together.

River and I moved like the wind, and likethe wind, our presence could be detected if we weren’t careful.River and I also lacked patience. While my patience waned with theanticipation of a fight, River’s patience began and ended withinWren’s headspace. If this were a legitimate operation, the missionwould take priority over collateral damage. We weren’t the goodguys. We’d never be the good guys. Collateral damage was a thing wethought little about. We always went in stealthy but weren’t afraidof the chaos when there wasn’t another option.

While River and I had the bulky guns, Wrenand Fox preferred blades.

“Two down,” I whispered into comms.

“Floor one cleared,” River responded.“Moving to two.”

Time to go up, I tapped Fox’s shouldertwice.

The house was old, the walls thin, and thearea too damn quiet. “Check the floorboards,” I whispered on comms.“Walls thin.”

“Copy,” River whispered back.

As if I’d just called out the old house, Foxtook a step and froze. I heard the push against the old board. Therusty nails grinding. A soft sound that could’ve been mistaken asthe house settling by someone less experienced. A door lay aboutfive feet to our left. I’d bet my first born that Ashton waitedbeyond that wall and Ashton wouldn’t be quiet. The fucker didn’tcare about his team. He wanted me. It may have been because how Ileft his sister in tears Friday night.

Not my fault.

I knew what Ashlee was trying to do withTomás. It had worked but not the way she had hoped. I couldn’t getmy eyes off Tomás. And watching him dry hump her, with their mouthsfused, had drawn something dangerous out of me. Something toxicthat I hadn’t felt ever. Despite the faceless, nameless sins I’ddropped inside my soul, I’d never felt this need to dominatebefore. To control. To ravage. I’d always maintained a certaindistance from anything remotely emotional. I’d learned to controlmy feelings. To desensitize myself from guilt, blame, death. Otheremotions like anger, fear, sadness, jealousy, loneliness, love, didnot fall within the scope of my range. I’d regulated all that shitto the point where I’d become a numb shell with only basicinstincts and needs. Eat, drink, plan the demise of my enemies, andsurvive. I did not have sex without forethought. Every girl I’dtaken to bed, kissed, talked to had been precisely planned. Everyperson, even my brothers, had been vetted to serve a purpose.

But not Tomás. My beautiful darktemptation.

Dancing close to Tomás had been dangerous.Fortunately, he had left before I lost my shit. I had no desire tostay with Ashlee afterward. She hadn’t been happy. I didn’t care.We’d messed around a few times, but that shit had been over forweeks. And so, here we were with Ashton, her brother, pissed as allhell. But pissed off idiots always made mistakes.

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