Page 19 of Romancing the Reaper

I am not in a position to ignore Patrick’s commands. Certainly not if I have any intention of keeping my head attached to my body.

It’s not like anything in the bag is special It’s not designer or even nice. It’s just stuff that I think will fit her that I’ve picked upfrom a convenience store. It will just have to do until the rest of the stuff that I ordered arrives.

Liam isn’t going to be happy when he gets the bill. It’s not that I can’t afford it on my own. I have more than enough money to have our children’s children never work for the rest of their lives. But I get such a sick satisfaction from watching Liam’s eyes bug out of his head.

At least I have to hope that she will feel slightly more comfortable when she has clothes of her own and isn’t forced to wear mine. In a few days, hopefully the nicer items that she’s more accustomed to will give her some semblance of normalcy.

One way or another, Ada needs to feel more at ease here so that when the time comes, she won’t fight the wedding. At least, not as much.

The door to the hideout swings open with a loud electronic beep. I wait a few moments before heading inside, half expecting her to be standing there with a heavy book or something to smash over my head in order to make her escape attempt. Shockingly, she’s not anywhere in my line of sight.

Nothing seems changed in the kitchen either, which means that she didn’t eat anything while I was gone. I don’t love that.

I set the bags of clothes down on the kitchen bar as I head down the hallway toward the only other rooms in this place. Everything is almost eerily quiet. There’s no way that she could have gotten out of here, I know that.

There’s absolutely no way that she could have escaped, but the feeling of apprehension doesn’t leave. Logic only conquers emotion for so long in my book.

Is she asleep? That would be the best outcome. Just in case she’s managed to lay some sort of trap for me, I don’t dare let my guard down.

The very last thing that I expected to hear is my name coming from my room. Just a small gap in the door and the bathroom light illuminating the crack with warm yellow light. Ada’s breathless whisper sends a shudder down my spine.

Soft gasps and moans of pleasure or distress and I can’t tell which one. My unhelpful mind automatically supplies a dozen of the worst possible scenarios. Half of which aren’t even plausible, but logic has left the building.

Training kicks in, and I pull my gun, holding it low and in front of my body as I kick open the bedroom door. I have never been happier to be an interruption than I am right this moment.

My eyes widen in shock at what I’m seeing.

Ada, lying on my bed with the sheets and bedding twisted around her. Her legs bent and splayed open as her hand is working between her thighs. The borrowed shirt she’s wearing is pushed up over one breast as she seems to have been in the middle of rolling her peaked nipple between her index and forefinger. Her hair wild around her face. Fucking sexy. Theeffect is instantaneous. All of the blood that is supposed to be in my brain goes straight to my dick and sets up camp.

Ada, stares at me frozen in what seems to be horror or… something else. Something forbidden. The delicate pink flush to her cheeks seems to spread down to her chest.

My gaze narrows in on the way her thighs are trembling. Just how close was she before I interrupted her? Better yet, what was with my name on her lips while she pleasures herself?

It’s better than anything I could have imagined. For a moment, I’m wholly rooted to the spot. My mind is yelling, screaming at me to capitalize on the situation and close the distance between us. It is insisting that I take that place between her thighs and show her what true pleasure is.

Something deep rooted and primal batters around the inside of my chest as I lower my gun. The cool metal of it in my hand is the only thing that I have to focus on to keep from having my way with her. I’m not supposed to take advantage of her so vulnerable butfuckI never thought that it would be this fucking hard.

My eyes lift with great difficulty off of her breathtaking body and settle on her face. Those perfect eyes wide open with her pupils blown. The very air between us seems to crackle with tension. My resolve wavers, pulling thin and threatening to break. I have to focus. I have to remember why I’m here and what my goals are. I can’t imagine how, but there’s always the possibility that this is just another elaborate ploy to get my guard lowered.

Fuck, I want her. I’ve never had this much trouble keeping myself in check before.

Fuck.

Fuck.

I force myself to look away. I have to or else the thin control that I have over myself is going to dissipate entirely.

I close my eyes, my fist closing over the door handle so tightly my knuckles whiten as I tuck my gun back into the back of my pants. I clear my throat, trying to settle myself again. My dick is so hard ithurts.

“I… brought you clothes.” I offer lamely. I try to make my words as gentle as I possibly can, but they still come out as a choked growl. “Temporary, but they will suffice for now.”

I risk a second glance, and the trance that she was in seems to shatter. Ada quickly recovers and pulls her shirt down and grabs frantically at the blankets that she had kicked out of her way, trying desperately to cover herself up as if I haven’t already seen everything. If only that was enough to break the thick tension building between us.

I turn to leave the room, ready to go and fetch the clothes that I bought for her, mentally kicking and cursing myself more with every single passing second. I start to close the door behind me, allowing her privacy and perhaps for me to go look forsomewhere I can take care of this physical issue she’s caused, but her voice stops me dead in my tracks.

“Wait!” Ada calls, and then seems unsure of herself.

She hesitates for a second, and I glance back over my shoulder to see her better. My brow arches in curiosity.

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