Page 44 of Savage Rule

“I know,” I say. “But I think...” I trail off, unable to finish that sentence.I think I was sick too.

“So each one of these is a kill?” Gunn runs a light finger over a few of the marks. I allow him to explore for the first time since we’ve been together, feeling splayed and vulnerable as his fingers trace the sins of my past. Tears begin to roll unheeded from my eyes, so I keep my face averted so he can’t see.

However, when he touches the one low on my side, the one he’s questioned me on before, it’s like a jolt of electricity that makes me jump. I try to squirm away, but he holds me in place.

“Why is this one different?” he asks.

“It’s just a kill.”

He releases me and I roll back, but he won’t let me move away.

“It’s not just a kill,” he says. “You retouch it. I can tell. Why?”

A white-hot flush creeps up my neck and into my cheeks. “So I don’t forget.”

“Who?”

We’ve definitely veered into territory I wasn’t ready for.

“Who?” he asks again.

It takes everything I have to answer. “The only innocent life I’ve ever taken.”

Because he knows I can’t go further, this time, when I go to pull away, he lets me.

14

GUNN

My cell phone rings, waking me up from a fucking amazing dream where I was about to take a bite of a cheeseburger.

“Is that you or me?” Scarlet asks.

I wipe a hand down my face and glance down at her. I’ve always hated being woken up, but the sight of her makes this even better than a dream. “Hey, Peaches.”

We’re lying on the bed, her naked body pressed tightly against mine. She wriggles as she stretches, then pushes her leg between mine. “Hi, Dimples.”

“You always sleep so soundly with the enemy in your bed?”

She giggles and bites my shoulder. “I didn’t have a choice. You wore me out.”

Chuckling, I grab my phone from the nightstand and glance at the screen. It’s Luca.

The call goes to voicemail, but instead of leaving me one, he sends me a text.

Luca: Just had an interesting chat with Kyle. We need to talk.

My stomach sinks and I stare ahead. Shit.

“What is it?” Scarlet frowns.

“Nothing.” I ignore the text and set my phone ringer on silent.

“It was Luca,” she guesses.

Placing it back on the table, screen side down, I say, “I haven’t checked in for two days. He’s probably wondering if I’m still alive.”

Not exactly true. When he asked me to call him yesterday evening, I sent him a “thumbs up” emoji. Then I came here and it slipped my mind. This girl has a way of distracting me.

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