Page 16 of Lady Death

A few moments later, the pale light from the locker room was blocked. She stopped and turned, not surprised at all to see Ronin leaning in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest.

“How are you getting in through the women’s locker room?” she asked, slightly annoyed at the interruption.

“I’m not,” he replied. “I hang out in here.”

She rolled her eyes. “Pervert.”

He grinned. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“What do you want, Ronin?”

“Well, that’s a loaded question.”

“You think you’re charming, but you’re not.”

“I’m not? Not even a little?”

Keres walked over to the bench and pulled the tape off her fingers. They ached a little, but nothing she wasn’t used to. She’d been hurt worse.

“There isn’t any noise about what happened last night,” he told her. “Other than the official police report, of course. I thought you’d like to know.”

“Thanks,” she said absently.

“You okay?”

She blinked and looked at him. “Sorry. There’s still a lot on my mind. Usually, I punch insomnia out of my system, but someone has interrupted my routine.”

“I wonder who that is.”

She couldn’t help a light chuckle. “Yeah, I wonder myself. Why are you here, Ronin?”

“I told you…”

“No, the real reason. We said goodbye to each other last night.”

He pushed off the doorframe and stalked toward her. The light behind him threw his face in shadow, but it was clear what his intention was simply by his walk. He marched right up to her, so close she could feel the heat radiating from his body. She braced herself for the rush of fear and throat-closing panic, but nothing happened, and she wondered what the hell that meant.

“What do you want with me?” she whispered again.

He cupped her face and searched her eyes. “I tried hard to stay away, but damn it, you’re a drug getting under my skin. Making me addicted. I don’t like it.”

“I don’t like you,” she said.

“I don’t like you either,” he returned.

The moment stretched infinitesimal, free-falling through space. Her heart hammered in her chest, but she had no desire to pull away. She looked at his lips and licked her own. Ronin made a strangled groan and then yanked her into his body, the feeling divine. His hardness to her softness. Heat to thaw her ice. It had been such a long time since she’d been warm.

His lips crashed down on hers, and the world disappeared. His kiss was potent, filled with magic. Desire curled through her, causing an uncomfortable ache deep in her core. The edges of her panties rubbed against the slickness of her pussy, firing little bits of need throughout her body, leaving her defenseless. Tearing through all her trauma like a bullet. There was no room for heartache, or terror, or the dread she lived with every day.

She accepted the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck. He held her close, running a hand down her back, over her hip, stopping at the top curve of her ass. Not touching her intimately but reminding her he was there. Waiting for permission? Or did he instinctively know she could fall off theteetering seesaw she stood upon? One way destruction, the other Heaven.

How did he do this to her? How did he not make her afraid? She shunned all men. Neatly lumped all of them in the same compartment, a mold of each other. Defined by their strength, their cruelty, their testosterone. So, what made Ronin different?

They broke the kiss to drag in a lungful of oxygen. She stared up at him, dazed and confused, but there was a hunger inside her she never thought she’d feel again. Plain and simple, she wanted him. Could she have him?

Can I?

Grabbing a handful of his shirt, she yanked him close and when he bent, she initiated the next kiss. Mouth to mouth, skin to slick skin. She didn’t worry that she was sweaty and might not smell as fresh as a daisy. Didn’t care if he was the same. This time, there was no hesitation. No self-doubting. She thrust her tongue into his mouth, but that was the only advance he gave her. Taking over, he lifted her into his strong arms, picking her up so she could wrap her legs around his waist. One hand sank into her hair to hold her against him as he ravaged her mouth in a succulent way.

---