Page 67 of Gunner

“Give it a rest. Your cock’s already turned hard since it saw me. Unlike you, it knows what you want.”

“That’s not—” Shit, it had. I resisted the urge to cover my genitals. He would only make more fun if I did. “Wait a minute. How the hell did you get past my dog? What did you do to Zeus?”

“Zeus is fine. If I can get you right where I want you, do you think I can’t get your dog to trust me?”

“Zeus isn’t an ordinary dog. He’s a retired police dog.”

I marched over to the closet and flung it open. If he kept staring at my naked body, I might not want to put clothes on. I’d never been so openly objectified and lusted after. It wasn’t all bad. A man could get full of himself with that sort of attention.

“He’s still a dog,” Gunner said. “You play with them a few times, bring them treats, and suddenly you’re their best friend.”

I snorted. “But that implies you’ve been around Zeus before.” Yanking the T-shirt from the closet, I stared at Gunner. “When were you ever around Zeus?”

“Come on over here, and I’ll whisper it in your ear.” He patted the bed beside him. “Why are you putting on clothes anyway when I’m just going to take them off you?”

“We’re not having sex.”

“Wanna bet? Because you still owe me at least a blow job. One without all the teeth this time.”

“I’m sorry if my last blow job didn’t satisfy you, but when you’re that fucking big, you should expect a little teeth, if you even fit in the first place. And stop changing the subject.”

I yanked my shirt over my head. Underwear? Nah, that meant walking across the room, and I wouldn’t parade around in front of him naked. No matter how much my ego encouraged it. I grabbed a pair of shorts from the shelf and put them on.

“You’re so stubborn.” Gunner sighed. “It’s all fine. I don’t mind taking them off when we’ve finished this conversation.”

“Tell me about Zeus. How does my dog know you?”

“Your neighbor gets lost in his work during the day.” Gunner shuffled over and sat at the edge of the bed with his legs spread. “The world could blow up, and he wouldn’t realize.”

“You’ve been watching Asher? Why?”

“Curiosity. I wondered if that was the type you went for, but you didn’t stay after he stripped in front of you earlier. That meant either you were straight or you weren’t into him, and I have firsthand experience of how straight you aren’t.”

I swallowed. He’d been watching me the whole time? Why was I even surprised? He’d proven as much when he showed up in Riverton.

“So let me get this straight. You’ve been stalking meandmy neighbor. You get close enough to my dog to break into my homewithout so much as a peep from him. That’s a lot of energy to spend doing something so useless.”

“Useless? Look where it got me. In your bed. Besides, I did you a favor, taking your dog on walks while your neighbor was stuck inside in his art studio. He’s quite good, by the way.”

My head was swimming with all his information. I rubbed the back of my head. “Who’s quite good?”

“Your neighbor. His art’s good.”

My jaw dropped. “You broke into his house too? Why the hell would you do that?”

He shrugged. “I wanted to know more about him.”

“What on earth for?” He was demented. What possible explanation could there be for all this man admitted to having done?

“Told you. Needed to know if you two were fucking.”

I clenched my teeth. “That’s none of your business.”

“Isn’t it?” Gunner got up from the bed and approached me slowly. I had enough time to move away. The room was spacious enough, but I stood rooted to the spot until we were toe to toe. “Because if I’d found out you were fucking him too, your neighbor would have ended up on a milk carton.”

A tremor raced down my spine, followed immediately by another when Gunner placed his hand lightly around my neck and brushed his thumb over my Adam’s apple. I swallowed. Somehow he knew. He knew this was my weakness. That he could make me whimper and beg when he touched me like he owned me.

“Missing people don’t end up on milk cartons anymore.” I summoned all my willpower to resist leaning into him, closing the distance between us, and kissing him.

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