Page 35 of Cruel Lies

I had never in my life enjoyed the sound of a slammed door more.

Rowanand I flipped a coin to see who’d take the first watch. Of course, I lost, so I was on overnight duty, on guard while she twiddled her thumbs in the kitchen chair. She’d obviously had more sleep than me, but surely she’d fizzle out fast. I knew what time she woke up. She wasn’t behind me by much. And I was a diagnosed insomniac. These days, I was lucky to get a few hours a night at best.

I could outlast her.

"Listen, there’s some ground rules I think we’d better go over before you crash for the night." She looked like she was set toignore me, so I hooked the leg of her chair with my foot and jerked her in my direction.

She might not have ended up in my lap if I’d been paying attention. But like always, my impatience got the best of me. Her hand just so happened to dart out and land right in the center of my groin, and I was damned if I planned to remove it any time soon for her.

It’d been a while since a woman had touched my dick without being paid to do it. So fucking what if I enjoyed it a little more than I should? Especially when the little hellcat herself blushed and jerked her hand away, refusing to look my direction.

"Okay, don’t act like you’ve never touched a cock in your life, you brat. We’ve got serious things to discuss, and I don’t have the patience to play blushing bride with you."

Thatraised her hackles. When she turned back, her eyes were alight with the fight she’d possessed as a young teen. You couldn’t tellthisHarper Daniels shit.

"There we are;nowyou’re paying attention." Her hot breath fanned across my face as she studied me with an intense glare. Maybe not hate, but it was enough.

She might just be tempted to kill me in my sleep.

Just how I fucken liked em. A little fire, a little fight. All sass.

"What’s so important it can’t wait til tomorrow?" she snipped, that temper I loved so much rising to the surface once more.

"Well, it’s a matter of life or death, so I’d say it’s pretty important."

Her eye roll saidI don’t care,but her choice to scoot closer saidfine, you win."Okay, I’m listening, Ghoul?—"

I’d gotten used to hearing that term from others. But from her mouth, when everything was still so fresh, so raw? Something in me snapped. My hand shot out and grabbed her by the throat, jerking her to me until we were nose to nose.

"Don’t youevercall me that again, do you understand?"

My teeth were bared, my eyes had lost all their soft playfulness.I was spitting mad, and I didn’t care if I scared her now. She struggled against my hold, eventually giving in with a whimper and a nod.

"Say it, I wanna hear you swear," I continued, shaking her a little for effect. I wanted this lesson to sink in, wanted her to know this was serious.

She could call meanythingbut that.

"I understand, I swear,fuck!"She wheezed a little as I released her, tears glistening at the edges of her lashes. That hurt a little, but not as much as hearing that hated fucking name on her lips. "What gives, Nash?"

"I hate that name," I said simply, refusing to say a word more. "Now, listen up and listen good." I pointed at the door to the rest of the asylum, my steely gaze locked on hers. "Do not ever, and I do meanever,leave this place without an escort. Those fucks we work with are dangerous, and trust me when I say if they catch you alone, they will just as soon eat you alive, or play with you like a cat does a mouse. They’re not likely to help you, and if they claim they want to, you need to run in the opposite direction."

"All bad guys are bad, got it," she parroted back, all the sass in her tone gone for the moment.

Apparently, all one had to do to make a girl listen was choke her a little.

I wondered if she liked that sort of thing in bed?—

I cleared my throat as a slight blush worked its way up my throat and into my cheeks. "Moving on. If you need something, you need to tell one of us, no matter how embarrassing. If we’re gonna keep you safe, the fewer people who know you’re here, the easier that’ll be."

She frowned. "What about?—"

"Listen, bitch, I don’t care if you start bleeding and need fucking tampons, I will video chat you from the fucking female aisle before I let you go shopping for yourself, okay?"

Her nod was confirmation itself, though it did feel nice not to be the only one blushing now.

"Third, and I cannot stress this enough. Do not answer the door for anyone, especially if you are here alone, do you hear me?" I didn’t want to scare her with horror stories this early on, but that was how the Rebels lost their last girl. She didn’t listen, and someone got ahold of her. I shuddered to think of Harper in her position, her corpse lying on the floor while someone like Angus defiled her cooling body with his centimeter peter?—

Fuck, that was depressing.Shaking my head like a dog was less than successful in freeing my mind from that scenario playing on repeat behind my eyelids.

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