Page 76 of Cruel Lies

"Oh, look, if it isn’t Jackalope. Who are these characters, your backup dancers?" I gestured to the men on either side of him and shot them my best flirty smile.

"Har har, bitch," he growled back, his eyes narrowing. "You’ve only got one Skeleton Man with you, and there are three of us." He stepped forward, his eyes trailing over me in a manner that made me sick to my stomach. "Shouldn’t you be a little nicer to us?"

The one on the left shoved Jackal out of the way and offered me his hand, which I accepted with no small amount of wariness. "Dingo’s the name. This here’s Coyote. A little feral, but a decent mate. Don’t mind Jackal; he’s all bark and no bite."

The man had an Aussie accent thicker than chowder, but he did seem harmless compared to the threatening aura his friend gave off. I shook the offered hand and smiled back. "Harper. I’m with—well, you know who I’m with, obviously." I threw a surreptitious wink over my shoulder at Angel and grinned as a plan formulated in my mind. "Angel and I are a thing."

"Untrue," Angel warned, his eyes narrowing to slits as he stepped up beside me. "Don’t tell your newfriendlies, Harper."

"Lies?" I asked innocently, hands behind my back as I thrust out my chest and batted my eyelashes at the third man in their little trio. "That’s not what he told the guy who hit on me at the diner today."

A hand closed around my mouth, and I felt a second one press insistently at the small of my back. "That’s enough chatter for today, I think. Time to go back upstairs, brat."

Dingo chuckled as I waggled my fingers at the guys on my way by, but Angel was stopped when the big, burly wildman set a hand on his shoulder. "You might wanna put a leash on that one, Pretty Boy. She’s gonna get herself into trouble if she keeps playing with fire."

He held out a leash and collar, and I was stunned when he set it in Angel’s outstretched hand and patted it lovingly. Angel muttered a quietthanksand shook his head in disbelief as the three Neons, now all laughing at our expense, kick started their dirtbikes, threw on their masks, and headed out of the garage for who knew what kind of business.

The baseball bats slung over their shoulders and guns tucked in their waistbands and holsters signaled it was nothing good.

"I can’t fucking believe you," Angel snarled, his hand moving from the small of my back to my hair, wrapping my ponytail around his fist and using it to haul me along until we were around the corner from his bike and the two abandoned helmets.

The breathwhooshedout of me as he slammed me against the wall, his eyes wide and feral now, filled with heated anger I had seen only once before when he turned on Nash the other night.

So why did that rage turn me on so fuckingmuch?

I rubbed my thighs together as he brought his face inches from mine, nose to nose, those violet eyes searing their way into my fuckingsoul.

"You’re pushing your luck, Harper. And I’m about at my wit's end with your games."

I lifted a hand and ran it down his arm that caged me in on the other side, my neck arched back as I stared up at him, towering over me like some sort of sentient god-being from the movies.

Fuck, he was tall.

"Do I win a prize if I play nice?" I rasped, under some sort of fucking spell I was powerless against.

"Quit that," he growled, his hot breath fanning against my lips. "Put away thosefuck meeyes and grow up. Not everyone is going to bend to your will just because you’ve got a pussy."

"You know, Angel," I whispered, letting my eyelids lower suggestively as I watched his Adam’s apple bob, "I could always tell when you were hiding something from me." My lips parted, and I saw him lean in another inch, our lips almost touching now. "What’s your deep, dark secret, Angel?" I leaned forward and let my lips graze his as I spoke. "You’ll feel better if you tell me."

"You play games with someone you don’t know anymore, brat," he snarled, yanking on my ponytail.

I’m embarrassed to say I let out a little moan at the pain.Fuck, he couldn’t know that I liked it rough.It wasn’t like he could read my mind.

The blush that crept up his throat, though, told me I wasn’t the only one affected right now.

Let’s see how far we can take this game.

"Fuck, Angel, do it again."

"Get bent," he spat in disgust, and I slipped from his grip and ducked around him, leaning against the nearest car.

"Should I get bent right here? Forward, or backward?" Isplayed my hands out on the hood of the green Lamborghini, slowly presenting my ass to him as I shot a wink over my shoulder. "What way do you want me, Angel?"

"I don’t want you," he whispered, even as he stepped toward me, his hands twitching at his side, the leash and collar still dangling from his grip. "Idon’t."

"You’re a bad liar," I teased, rolling onto my back, taunting him as I kicked a foot up and rested it on his shoulder in a move that a gymnast would envy. "Come on, Angel. Are you scared of me?" A single finger dragged along the hood of the car as Angel leaned in closer, his hand closing around my ankle, sending a shockwave of anticipation down my spine. "I don’t stand a chance against a man like you."

"You’re playing with fire, Harper. And you’re gonna get burned."

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