Page 32 of TBR: Dead But Well Read

I responded with an unladylike snort. “I doubt that.”

But it seemed he was serious. Lowering my hands, he took several steps back, pulling me with him until he sat down on a velvet upholstered chair.

I dug in my heels, determined to defy him if for no other reason than I was terrified of how badly I longed to throw myself into his arms. My efforts were futile and, with embarrassing ease, he settled me onto one of his thick, muscled thighs.

It reminded me of seeing adult women sitting on the lap of the local mall Santa… only this Santa dressed in all black. And instead of a red shirt that stretched over a jolly round belly, his black shirt clung to a wide chest and flat abs. The traditional white beard had been swapped for several days’ worth of dark stubble along his jaw that shifted his looks from an underwear model to a menacing warlord who killed anyone who dared to cross him.

Maybe I should tell the sexy gothic Santa that I’d been a good girl, and I deserve a reward. Or would I be a goodghoul?

The stupid pun, combined with the absurdity of the situation, broke me. I dissolved into the slightly hysterical laughter that could only come from overwhelm, stress, and anxiety. Without warning, my boring world had been turned upside down, and if I didn’t laugh, I was going to break down.

The reaper leaned back, watching me with open curiosity. “Please share what you find so amusing about this situation.”

As he spoke, he inspected my hands, turning them over to check my palms and each finger, and holding his up to compare the size. It was as though he’d never seen female hands before. Weirdo.

I wanted to be disgusted by his skin touching mine, but I wasn’t. It was as reassuring and familiar as the collectors’ touch… It felt right.

After reading countless romances where I’d fallen for the bad boy, was it any surprise I’d be attracted to the first one I met? This was a passing infatuation.

My mind drifted back to what Evander had said about bonds and fate. Was it possible I shared some type of connection with this reaper? It would explain the strange pull in my chest when he’d been at the library, and the way my body submitted to his touch without question. I stifled a snort. Not just submitting; every fiber of my being craved him.

I needed serious help.

Fate must have loved screwing with my life. Or maybe I was being used as a test subject for future ghost upgrades? I could see it now?—

“Reapr, the dating app for the undead and unwed. Scythe left for those you don’t take a Shining to, and right for those who might get The Ring.”

At least there was one upside to the crazy attraction I felt toward this man. He might’ve been in the tunnel, but he wasn’t the reaper who sliced open Rhodes’ chest. Because the only connection I’d felt with that one was when I’d been clinging to him with my teeth buried in his arm.

“Tell me what you found amusing.”

Dang. He would not let it go.

Warm fingers teased across my collarbone as the reaper moved the neck of my oversized white shirt this way and that. What was he looking for? If he’d been a vampire, I’d have guessed he was looking for the best place to bite me.

With a sigh, I caved and blurted out the truth. “It’s just that you kinda look like a younger, sexy, gothic Santa. And I look like I’m about to tell you I’ve been a good ghoul and deserve a reward.”

The ghoul pun got me again, and like an idiot, I snickered over my own joke.

“I see.” His gorgeous mouth curved into a wicked smile and his hand slid up my thighs and beneath the hem of the T-shirt that barely came to mid-thigh on me.

It was the first time I’d seen him smile, and I was stunned at how it transformed him from dangerous to heartthrob. Logic blared a warning that I was in danger and should run, but the lust stirred by his skin against mine held me in place.

An intoxicating cocktail of horror and excitement swirled inside me as I remembered I hadn’t stopped to grab my thong before leaving the guys’ house. If I focused, I could change my clothing into something less revealing, but that would use energy I wasn’t sure I should waste while literally sitting on Death’s lap.

Yeah, I need to save my energy to attempt an escape,I told myself, because there was no way I was getting turned on by this situation.

The reaper’s palm trailed over my hip, thumb brushing across my belly. His hand froze as he realized I was naked beneath the shirt. He sucked in a harsh breath, sending a thrill racing down my spine.

Okay, fine. I might be deceased, but I wasn’t delusional. There was definitely something wrong with me if I was getting aroused by the enemy. I didn’t get time to dwell on it.

Moving faster than I could process, he lifted me from his leg and sat me so that I straddled his lap, facing him. He grinned down at me like the cat that had caught the canary.

“Since you’ve been such a good girl, how about you tell me what you want?” He templed his fingers together and pressed them to his lips, waiting for my answer.

With an effort that should have earned me an Olympic gold medal, I focused hard on all the reasons I could not allow myself to be attracted to him.

Closing my eyes, I whispered the one question that was burning a hole through my brain. “I want to know if you were in the tunnels last night.”

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