Page 136 of Bake the Town Red

“I’m a gentleman.” As long as she wants to play, I’ll always be here to entertain her. “I would never.”

“A crazy, awesome gentleman.” She brushes a kiss to my chin. Gazes into my eyes. She’s proud of what she’ll have to say next. “I wait for the morning.”

“Why?”

“That’s how you grind it into powder in the food processor. When it’s dry.”

I want to caress her skin with my lips. Nibble the sweet skin on her neck. But this moment is too important for me to look anywhere else but her eyes.

“M-hmm.”

“I sprinkle it in the dog food bowls I give those guys.” The corners of her lips tick up. Only when she smiles, I realize that I’ve been smiling too this whole time. “That’s it. The bad guys are gone.”

Dahlia doesn’t ask if I’m mad. If I’m repulsed by her or never want to see her again.

She doesn’t, because none of these emotions flash across my face. Because I crush my lips to hers, let her steal every last breath I have in my lungs. I show her I love the person she is by hugging her, then helping her clean and close up.

She’s mine. Whatever she does, whatever makes her happy, that’s who she’ll be.

I’ll never want her any other way.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Dahlia

For the first three years after Tyler left me, every October has been the same. Give or take, obviously, since I couldn’t do a repeat on the people I already killed.

Duh.

Anyway.

Up until this year, I had a checklist, and I stuck to it. Hadn’t swerved an inch to the left. Not half of a step to the right. Deviating from my carefully constructed plans could have catastrophic results.

“I could get caught. If we moved in together,” I tell Tyler. I kind of, sort of lie to him.

He’s all business as he squirts soap into his hand. He’s already washed my hair and I did his. I even soaped him first. I’m greedy like that.

He distributes the clear liquid between his hands and looks at me. “No one’s going to catch you.”

“How can you—” His fingers are magic. He massages my neck, my shoulders. Looks at me when I moan and lean into him. “How can you be sure?”

“For starters, I promised you we’ll never be apart again.”

There’s room for more than two people in his shower. Space for both of us to…I don’t know—dance on the beautiful slate tiles.

Tyler’s not in the mood to dance.

He’s in the mood to push me against the wall. To pin me to it with his much larger body. Continues to massage my neck as if his cock isn’t throbbing on my belly.

“I won’t break that promise.” He can’t hide his eyes, though. They darken. Tyler screams through them. Warns and vows and everything in between. “You won’t get caught.”

“I’m sorry. It won’t happen. I won’t move in here.” My throat is tight. My voice breaks. “Nope. No, no, no. You can move to my place. But I’m staying.”

“That place is filled with bad memories, Dahl. Everything’s breaking down. The neighborhood isn’t safe. Do you want that for our kids?”

“We’ll teach them to kill people.” My fake grin doesn’t work on Tyler.

His lips press into a firm line. His gaze searches mine. “You stay there because it belongs to your family. Correct?”

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