Page 78 of War Games

“You know, like how the hell we’re going to get out of Blue Springs unscathed, and what this means for your awkward relationship.”

My brows furrow. “Huh?”

Shadow grins. “You really haven’t thought about it?” she questions, trying not to laugh. “If we somehow get out of here, then I assume we’re going to live together somewhere, and that means the two of you are skipping right over the whole dating thing and basically becoming my parents. I mean, are you dating? Going steady? Or are you practically married? Should I call you Mr. and Mrs. Reaper, or are you going with something a little more modern? Mr. and Mrs. Siren, perhaps?”

Reaper glances toward me, neither of us knowing what the hell we’re supposed to say. “Uhhhhhh . . .”

“That’s what I thought,” Shadow says in a teasing tone, practically skipping down the hallway, more than proud of how easily she just threw our whole relationship into chaos. “Why don’t you two figure that out while I go sleep like a baby?”

Brat.

Shadow laughs the whole way down the hall. The next thing we hear is her bedroom door slamming behind her, and I’mleft gaping at Reaper. “I, ummm . . . I don’t need to be called Mrs. Reaper,” I tell him, not wanting him to think that I expect anything more from him than what we already have. Besides, something tells me if we suddenly filed for a marriage license, it might raise a few alarm bells with the FBI, and that right there could be a fatal mistake.

Reaper grins and takes my waist, lifting me up onto the kitchen counter and stepping between my thighs. “I don’t need to marry you to know that you’re mine, Kienna,” he says, making me suck in a gasp at the sound of my name on his lips. “But when we do get out of Blue Springs, I fully intend on taking you with me and starting a life together. I haven’t gone through this past month with you, just to lose you at the finish line.”

I swallow over the lump in my throat. “Are you sure?” I question, my heart racing a million miles an hour.

“Never been so sure in my life,” he tells me. “You, me, and Shadow, we’re a dysfunctional family, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

I wrap my arms around him and pull him in, his words healing the deep abandonment issues I’ve had since the moment my mother was so brutally taken from me when I was only six years old. “I love you, Reaper,” I whisper. “I want nothing more than to start a life with you, I just don’t see how we’re supposed to get out of here to make that happen.”

“I know,” he murmurs, pulling back and gently brushing his lips across mine. “We have a little less than forty-eight hours to pull it off, and so far, all I’ve been able to come up with is to fake our deaths. Let Shadow hand over the IDs we were able to find, take the prize money, and once we’ve officially been declared dead, we start fresh.”

I nod, agreeing with him until I truly start thinking about what being declared dead would mean for both of our careers. “Wait. If we’re dead, we can kiss our careers goodbye. We can’t acceptcontracts without someone piecing together that we’re alive, which is only going to set off alarm bells for the asshole behind War Games, which puts us right back at square one.”

“Then we don’t work,” he tells me. “We’ve both been contract killers for years. Don’t pretend like you’re not sitting on millions of dollars. Between us, we have more than enough cash to last ten lifetimes.”

“I know,” I say. “It’s not about the money. I just feel like I worked hard to get where I am today, and I don’t want to wave goodbye to any of that. Not working is not an option for me.”

“Okay,” he says with a nod, his hands squeezing my thighs. “Then we’ll factor that in. We’ll still work, maybe even continue with Shadow’s training if that’s what she wants.”

Holding his stare, I try to figure out how the hell we’re supposed to make that happen, and judging by the slight crease between his brows, he’s just as lost as I am. It’s one thing to have these grand plans for a future together, but if we can’t get out of Blue Springs without getting a bounty on our heads, then what’s the point in any of this?

“How?” I whisper, my heart falling out onto my sleeve.

“It all comes down to the asshole who organized this,” he says, having read my mind. “We fake our deaths, and if we can get to him before he realizes that he was played and puts the bounty out, then we’re free. We’ll have it all. The three of us together. A real chance at having a family.”

“Fuck, that sounds good, but Mila and I have tried to find him a million times before. He’s more of a ghost than you and Shadow are,” I say, suddenly wishing we hadn’t taken 343 out of the competition quite so early. Maybe with both him and Mila working together, they might have been able to trace the untraceable. “I don’t think we can pull it off.”

“I don’t know,” he says, scooping me off the kitchen counter and into his arms as I lock my legs around his waist. “All I knowis that we need to try. But first, we sleep. We’re not going to get anywhere trying to plan some grand escape plan after the night we just had. My brain is fried, and don’t even try to tell me yours isn’t. We rest, and then after Shadow wakes up, we figure this shit out together.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” I tell him. “Only, I need to shower, and don’t think for one second that you’re not coming with me.”

29

SIREN

The water rains down over me as Reaper slams my back against the cold tiles, and despite the burns on my back that we only just finished first aid for, I can’t help but lean into the coldness, finding the sweetest relief.

His lips come down on mine as I reach between us, curling my hand around the base of his thick cock and slowly pumping my hand. My thumb roams over his tip and makes him shudder against me.

“Fuuuuck,” he groans, his lips moving against mine before lowering to the sensitive skin below my ear. I can’t help but tilt my head to the side, allowing him more space to roam, and as he does just that, his fingers find my entrance while holding my thigh up with his other hand.

Two thick fingers dive deep inside of me, curling just the way I like it, and massaging my needy walls. I grind against the heel of his palm, and without skipping a beat, he stretches his thumb up to my clit, rolling tight, fast circles that drive me wild with need.

“Oh god,” I groan, tipping my head back in elation as the sweetest pleasure pulses through my body.

Reaper lifts his head from my neck, holding my stare. “No, baby. I’m your fucking god now, and you worship me on your fucking knees.”

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