Page 33 of Salacious Devotion

She flinches. “How can you say that?”

“Because it’s the truth.” She needs to know what I’m capable of, even if it’s hard to hear.

“Have you ever killed anyone, Dane?”

I stay in the door frame. I want to go to her, but she needs some space while we have this conversation. “Baby, I was in the Army before we met. You know that.”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean you killed people. Plenty of people who do tours overseas don’t see gunfire.”

“I did, baby,” I say gently. She doesn’t need specifics.

“Have you killed anyone since you got back?”

“I have.”

She inhales sharply. “Really?”

“Yes. No one who didn’t deserve it, though.”

“But you don’t get to decide that, Dane. The courts do.”

Apparently, she’s been stressing over this for two weeks. “I don’t go into a situation and start mowing people down in cold blood, Paige. I promise. And, if it helps, I haven’t killed anyone in the last three years who wasn’t about to shoot me first.”

She searches my face. “Okay,” she whispers. “But you don’t feel that way about Damion Tombeck, do you?”

“No. But I’ve never gone after someone who shot my girlfriend.”

She gives a tiny nod. “Can we talk about this?”

“No.”

Her shoulders drop. “Every time you go out the door, I’m going to worry that you won’t come back. That he will kill you first. Or that you’ll end up arrested.”

“None of those things will happen.”

“You don’t know that, Dane.”

“I’m better than him,” I brag, trying to lighten the somber mood with a chuckle.

She rolls her eyes. “Have you been looking for him?”

“Yes.”

“Any leads?”

“A few.” I don’t want to discuss the details with her. She doesn’t need to know about that side of my work yet.

“Will you stay home with me for a few days?”

“Yes. Definitely.”

She lets out a breath as if that idea mollifies her a bit. Finally, she cocks her head to one side. “I’ve had the most stressful two weeks of my life. Do you have any toys in the house?” She gives me a wicked grin.

I return her look with an equally evil one, though I suspect mine is more like a smirk. “Of course I have toys in the house. Were you thinking of Monopoly or maybe a game of cards?” I joke.

“Haha. I was thinking of a paddle and maybe some restraints.”

“Were you planning to be sassy? I could add a ball gag and perhaps a butt plug.”

---