Page 65 of Rivals & Revenge

She swallowed hard, her tongue flicking out to wet her lips as she hung on my every word.

"That's always been enough for me. Making a woman moan my name while she loses her mind beneath me. But this time—I want to try for something that lasts beyond the release of pent-up tension and sexual frustration."

She nodded, shaking her head to clear away the fog that seemed to settle over her. "Me too. I don't know how this works—and I'll probably fuck it up. But when you touch me—it feels like something I have been searching for my whole life. Something I never knew I even needed."

I laughed in my throat, understanding exactly what she meant.

"I am finding it harder and harder to keep my hands off you. After you pushed me away, I held back. But the moment you kissed me, it was like a dam broke and the need I have for you is so strong I don't know if I could hold itback much longer."

The words weren't coming out right. Sounding more like sentimental bullshit than I intended. I had meant to declare my feelings for her—instead, words failed me. In the end, I think I had gotten enough of it across and we could figure out the rest.

"Is that enough?"

"Enough?" her wide-eyed innocence on full display.

"Have we talked out everything you needed to know? Do you feel good about this?" I asked, swirling my hand between the two of us.

She nodded slowly, her brows slightly furrowed. "One question. Does this mean I'm sleeping in your room from now on?"

I barked out a hearty laugh. "That's your choice, Kitten. But after spending the night holding you, I can't imagine spending my nights any other way."

Color bloomed across her cheeks, her unbound hair falling in front of her eyes.

"As much as I would love to take this conversation back to the bedroom and seal this little agreement with more than a kiss." I said, wiggling my brows at her. "There are more pressing matters today."

The shy smile slid from her face as the mask of the cold assassin fell into place, and she simply nodded.

"We should check on Larissa again before we get started on the next puzzle." She said, rising from the table, taking her dishes to the sink.

I nodded, pushing off from the table.

"You two don't get up on my account." Connor's shaky voice called out from the other room.

A sliver of worry worked its way through me at her slow, uneasy steps. Still, the fact that she was up and walking around twelve hours after her rescue was reason to celebrate. I was certain she would be back to slicing me to ribbons with her razor sharp wit in no time.

Tierney rushed forward, taking her dishes and placing them in the sink beside ours.

"We were just coming to check on you." I said, stepping forward and grabbing her arm to steady her.

Laughter, far more robust than her quiet voice would have suggested possible, broke from her chest. She patted my hand. "She's good for you. Taming the savage beast and all that."

Behind me, Tierney snickered.

"I'll show the both of you tamed." I growled, the words holding no heat. Anyone else would be dead before they ever heard the shot ring out if they tried to insinuate any control over me. But for these two, I would let it slide.

Chapter 36

TIERNEY

We'd been sitting at the table for more than two hours tossing around ideas, but none of them seemed to quite fit. Ahren and I had pulled up the pictures of the messages left on Larissa, on our phones, and laid them on the table between us.

Larissa shuddered, her lip quivering when she first laid eyes on the bloody message. Her fingers ghosted over her abdomen. Even with a bandage and her scrubs between them, her fingers traced the letters that spelled "losar"‌ perfectly.

"I never understood how people could hate someone enough to want them dead." She murmured, her voice softer than the tough as nails woman I'd come to know.

"But you get it now?" I asked.

Her head shook. "no. I don't hate her exactly." Her eyes far away, contemplative.

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