Page 126 of Chaos
She grinned. “Maybe just once more?”
“I’m sorry, hellcat.”
The way her entire body relaxed and her face softened told me that perhaps I was better at this than I’d previously thought.
“Thank you for bringing it back to me,” I murmured. “It does mean a great deal to me, even if the memory is painful.”
She stepped close enough that I could smell her body wash, then lifted onto her toes to brush a sweet kiss on my cheek. “You’re welcome.”
She started to drop back and step away, but I couldn’t bear the thought of distance between us. Grabbing her by the braid, I tugged, pulling her face back to mine. She stared at me in wonder, her eyes searching mine for some explanation for my completely uncharacteristic reaction. But there wasn’t any I had to give. I was acting purely on instinct at the moment.
“Just once more,” I whispered before my lips claimed hers and I gave myself what I really wanted.
Merri melted into me, her hands threading through my hair and her body pressed flush against mine. She felt fucking divine. Like she belonged there.
Just as quickly as it began, the kiss ended. I had to stop it, or I’d never stop. I’d lose myself in her.
It took a second for her eyes to flutter open and then another for clarity to take hold. Her fingers went to her swollen lips, and she took a hurried step back. “I... I have to go.”
She was at the door before I’d even come back to myself.
“Merri, wait,” I called.
Turning to face me, expression expectant, she waited as I’d asked. There was a stiffness to her, though. A guardedness I recognized as clearly as if I were looking into a mirror.
“Sessions resume as normal tomorrow.”
She relaxed at the return of my gruff formality, and with a curt nod, she left.
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I did the only thing I could. I let out a heartfelt, “Fuck.”
Chapter
Thirty-Three
CHAOS
The musty scent of this underground lair we’d claimed for our secret meetings infiltrated my senses, making my lip curl in disgust. It reminded me far too much of my past life. Times when we’d been captured and held underground. When I’d been forced to fight my way out and leave my men behind.
My arms were crossed and face set in a scowl long before Grim ever deigned to show himself.
He appeared in the doorway and immediately clocked my expression. “What?”
“What happened to ‘if you’re not five minutes early, you’re late’? Or does that only apply to us?” I snapped, gesturing to the other two horsemen who’d already joined me.
Grim’s unaffected reaction told me everything I needed to know. That was exactly the case. He adjusted the cuffs of his shirt and leaned against the doorframe, gaze trained on me. “Well?”
“You’re not even going to come inside?”
Sin chuckled. “I told you this would happen. Grim thinks the only secret meetings that matter are the ones he sets up.”
“He’s usually the only one who has something worthwhile to say,” Malice offered.
I shot him a withering scowl. “Traitor.”
“I’m simply honest. Grim is the oldest. He’s the most patient. Death will wait out anything because he knows he will win.”
Flinging my arm in Grim’s direction, I asked, “Does that look patient to you?”
