Page 22 of Kiss of Death
“I feel like I do, though,” she whispered the words, looking down at their intertwined hands. Hearing her say that made him glad he wasn’t the only one wrapped up in whatever was going on between them, though he wondered who was more at risk of getting hurt from it.
Otto lifted their intertwined hands and reached for Ivy’s chin, turning her to face him. “I feel like that too, sometimes,” he whispered into the silence of the car, and the air thickened around them. He had no idea why he was laying it out there for her, but hearing her voice what he’d been feeling made him feel less crazy for feeling the way he did about her.
They both started talking at the same time, and it caused them to laugh together. Otto nodded toward Ivy for her to speak first. “I think it’s time for me to go. Are you going to walk me in again?” Her tone was light and teasing, making him remember the kiss they shared the night before.
“Yeah, it’s getting late, come on.” Otto unlocked the doors and reluctantly pulled his hand out of her grasp. They both stepped out of the car and Otto was quickly at her side, hand on her low back as they walked toward her building. “It’s quiet tonight,” Otto commented.
“Yeah, guess the chill of the night air has everyone inside.” She looked up at him. “So how does this work? Do you sit in your car all night? Am I supposed to invite you in to crash on my couch?”
They stopped in front of the elevator, and Otto leaned into her space, remembering the words he painfully uttered to her last night. The last thing either one of them was going to do was sleep if he stepped foot inside her apartment where he didn’t have to worry about appearances and the outside world. He’d be able to touch her and find out if she tasted like honey.
“Do you want to invite me in, Ivy?” The elevator door pinged open, but neither one of them moved, and the doors closed behind them. The energy shifted again, sucking them into a vortex that only allowed them to exist. Otto’s body was hard, and he could feel her coursing through his system like she’d always been there.
“Don’t do that,” Ivy whispered up at him.
“Do what?” he hedged.
Her hand came up to grip his shirt, and she pulled him in closer, licking her lips. “Don’t tempt me. You know there’s a million reasons why we shouldn’t do this.”
He wrapped his hands around her hips, knowing she was right. He needed to tuck her safely inside and walk away, but that wasn’t an option for him. He leaned in, his lips an inch from hers. “Tell me to stop, Ivy. You know what’s going to happen if I put my lips on yours.”
He waited and prayed she’d tell him no—that she didn’t want this as much as he did—but she never said the words. She pushed up on her toes and sealed her lips against his. He groaned into her mouth and pushed her up against the wall crowding her body with his.
Her nails dug into his shoulder and bit his bottom lip. He grunted and kissed his way down her jaw to her neck. “My poison Ivy,” he murmured in between kisses. He was getting drunk on the little sounds she made when he sunk his teeth into her neck and the way she squirmed in his hold.
She moaned his name and he brought his head up to look in her eyes. She was breathing heavily, her lips were swollen from his kiss, and her eyes were closed. There was a nice flush coating her perfect skin, and it made Otto’s cock twitch. “Is this okay?” he whispered, making sure he didn’t push her too hard or too fast.
He was fully aware they were still downstairs on the first floor of her building. They still hadn’t made it upstairs, and he knew if he did, this night was going to end with him buried inside of her.
Ivy nodded, still breathing heavily. She slowly opened her eyes and a small smile left her lips. “See, I told you, you’re a good guy.” She patted his chest. “I think,” she let out a breath and the elevator doors opened up, letting out a couple. Ivy shot her hand in the door to keep it from closing. “I think we should call it a night.”
As disappointed as Otto was by hearing those words, he knew it was the right thing to do. He kissed her again because he loved the feel of her lips against his. “Sleep well, Ivy.” He pushed off of her and let her walk into the elevator. The doors were getting ready to close when he put his hand in to stop it. “Let me get your cell phone.”
Ivy pulled her phone out of her pocket and handed it to him. Otto quickly put his number in her cell phone and handed it back to her. “Text me when you get into your apartment, and call me if you need anything. One of my guys will be watching the place so you should be safe.” He stepped into the elevator with her but kept his hand in the door to keep it from closing. “I mean it, Ivy. Call me if you need anything or don’t feel safe. I’ll be here for you.”
He kissed her on her forehead and quickly stepped out of the elevator. As soon as the doors closed he scrubbed his hand down his face, letting out a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding. He waited there until the numbers on top stopped at the sixth floor. He pulled his phone out and waited like some lovesick puppy to see if she would text him.
His phone pinged instantly, and his face lit up when he saw the number and message across his screen:I’m inside, safe.
Otto: Good, sweet dreams.
He put his phone in his pocket before he turned into a teenage boy with a crush and kept texting her. Nico was right about him, he was a sucker when it came to women. Ivy had her claws dug so deep into his skin he didn’t even care if they were tipped with poison. He just needed to figure out what it was she was hiding. He hoped it wasn’t anything that had the potential to hurt the Council. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to save Ivy from Sofia’s wrath if she did.
Bruno came out from behind the stairs on the first floor of the building Ivy was staying in. He had seen everything that went down between her and Otto and smiled at how fast that girl had worked her magic.
Bruno knew from experience Otto had a soft spot for women, and he knew the perfect payback would be to watch him get hurt in the same way his ex had hurt him. How Otto survived in this life with the heart that he had was impressive. It could have been why Otto never dated or brought women around. The man had so many weak points it was almost pitiful to go after him first. But Bruno wanted to hit Sofia where it hurt, and he started with the guy who’d be blinded by some pussy.
Bruno trooped it up the six flights before pulling out his cell phone. He dialed a number that picked up on the first ring. “Hit ‘em. Try to keep them alive though.” He hung up and pulled out a set of keys. He put the key in the lock and quickly opened the door, closing it behind him loud enough to startle Ivy.
“What are you doing here, Bruno?” she snapped at him and his knee-jerk reaction was to smack the taste out of her mouth, but instead he started applauding her.
“I think this is the quickest you’ve worked. You must really want you and your sister’s freedom badly.” He walked further into her apartment, and there was defiance in her stare and it amused him. As soon as he got close enough to her, he wrapped his hand around her throat and pulled her toward his body. “You were always my fave, Ivy. It was rough in the beginning for us, because you had this disgusting hope that you had a shot at surviving this.”
He pushed her up against the nearest wall, and when she didn’t wince or flinch in pain he did it again, but harder. This time she winced, and as quickly as his smile spread from her pain, it quickly died when he saw that defiance hadn’t gone anywhere. “Don’t get cocky on me now. You don’t succeed, neither you nor your sister will be set free.”
That put a little fear in her eyes, and it left Bruno feeling satisfied. “Do they still have gentlemen’s night on Thursdays?” She nodded. “Good, after that little display of affection I saw downstairs, something tells me performing on Thursday is going to set our dear Otto on edge, and by then, my sweet Ivy, we will be at the end of your part and you’ll be scott-free.”
“What about my sister? How will I get to her once this is all over?”
