Page 37 of Silent Vendetta (Vendetta Duet)

His gaze flickered with something wild and primal.

“You like to challenge me,” he said.

“I don’t know you well enough to challenge you.” Did I? He was a completely different person than I thought he was yesterday. Yet he’d confided his hidden truths.

“On the contrary. You’re theonlyperson who knows me,” he said, emphasizing each word.

Again, I had to push aside the allure racing through my heart at being theonlyperson who knew his darkest secret. There was something forbidden and intimate that strengthened our bond to a level most people never experienced.

“You know me,” he continued, “and you know the monster that dwells within. And even though you won’t admit it, maybe both of them thrill you.”

I shook my head. “You’re the only one who gets off on murder.”

To this, he smirked.

With his free hand, he trailed his fingertip down the base of my throat, down my collarbone, down my breast, and I couldn’t help but gasp at its radiating warmth.

“If you were repulsed by me, your breathing wouldn’t increase under my touch.” He cupped my breast, and I inhaled sharply.

This intense desire was wrong—missing the feeling of him on top of me, buried inside of me. Probably some kind of mental breakdown on my part.

“Tell me to stop,” he dared, trailing his fingers to the other side of my chest.

“Stop,” I whispered.

“Is that really what you want?”

No. My body, maybe even part of my heart, wants this. But my head…

“Yes.”

A challenge erupted in his eyes. “And if I sink to my knees and bury my tongue inside of you…”

Holy shit.

“Would you push me away?”

How is it possible that my throat can be this dry?

“Yes,” I breathed.

A mischievous grin tugged at the corner of his lips, and when his hand twitched, it was clear that he was seriously considering putting that theory to the test. But then, with a resigned sigh, he let me go.

“You will love me again, Little Leopard.”

“I do love you,” I admitted. “It’s the monster inside of you I can’t love.”

He grazed my lower lip with the pad of his thumb. Like a traitor, my mouth parted for him.

“Maybe instead of fighting against the monster, you should embrace it. Because the same man who will open your car doors for you will also annihilate anyone who ever harms you. If anyone ever lays a finger on you, I will fucking kill him.”

I swallowed and stared at Hunter, his stare a tempest of fierce determination and raw emotion. I’d always known he was protective, but this was darker and more powerful, like a tornado brewing on the horizon.

“You don’t mean that.” My voice wavered, betraying the emotions raging within me. “You have a code.”

His fingers brushed against my jawline, eliciting a tremor of warmth.

“You’re my code now,” he murmured. “And there’s nothing in this world that could stop me from protecting you.”

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