“Look at me.” His tone is firm but gentle as he strokes my cheek, and I glance up at him. “If you change your mind, say so. Then we stop or switch it up. I’ll never push you past a hard limit. If you aren’t getting off on something we’re doing, neither am I.”
Something about his understanding shifts the pieces inside me, putting a jagged crack in the wall I’ve had in place around my heart for as long as I can remember.
“You don’t have any problem telling me what you do want. The same goes for what you don’t want. Got it?”
I nod again, but instead of feeling dumb, I’m calm and determined. “Would you sit down?”
He glances at the bench behind him. “Whatever you want, princess.”
I smirk. “Be careful what you say.”
“Not tonight.” He lowers his big body onto the bench, shivering for a moment when he touches the cold tile.
“Spread your legs.”
He complies with my request, and I scoot the towel forward and reposition myself.
“Say the word and I’ll fuck you against the wall instead.”
I shake my head. “Maybe later. I’m busy right now.”
16
Kane
Iknow why Ransom always warned me away from his little sister. She’s fucking incredible. Before, she was an addiction. Now, she’s becoming something even more dangerous.
A habit.
It’s no secret I like to watch. That’s what I do. Study and observe.
With Temperance, though, I marvel.
From the doorway to my bedroom, I watch her sleep curled around my pillow like she was curled around me before I climbed out of bed. Or, more accurately, as I forced myself to let her go.
It’s been over fifteen years since I’ve spent the night with a woman, and even then it wasn’t sleeping with them so much as passing out drunk. I haven’t wanted to be that close to someone for an entire night. But Temperance is different.
Temperance is a .50-caliber round to the head—game over.
At that thought, I force myself to turn away and get to work. With one last backward glance, I leave the sleeping woman behind to face another far less desirable subject ...
The mess her brother made that I have to clean up.
17
Temperance
The next morning, I wake to an empty bed and tangled sheets that aren’t my own. It takes a moment of panic and confusion for me to remember where I am.
With my stranger. No, he has a name now. WithKane.
Memories of what we did last night come back with complete clarity, despite the alcohol I drank. Shockingly, I don’t have so much as a headache, even though I tossed back the hard liquor like it was my job. Hit-man trick?
The offhand thought stops me cold.
Hit man.
My brother is a smuggler, and I’ve helped boost and chop cars, so it’s not like I can get on my high horse and judge anyone ... but this feels different.