He finally stopped, standing before the closest target.
“Stand there,” he ordered, and I halted a few feet away, uneasiness coiling in my stomach. Something about this felt off. He turned to face me. “Shoot me.”
My breath caught. “What?”
“Three seconds. Start shooting.”
I let out a humorless chuckle. “I don’t think I under—”
“One.”
Panic flared in my chest. “Look, I won’t shoot you. I don’t even know how to use this damn thing.”
“Two.”
I swallowed hard. “Come on, be serious.”
“Three.”
Before I could react, he moved. One second, he was in front of me, the next, he grabbed me and switched our positions in a flash. The next thing I knew, he had taken the gun from my hand and stepped back to where I had been standing.
He cocked the gun, leveling it at me. “I don’t think I understand—”
Gunshots exploded through the room. I screamed, instinct taking over as I clamped my hands over my ears, cowering under the deafening shots. Every bang sent a violent tremor through my spine.
By the time he stopped, I had collapsed to my knees, my ears ringing painfully. My breath came out in quick gasps. I wasn’t dead, but something inside me had shattered.
A gasp tore from my throat when his hands landed on my shoulders. I flinched, batting him away, but he grabbed my wrists, peeling them from my ears with ease.
“Let me go.” I thrashed, realizing I was crying.
He didn’t. Instead, he maneuvered us, and I was no longer fighting him; I was straddling him, my hands pressed on his chest. My breath hitched when I became aware of everything at once.
His hand was firm around my waist. His chest rose and fell beneath my palms. But the worst realization was his hardness pressed between my thighs. My stomach tightened. I told myself it was a gun. It had to be a gun. But something in his gaze told me otherwise.
Silence.
Tension.
My skirt betrayed me as my bare skin brushed against something that was definitely not a gun.
Holy fuck. I stiffened, my fingers digging into his chest.
“Let go.” I shifted my hips, just enough to confirm what I feared, and Oh. My. God. His grip tightened in response.
Our eyes locked. His usual icy stare had darkened, and something else lurked beneath the surface. What I saw was something dark and dangerous—not anger but desire.
“Why are you always in the wrong place?” His whisper sent a tremor through me. His hand slid to the back of my neck, his fingers threading into my hair. He pulled me closer. “Little Gem, your presence ruins what’s left of my restraint.”
My breath hitched. “You told me to come to you.”
“I’m drunk on something I shouldn’t be.” His lips hovered near mine. “Can you handle what I can offer?”
His mouth brushed my jaw, a featherlight touch that set my nerves on fire. I swallowed hard. “The envelope—”
His arm tightened around my waist, pulling me closer as if he was letting me feel how hard he was. My core pressed against his arousal, and I hated how satisfying it felt.
“Did I say you could come in when I’m like this?” His voice was pure sin, lips ghosting over my ear.