Unable to help myself, I licked my lips at the memory.
Kai smirked, his free hand gripping his hard dick through his sweatpants. Like he was replaying the encounter in his mind just as vividly as I was.
“I see your point,” I muttered, clearing my throat and mentally scolding my pussy for being so wet right now. “What did they want me to steal from you? My original mission required me to lift your phone, then keep you distracted until the data could be verified before killing you.”
Kai studied me with the kind of intensity that made me want to squirm, or climb onto his face. Then he gave a small, frustrated sigh.
“Eli will kill me for trusting you, Siren,” he admitted, “but I figure we both owe each other a little honesty at this point. Don’t you?”
I arched a brow, not agreeing. I lied as easily as breathing, so if he thought I was going to reveal my hand from here on out, he was delusional.
Kai knew it, too. He had to. But still, he answered my question. “I don’t know what the Guild was searching for.”
I blinked. “What?”
“I don’t know what they hoped to find,” he repeated. “But if I were to guess, they’re trying to weed out their mole.”
Of all the things I was guessing he might say, of all the possible things the Guild could have been trying to steal from Ares, I wasn’t expecting that.
“I’m sorry, say fucking what now?” I exclaimed. Maybe I’d misheard.
His lips tilted in a smirk. “Take your shirt off, and I’ll tell you the rest.”
“What are we, fifteen? No. We’re not playing that game, Kai.” I scooted off the bed and out of his reach before he could call my bluff again. To add an additional layer of armor, I grabbed a pair of leggings and pulled them on. “You wanna tell me the Guild has a mole? How do you know?”
He pushed himself to sitting, not even trying to hide his near naked body. I mean, fair call, his body was nothing to hide. But it was also an unfair advantage when we were one step away from killing each other.
“What game, Siren?” he prodded, ignoring my important questions. “The one where you stop lying to yourself about this chemistry between us? That’s not a game, beautiful. Just admit it, you want me.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re hot, Kai. No one is debating that fact.” Then, because he was speaking way too much fucking truth before coffee, and I didn’t trust my pussy not to override my brain again, I pulled a gun on him. “Answer my fucking question, Kai. What mole?”
He grinned and it made my nipples harden. “You gonna shoot me, Siren?”
Holding his gaze with my expression impassive, I clicked off the safety and let him see the darkness inside my eyes. “You gonna call my bluff, big man?”
Kai held my gaze, studying my eyes like he was finally seeing the real me. The ruthless bitch who could kill without remorse, without question. Based on the way his smile evaporated and his brow tightened, he didn’t like what he saw.
Well, tough shit. Seducing him was no longer my job.
“Call Mo,” he grunted, climbing out of the bed and stalking past me with tight muscles. “It’s her story to tell, not mine.”
A deep shudder ran through me at the shift in his tone, and when the guest bedroom door slammed shut, I let out a long breath. It hurt, there was no denying it. But he’d finally seen Danny DeLuna instead of sweet, innocent Danielle the bank teller, and the rejection was so obvious it was gut churning.
I placed my gun back down with a slight tremor to my hand, then gave myself a mental slap and pushed the sour acid of regret aside. If Kai’s involvement with the Guild was Mo’s story to tell, then it was a good thing she still owed me.
16
Kai’s little tantrum only lasted as long as it took for us both to shower and dress to go out. I hadn’t bothered telling him that I was going to meet up with Mo, assuming she would tell him herself. Instead, I just took my time blow-drying my hair and putting on my makeup like it was somehow going to save me from his intense magnetism.
Part of me hoped Mo wouldn’t tell him, and I could get a bit of breathing space. But it was only a small part. The rest of me craved his close proximity like a fucking drug, despite how bad I knew it was for my common sense and self-restraint.
Then again, with the way he’d reacted to me pulling a gun on him, maybe it wouldn’t be such an issue after all. He clearly didn’t enjoy that little taste of Danny DeLuna. Submissive, docile captives were more his speed, apparently.
With a frustrated sigh, I grabbed my keys and headed out of the safe house. I barely even touched the car door when Kai’s heavy footsteps sounded behind me, and I braced myself for the tension of being in a car with him.
Instead of going around to the passenger side, though, he grabbed my shoulder and spun me around to face him. His body crushed me against the side of the car, and my breath hitched when his hand wrapped around my bruised neck. It was a gentle touch, but the promise was clear.
“Next time you pull a gun on me, little killer,” he growled in a quiet voice, “you better be prepared to use it. Or I will…” He lowered his face until his lips brushed my earlobe, making me shiver. “You like the way I use my gun, though, don’t you?”
Oh fuck, my panties were soaked. I didn’t even remember grabbing onto him, but somehow my fingers were digging into the strong muscles of his lower back, like I was pulling him closer rather than pushing him away like I should.
“I was acting,” I lied, swallowing hard and feeling the warm weight of his hand just above my puffy, bruised garrote wound.
He shifted his stance, crushing one leg between mine and grinding against my already dripping cunt. I thanked my lucky stars for the protection of jeans, even if I couldn’t stop my body from reacting a little.
Kai’s full lips tilted in a sly smile as he peered down at me. “Bullshit,” he whispered. “I bet you’re drenched just thinking about it. You got off on the danger just as hard as I did, Siren.”
I swallowed again. He wasn’t wrong on that, but I was in no mood to let him play my cunt like a little violin again, sending all my common sense out the window. The cold air wasn’t doing a damn thing to quell my libido, so I gritted my teeth and shoved him away.
“I’m late to meet your sister,” I told him in a clipped voice, trying to pull my shell back together. “Come or don’t, it makes no difference to me.”
Not waiting for his response, I popped open my door and slid into the driver’s seat. I yanked it shut quickly, taking a hot second to catch my breath and wet my lips, then he was climbing into the passenger seat and flooding my senses with his sheer energy again.
“Where you’re concerned, Siren,” he murmured as I drove down the long driveway, “I have no issues coming. Every. Damn. Time.”
I choked on a breath at the dirty double entendre and gave him a long look from the side of my eye. “Am I to take that as a compliment?” I asked, despite knowing it was a trap. He wanted me to talk to him. He wanted me to get to know him. Because then I’d be more likely to let him know me.
But… fuck if that hadn’t been a foolproof way to spike my curiosity.
Then a memory clicked in my brain. “That night we met, at the Halloween party, your guys were taking bets on something when you disappeared to screw that chick.” It was phrased as a statement, but he knew what question I was asking.
He ran a hand over his military-buzzed hair. “They think they’re so funny.” His gaze rested on me like a caress, and I fought to keep my eyes on the road ahead. “I should have shot you when I saw that comms device.”
“Probably,” I murmured. “I’m sure it’s what the Guild expected to happen. Don’t tell me that you were ensnared by my magical blow job skills and it fried your brain?”
He huffed a short laugh. “Maybe.” He was quiet a few moments, then gave a small sigh. “A few years ago, I dated a girl…”
I couldn’t help shooting a quick glance over at him, but his gaze had gone distant despite still looking at me. “I’m guessing you don’t date all that often?”
“I don’t,” he confirmed, “none of us do. It’s too risky. Charlotte was different, though. I can’t even explain it now, but she…” He trailed off, swallowing hard. “I trusted her, let her into my family. But we’ve been screwed over before, and there were a few little things that got me second-guessing her. Eventually, we became convinced she was a Guild merc, sent to play a long game and infiltrate our team.”