“You think your mother is going to hurt her?”
“I don’t know,” Drew admitted. “Trish isn’t the type she likes to kill, but my mom has always been the jealous type. There’s also a chance she might try to use Trish to get me to do what she wants. When my mom tried to get me to leave the mall with her, she suggested I bring Trish with me. It’s hard to say what she will do, but at least she doesn’t know where Trish lives. If that changes, Trish might be in trouble. I fucked up,” Drew said, sounding somewhere between frustrated and regretful.
Alek wanted to hit something, but he worked hard to keep his temper under control. Oddly enough, Drew was beating himself up about it already. “You’re sure she didn’t follow you back?”
“Positive,” Drew said.
“I’m surprised you’re so upset about this. You’ve always struck me as a selfish little prick,” Alek said.
Drew chuckled. “Yeah, I’m not usually concerned about people. In fact, it’s not like I’m gonna be up all night worrying about Trish. She’s nice to me, even when I’m at my worst, and it would totally suck if my mom killed her because she thought Trish was with me. Only my mom would believe a woman like Trish would have anything to do with me.”
Alek wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Having spent very little time around his nephew, Alek didn’t know him well, and he was starting to feel bad about that. Maybe he should have intervened when Drew was younger. There was a chance Drew could have grown up semi-normal if he’d been kept away from his mother, but it was too late to change that now. The boy was a mess.
Drew snapped out of his moment of melancholy and shrugged it off. “Not much I can do about my mom for now. If she calls and mentions Trish, I’ll call you.”
“You’ll call me if your mother calls you for any reason,” Alek insisted.
Drew gave him a cold smile. “Here’s the thing, Uncle, my mom may be crazy, and she may have been one of the worst mothers in recorded history, but she’s still my mom. None of you assholes were there for me growing up. You all left me with her. In her crazy fucked up way, she loves me. If she isn’t hurting someone I care about, I don’t give a fuck. I’m sure as hell not going to hand over the only person who was there for me most of my life so you can execute her.”
On those words, Drew stalked out of the house, slamming the door behind him.
Chapter Nineteen
Phoebe hated asking for help, especially when she was forced to ask a man. In this case, she had to push down her natural instincts and play the helpless female for a reason other than luring a man to his death. She would have to remember that she could always kill him later. A shudder of anticipation ran through her body. It had been far too long since she’d had a satisfying kill. Being on the run meant her kills were rushed and, much like in sex, a quickie was only good once in a while. She loved the anticipation as she toyed with her victim, bringing herself closer and closer to the final climax. The image was so clear in her mind, she could almost hear the hoarse screams of her victim.
Shaking herself out of that fantasy, Phoebe concentrated on the task at hand. She’d spent too many years living a sheltered life, and that made it harder to locate those with the real power in this area. It was a disgusting fact that those people were still men. She’d never understood how that came to be. Her deceptive image of innocence had allowed her to go unnoticed for decades. After her first kill, she’d been considered the tragic victim. Her brother’s death had come as a complete shock to her small hometown in Alabama, and they’d all rallied around her family, especially her, the sweet-tempered pageant winner. Even her lack of tears had been explained by her weakened state. They’d all believed her too traumatized by the brutality of it all to react.
Phoebe laughed at the memory. People were so caught up in appearances that they often overlooked the most dangerous among them.
“What’s a pretty lady like you doing wandering around alone?” asked a deep masculine voice.
Turning to study the man, Phoebe knew she’d found who she was looking for. He didn’t belong in the neighborhood any more than she did. No, this man was out of place in this industrial area filled with warehouses. Dressed in his faded jeans and worn t-shirt, one might miss that fact, but Phoebe was good at reading people.
“Looking for you,” she said with a sweet smile.
The man gave her a predatory once over because he was still too stupid to notice he was the prey. Oh, how she wanted to kill him. His dark brown hair and muscular frame were perfect! If his eyes were blue instead of brown, she might not be able to resist the urge to end his life. Sadly, she needed this man alive— at least for a short time.
His chuckle was a dark ugly sound that aroused her so much her panties were soaking wet. Yes, she was going to kill him once he’d served his purpose.
“You found me,” he said, advancing on her. “Now, let’s go somewhere private.” His hand was already moving to the pocket of his jacket when Phoebe pulled out the knife and slid just the point between two of his ribs. His stunned expression nearly made her orgasm.
“If you move so much as a muscle, I will slide this knife the rest of the way in,” she said with a pleasant smile. Anyone walking by would see a sweet looking woman leaning into a man affectionately. They’d never notice the knife, because women like her didn’t stab people in public.
“What do you want?” he asked with enough terror to make her shudder again.
“I want to see your boss,” she said.
He let out a bark of laughter. “Lady, you are not scarier than my boss. I am not going to risk pissing him off.”
She pressed the blade in a bit more, enjoying his sharp intake of breath. The reason she loved killing men more than women was that they tried so hard to be tough, making it much more entertaining to break them. “I seriously doubt that. If you don’t do what I ask, I’m going to pull the taser out of my pocket, and then I’ll slide this blade into your testicles while you lay there helpless.” Her voice dropped to a sexy purr. “I’m hoping you give me an excuse to do that.”
The man hesitated.
“What’s your name?” she asked, running her free hand along his abdomen.
“Fuck you,” he spat out.
“Tell me your name,” Phoebe said with a touch of compulsion in her voice. Something told her she wouldn’t need much with this man. Besides, she wanted to watch him fight it.
“Linc,” he ground out as he tried hard to fight the order to reveal his name. “How did you do that?”
“I’m not human,” she explained in a bored tone. “I can make you do anything I want.”
Being controlled by a woman didn’t sit well with Linc, and Phoebe knew he wanted to kill her. “If you have that much power, why didn’t you just use it to order me to take you to my boss?”
“I much prefer hurting you,” Phoebe said with a shrug. “Shall we go?”
Chapter Twenty
Trish wasn’t sure how she felt about Alek’s outburst. While it was nice that he was concerned for her safety and well-being, it was annoying that he was being such a pain in the backside. Drew was right. Alek didn’t just want her; he liked her. If that weren’t the case, he’d have already had sex with her and moved on.
While she’d like to think she had been in control with Alek at all times, she refused to lie to herself. From the moment she’d met Alek Draksel, she’d wanted him and would have given in to his advances on more than one occasion. Actually, she should have given in to his advances. At the time, she’d been worried about being just another conquest for Alek, which is exactly what she would have been. Still, why was she so worried about that when she wasn’t looking for a relationship herself? Why had she convinced herself she shouldn’t enjoy sex? Sure, her experiences hadn’t been great, but she certainly didn’t believe that sex couldn’t be mind-blowing with the right partner.
The soft knock on the bathroom door pulled Trish from her thoughts.
“Yes,” she called out.
/> “I just wanted to apologize for acting like a complete jackass out there,” Alek said through the door.
“Don’t worry about it,” she answered as she pulled the stopper to drain the tub.
There was a pause before Alek spoke again. “I guess I’ll talk to you after you dress.”
“Just stay there,” she told him. “I always bring clothes into the bathroom with me because of Caitlin’s unfortunate habit of leaving the bedroom door open.”
There was a pause where she was sure Alek was trying to figure out what the bedroom door had to do with bringing clothes into the bathroom. Finally, Trish decided to take pity on him and explain. “As you can see, my bedroom opens up into the living room. Caitlin always has a question for me as soon as I step into the tub, which means she has to traipse through my bedroom and talk to me through the bathroom door. So, as I’m sure you can guess, leaving my bedroom door open gives anyone in the living room a perfect view of me walking out of the bathroom. I got tired of people seeing me in nothing but a bath towel.”
Alek chuckled. “I would have been a frequent visitor.”
Trish slipped into the lacey blue bra and matching panties. Then she put the silky sleep shirt on over the top. Despite the flirting, Alek was determined to avoid taking things further, so she knew if she walked out only wearing a bra and panties, Alek would run.
Trish stepped out of the room and smiled at him. Without shoes, she was nearly a foot shorter than Alek. His eyes traveled along her body, lingering on the top two buttons of the sleep shirt she’d left undone. She’d need to lean forward for him to see her cleavage, which she had every intention of doing at some point.
“I’m going to put some lotion on my legs,” she said, grabbing the tube and sitting on the edge of the bed. “What else did you want to talk about?”
Alek swallowed, never taking his eyes off of her hand traveling along her leg. “I wanted to talk about what’s going on.”
“With?” she asked, looking up from her legs to meet his eyes. She struggled to hide her smile when she saw how hard it was for Alek to tear his gaze from her legs.
“Phoebe,” he said after a pause. “She’s very dangerous, and I want to know exactly what she said to you. Drew left before giving me too many details.”
Trish paused and thought for a moment. While seducing Alek was important, finding Phoebe was more important. She let out a sigh. “Honestly, I don’t remember much. At first, I thought she was just a stranger making small talk. She thought Drew was my boyfriend, so I guess that’s why she approached me.”
“Did you tell her he wasn’t?” Alek asked.
Trish shook her head. “I didn’t get the chance before Drew showed up. Would it have been better if I’d told her I wasn’t Drew’s girlfriend?”
Alek shrugged. “Probably, but she’s volatile. Damn, I really wish she hadn’t seen you with Drew. You do not want to be noticed by that woman.”
“Yeah, I figured that out on my own,” Trish said dryly as she set the lotion tube on the bed beside her.
Alek sat next to her and took one of her hands in his. “You were right to be upset with me earlier. I was an idiot for not making sure you knew what Phoebe looked like.”
“I get it,” she said. “Why would an insignificant human like me be important enough for Phoebe to even notice? I don’t fit her profile, and I’m nothing special.”
Alek leaned in, brushing his lips across hers in a brief kiss that made her heartbeat quicken. “Don’t ever think you’re nothing special. Even before your psychic abilities surfaced, you were special.”
“You’ve made me uncomfortable from the moment I met you,” Trish blurted out before letting out a nervous laugh. “That didn’t come out the way I wanted it to.”
Alek looked a little embarrassed himself. “To be honest, I’ve been uncomfortable with you, too. Normally, I know what to say and do around women. With you, I seem to put my foot in my mouth constantly. It’s like I’m doing everything to get your attention and making a fool of myself. I’m not this pushy with women. Christ, what I did at the restaurant was inexcusable.”
“You’ve already apologized for that,” Trish said. “Yeah, you were a jerk, but let’s move on.”
“Should we start over?” Alek asked.
“No, it’s too late to start over,” Trish said and stood. When she reached for the buttons on the sleep shirt, Alek jumped to his feet, grabbing her hands to stop her.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Seducing you,” she said with a shrug, enjoying Alek’s groan.
“I can’t do this to you,” he said while stepping back to put some distance between them. With a shake of his head, he turned his back to her. “You’re vulnerable, which is my fault.”
Trish laughed. “Now you want to be a gentleman?” No longer impeded by Alek’s hands, she finished unbuttoning the sleep shirt and let it drop to the floor. “Too late for that,” she announced as she walked up behind him. “Turn around, Alek.”
He turned, and his eyes devoured her. “This is wrong,” he said as his fingers trailed along the lace of her bra.
Having never seduced a man, Trish was a little nervous, but Alek’s reaction gave her all the encouragement she needed to continue. There was no denying he wanted her. “That’s what I thought at first,” she said, sliding her hand under the edge of his shirt, just enough to enjoy the flat planes of his abdominal muscles. “I tried so hard to convince myself that sex with you would be a huge mistake. Wanna know what I decided?”
Alek swallowed hard as he stared at her face. “What did you decide?” he asked, his voice rough with arousal.
“That I want to enjoy life,” she confessed, moving her hands further up under his shirt to trace his chest. “I want you, and there’s no reason for me to deny myself.”
“I never realized you were this bold,” Alek said.
“Neither did I,” Trish said. “I kind of like being bold. So, what do you say? You aren’t going to make me beg, are you?”
Alek’s head dropped back. “You have no idea what you do to me,” he admitted before meeting her gaze. His stare was so intense Trish almost took a step back. “In answer to your question, yes, I will make you beg. Then I’m going to make you scream.”
Before Trish could respond, Alek crushed his mouth against hers in a kiss so intense it made her legs weak. How she kept them moving as Alek backed her up to the mattress, she didn’t know. Still, Alek didn’t let up on his assault of her mouth. No man had ever kissed her with such passion. She couldn’t stop the soft whimpers coming from the back of her throat.
Alek tore his mouth from hers and stared down at her. There was nothing controlled about the man standing in front of her. He looked wild, almost crazed. “Are you sure?” he asked, sounding nearly desperate.
“I’m sure,” Trish said breathlessly.
“Tell me how much you want me to fuck you,” Alek ordered.
Trish’s cheeks heated. “I want you,” she said in a breathy voice.
“Say the words,” Alek crooned, giving one of her nipples a pinch that sent heat straight through her body.
“I want you to fuck me,” she said quietly.
Alek groaned. “Hearing those words out of your sweet mouth makes me crazy.” Then he kissed her again. His tongue stroked hers, mimicking the act of sex in a way that made her panties wet, a fact Alek couldn’t miss with his thigh pressed between her legs. Still, she wasn’t embarrassed in the least. Writhing against Alek’s thigh, she whimpered, feeling aroused almost to the point of pain.
“You taste so sweet,” Alek said against her lips and started to trail kisses along her jaw line before moving down to nip the pulse at her neck. “I can’t wait to bury my face between your legs”
“Please,” Trish begged.
Alek pushed her back onto the bed and knelt on the floor. Then he pulled her until her backside nearly hung off the end, settling her legs over his shoulders. His tongue stroked the lace
of her panties before he reached out and tore them from her body.
“I just bought those,” she gasped, not sure she really minded sacrificing the panties.
“I’ll buy you more,” he promised, stroking a finger along her soaking wet folds. “In fact, I’m going to buy you a dozen pair so I can rip them off every time I get you like this.”
Before Trish could even think of a response to Alek’s naughty promise, he buried his face between her legs. His long tongue stroked from her opening up to her clit, and then his mouth covered her clit as he strummed it gently with his tongue. Her body seemed to have a mind of its own, from her hips rocking against his mouth to the whimpers and moans coming from her lips. She soon found her hands gripping his hair to keep his head in place as his strokes increased. When he sucked hard, she nearly screamed.
“I’m so close,” she said, not sure who she was talking to.
Two fingers slipped inside of her as Alek continued his sensual assault on her clit. Her orgasm hit so hard, she saw black spots in front of her eyes as she screamed out Alek’s name.
When her fuzzy mind recovered some from the most intense orgasm of her life, Trish looked down to see Alek still kneeling between her legs. His chin was wet, and she blushed knowing it was from her juices.
“You are so fucking beautiful,” Alek said in something that sounded like awe. “Take your bra off so I can suck on your fabulous tits before I fuck you.”
Nodding, Trish unhooked the front of her bra with shaky hands.
“Do you still want me?” Alek asked as he moved to lift Trish and set her farther back on the bed.
Trish nodded because she could no longer form a coherent thought. She watched as he stripped out of his clothes, unable to tear her eyes away from him. When he finally stood before her naked, she swallowed hard. The photographer in her longed to photograph him, see how the lighting played on every ripple of his torso. His broad shoulders and chest were accentuated by his narrow waist. A light dusting of hair covered his small brown nipples. When her eyes moved down to his penis, Trish licked her lips. The man was huge, almost to the point of making her nervous. She knew he would stretch her to her limit, and she couldn’t wait.
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