Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 35974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
“I didn’t go to that club with the intention of you being there. While I respect that people have triggers, I didn’t have you in mind when I went out last night.”
“Didn’t say you did. But I was there. And there was no way I couldn’t not interfere. Didn’t matter if it was you or someone else. I will never stand by and see someone strong hurtin’ someone weaker just because they can. The fact it was you made it that much worse.”
It was my turn to stand and pace away. “Christ,” I muttered. “Look, if it’s about this happening in your city, I get it. You don’t want blowback. I only went after Dillon because Carol is my friend.”
“OK. We’re getting somewhere now.”
I’d walked to the bar in the kitchen area. It was the only thing separating the kitchen from the living room. When I turned around, Knuckles was right behind me. I sucked in a breath as he caged me in, his hands flat on the bar on either side of me. The look he gave me was that of a man who expected to be obeyed. Unfortunately for Knuckles, my father had given me that look many times, so I was immune. No, my reaction to Knuckles was all about his close proximity and the scent of clean sweat and gasoline and the heat coming from his big body that had me weak in the knees. This was definitely a bad time for my fucking hormones to kick in.
“You afraid, little girl?”
I tried to scowl at him but wasn’t sure I pulled it off. Especially since my heart was hammering in my chest so hard there was no way Knuckles would fail to notice how my pulse fluttered at my neck. “I’m not afraid of anything.”
“Oh, I think you are.”
“Am not.” Fuck. I actually stuck my chin up. What was it about Knuckles that made me want to stand up to him like a teenager to a parent?
He slid me a grin. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“All right. Tell me what this is all about. You’ve killed before. Not only did you not flinch when you stabbed that motherfucker, you committed to the kill before you approached him.”
“Why wouldn’t I? He was a bastard who preyed on the people he was supposed to love.”
“I don’t give a fuck about Dillon or anyone else in that situation. I care about you. So, I want to know why you’re putting yourself in this kind of danger. More than once, apparently.”
“It’s just my thing, Knuckles. This is my contribution to society. I take scumbags off the street.”
“Vigilante justice, huh.”
“I suppose so.”
“No.” His snarl was a surprise. My gaze snapped to his where I’d been looking anywhere but at him. His closeness was distracting. Knuckles was larger than life. And I didn’t mean only his size, though he was a big-ass motherfucker. Standing over me now, the man oozed sex. The carnal, nasty kind. I wanted to jump him, to make him take what his gaze was promising.
I wasn’t a virgin by any stretch of the imagination. I was thirty-two years old, for Christ’s sake. But I had never wanted to have sex like I wanted to have sex with Knuckles. Maybe it was the violence from earlier. Maybe it was the man himself. Or maybe, it was because this was the first time I’d ever truly wanted to have sex with a man. It wasn’t happening, but that didn’t mean I didn’t want it to happen.
“No, what? I didn’t ask a question.”
“You’re not settin’ yourself up to be beaten and probably raped out of a sense of justice, though I’m sure that’s what you tell anyone who knows about what you do.”
“Isn’t justice enough?” Could the man get any closer to me without touching? I really wanted to find out. Suddenly, everything I’d been doing since Gunnar went to prison seemed like a bitter victory. Sure, I’d won every battle I’d taken on. But at what cost to myself? Then the only question was if I cared about the cost. The answer was a resounding no.
“It goes deeper than vengeance.”
“You’re imagining things.”
“Fine. We’ll drop that topic for now.” For some reason I didn’t feel like I was getting a reprieve. “Are you scared of me?”
“I already told you. I’m not afraid of anything.”
“Good. So If I did something you didn’t much like, you’d take care of me in a permanent fashion. Yes?”
“Where you going with this, Knuckles?”
He leaned in closer, his giant frame dwarfing my more petite one. “When I count to three, I’m gonna kiss you, Hannah. If you don’t give me a good hard shove or knee me in the balls, I’m gonna to kiss you until you don’t know your own name. Then, if we’re both feelin’ it the way I think we’re gonna feel it, I’m gonna strip you naked, throw you up on this fuckin’ bar, and eat your pussy until you fuckin’ scream my name, little girl.” I gasped in a breath and would have fallen on my ass if I hadn’t been holding on to the edge of the bar. “One.” He started counting.