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He looked out the window again. “That’s what I meant.”

She didn’t speak, and neither did he. His hand flexed once on his thigh before his voice cut the quiet.

“Did you touch them so freely?”

Her brows pulled together. “Touch who?”

“The men in your life. Did you touch them the way you do me? Without restraint. Without invite.”

She stiffened a little, face coloring. “Oh. I—sorry. I’ll learn to keep my hands to myself.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

She hesitated, then gave a quieter, more sincere, “No. Definitely not.”

He let the truth settle between them before adding, “You have questions for me. I can have questions for you?”

She nodded slowly, something playful lighting in her eyes. “Fair is fair. Why did you want to know?”

He studied her, watched the way her gaze flicked between his eyes and mouth. “I’m curious about you.”

“Because of your job?”

“No.”

“Because you’re just nosy?”

He considered the term. “No.”

She leaned closer with a teasing whisper. “Because you’re obsessed with me?”

He weighed his words carefully, realizing their power. “Curious about what’s mine to care for.”

She blinked, then frowned. “You mean your job.”

He turned his head, eyes narrowing slightly. “No. I mean with the girl who walks like temptation dressed in skin. Who laughs about secrets I’m supposed to chase, and touches like she already owns me.”

She turned toward him again, tucking one leg under the other as she studied him. Her lips parted slightly, gaze dazed and fixed on him. “Do you practice those lines in the mirror, or do they just fall out of you like magic?”

He didn’t flinch. “I’m learning.”

“Learning to speak human? Or angel?”

He studied her. The way she smiled, talked, filled the silence. It reminded him of a time in death—trapped, drifting, losing self—until a voice reached him. A queen’s voice. Rambling and endless and alive.

Like Jaxi’s.

But where the Queen’s voice had tethered him to something beyond himself, Jaxi’s seemed to tether herself tohim.

“Something like that,” he said, turning to the window when their stare became a burning torment. A prison where he wanted to kiss her with his soul and never stop.

Chapter Five

The car slowed.

Kaos leaned forward as they turned into the alley, his eyes narrowing. The moment the tires stopped, he sent his power out—scouring a mile in every direction, slicing through walls, rooftops, signals, and intent.

Petty criminality was all he found. Low-grade surveillance. Two weapons carried without discipline. Nothing that posed a real threat.