Page 45 of Blurred Red Lines

“It’s a valid question.”

I scrunched up my nose. “Huh?”

“Your question.”

“What question?”

Groaning, he scraped his hand down his face. “The one you asked,Cereza.”

“You askedmea question.” I had no idea what we were arguing about, but my stubborn streak kept giving me the thumbs-up and a high five.

“I didn’t ask you any fucking question. This is why I should’ve left you there.”

“A-ha!” I screamed, pointing my free finger in his chest. “I knew it! See? I told you that you were trying to kill me.”

Val wrapped his fingers around my wrist and held it in a strong grip between us. “I never said that. Stop putting words between my mouth.”

A loud snort rolled off my tongue as I fell backward against the bedframe again. “Ow!” I rubbed the back of my head and bit my lip to keep from laughing. “Oh, my God, you’re drunk. I think you meant ‘stop putting wordsinmy mouth.’ If I put wordsbetweenyour mouth, I’d be connected to it.”

His fingers tightened against my wrist, and he pulled me flush against him. Danger glinted across his darkened eyes. “That could be arranged.”

Overwhelmed at the intensity in his stare, I focused on the hold he had on my arm. Licking dry lips, I said the first thing that popped into my head. “Is Emilio dead?”

“No,” he smiled knowingly. Releasing his hold, he sat back like I’d just jumped from his fuck list to his shit list in two-point-oh-seconds.

Story of my life.

Since the first flame had been doused, I might as well dance in the ashes.

“But I saw him get shot. You can try to tell me otherwise, but I saw it. I know what I saw.”

“I’m sure you saw what you saw.”

“So?” I waited for confirmation.

“So? We all get shot from time to time. He’ll be fine. It was a flesh wound.”

My mouth dropped open. “Do you realize how asinine you sound right now? People just don’t get shot from time to time, Danger. Not normal people, at least.”

He wiped a hand across his mouth as if to hide an emerging smirk. “Danger?”

Shaking my cuffed wrist, I narrowed my eyes to hostile slits. “Don’t get cocky. It’s not a term of endearment. I can’t stand you.”

“You’re not exactly my favorite person either, you know,” he offered quickly.

The alcohol bottomed out in my system, and my mouth claimed the throne, taking ownership of my better judgment. “Then why don’t you get out of here and go fuck yourself? At least you’d satisfy one of us.”

The smug look drained from his face, only to be replaced by darkened fury. Before I could blink, his palm engulfed my cheek, bending me backward until our mouths and lips bruised in a punishing kiss. His free hand buried in my hair, twisting with a need barreling from somewhere deep within.

Once my alcohol-infused brain caught up with what was happening, my libido went into overdrive, kicking what reservation wasn’t slovenly drunk behind locked doors. Wrapping my unrestrained arm around his neck, I pulled him closer, lost in the feel of his hardness pressing heavy against my curves.

Rage and passion ran parallel with Val and me, and as we frantically groped each other, I wondered where the line lay between manslaughter and sex. As his hands ran down the length of my body and his lips whispered dirty Spanish in my ear, I questioned both our sanity.

Trailing his mouth down the hollow of my neck, he dove his fingers under the waistband of my shorts.“Esta panocha es mia.”This pussy is mine.

“Who’sLa Muerte?” The words came out of nowhere. From behind the locked door where I shoved her, my subconscious stood on the headboard, hands on her hips, eyebrow cocked, and armed with three words I had no clue I’d even verbalized until Val froze.

Swallowing harshly, he dragged his hand from my shorts and sat up, his face twisted with a mix of shock and loss. Pressing the heel of his palm in between his eyes, he inhaled slowly, counting to ten before answering.