Page 36 of Darkest Before Dawn (His Perfect Darkness #2)

“Mmmm.” She reaches down, and her fingertips brush the head of my cock. My groin tightens, and I groan but hold back from pouncing on her completely.

“Say it again,” I growl through gritted teeth.

Her eyes glitter like she knows the power she has over me. “My king,” she breathes. Her fingers close around me, and I bow forward, desire like a punch in my gut.

“Little bird.” I’m lightheaded, ready to pump into her fist and spill my seed over her glowing skin. “I love you.”

She gasps and releases me. Thank the gods. I don’t want to come before she does.

“I love you.” I grasp her hair and hold her immobile for my kiss.

I drag my lips down her throat, licking, kissing, even scraping my teeth over her shuddering skin.

I spend some time at her breasts, lapping at her nipples while she pants and wriggles.

But the siren scent of her cunt calls to me, and I nestle myself between her legs.

I could live here. I can see everything—her sweet folds, already wet with desire, her lithe body laid out on the bed.

Her fingers dig into the bedspread, and her heels kick when I kiss her inner thigh.

I pin her hips and plant kisses on her sex.

She’s so soft and sweet under my mouth. I sweep my tongue into her, chasing the flavor.

She writhes like she might try to escape, so I palm her ass and pull her onto my face.

I thrust my tongue into her, fucking her with it while my neglected cock weeps onto the carpet.

My own pleasure is an afterthought because I don’t want to leave this space between her legs. I’m right where I want to be.

“Oh gods, Rex—” Her abs tighten, and color floods her face as she comes.

I gentle my hands on her, stroking her lightly as she relaxes into the afterglow.

Her delicate muscles twitch, sensitive after the rush of pleasure.

I place two fingers at her entrance, watching for when she comes down so I can stimulate her again.

Her juices glaze my fingertips, and I can’t help bringing them to my lips to suck her off my skin.

“I’m going to worship you all night,” I tell her, and she moans. “Until you know to your bones how I feel.”

A shy smile curves on her lips. “You love me.”

“Yes.” I let her sit up and touch my cheeks with tentative fingers. “You love me,” she whispers in wonder. “My king.”

My cock jerks painfully, but I don’t move. I don’t want this moment to end.

There’s a harsh rapping at the door. Inara flinches, twisting away.

“No. . .” I reach for her, and she grabs my wrists. “Rex?—”

More knocking. Whoever is at the door is insistent.

They’re going to have to get a fucking battering ram. I’ve got my little bird naked under me, calling me her king, and I’m going to give her the royal treatment.

“Sir, I need to talk to you,” the person at the door calls.

Inara stills. “Is that Hamish?”

It is Hamish. “Go away,” I call.

Inara shakes her head. “We should talk to him.”

“It’s urgent,” Hamish says. He’s no longer knocking, and there’s a sound I don’t want to hear—the beep of an electronic keypad. Of course Hamish has the master key to any door in my own hotel. “I’m coming in.”

“No—” I bark, but Inara shrieks and rolls away before I can grab her. I watch her gorgeous backside as she runs and disappears into the bathroom.

The door opens, and I rise to my feet to face Hamish. If he’s surprised that I’m giving him the full Monty, he doesn’t show it. His stone face doesn’t crack.

I cross my arms over my chest. Hamish wanted to see me, so now he can see all of me. “What?”

“You’re alive.”

“And well.”

He shuts the door behind him. I shift on my feet, willing my dick to soften faster. I was excited to be with Inara, but this is weird.

“The news is reporting an explosion.”

“I sent you a message that we’re fine.” I had Alfie do it, but still, I gave him an update.

“Both of you?”

“Thank the gods.” Now he does look relieved. “I had to see it with my own eyes.”

“Well, now you have.” I spread my hands as if to say, “Here I am.” All of me.

I cross to the closet and pull out something for Inara to wear, grabbing a pair of slacks while I’m at it.

Inara opens the bathroom door enough for me to hand her the lounge set, thanking me. I grunt. My dick perks up at the sight of her but withers again when I turn back to Hamish.

“Does anyone else know Inara is alive?” Hamish is intent on something, but I’m not sure what.

“Just Atticus. I had him check us over a few hours ago. But no one else has seen us.” No one in the hotel would have spotted us entering because we used the private elevator. My car has tinted windows, so no one could see us from the street.

“Thank the gods,” he mutters again, and I raise a brow. He’s not particularly religious.

“What’s going on?” Inara emerges, looking calm in a loose black sweater and joggers. Her hair’s freshly combed back from her face. I can’t stop myself from reaching for her and pulling her to my side. She lets me, and we face Hamish together.

“What’s going on is that a major explosion rocked the warehouse district, and you were reported to be on site. Not to mention, your partner, Detective Burgess, is now dead.”

“By my hand,” I say.

Hamish’s brows rise. “Perhaps you’d better tell me the whole story.”

I give him the highlights. I trust him with the truth, and he’ll need it to spin this story to the police and the press the way we want it.

“Does anyone know Rex killed Burgess?” Inara asks as she chews on her lip.

“No, he’s presumed dead from the explosion,” Hamish says. “The police will investigate, but they have no reason to suspect his betrayal. Meanwhile, we’ve already looked into Burgess’s accounts and found three equal payments of twenty grand. That’s all it took to turn him.”

Disgust turns my stomach. Burgess got what was coming to him. “Any luck tracing the payments?” I ask.

“Not yet. The payments were made in cash. Burgess deposited them in his personal checking.” Hamish doesn’t outright call Burgess a fool, but his tone suggests it.

“He didn’t expect to get caught,” Inara says.

I drape an arm over her shoulder, inhaling her floral scent. It calms and arouses me at the same time.

“The Bondage Killer was behind this. I know it. Burgess said as much.” Inara stares into the distance, her detective mind working on the case.

I wish I could take her far away from New Rome, hide her away to keep her safe. But she’d never forgive me.

“Has he ever used explosive material before?” I ask.

“The warehouse fire that supposedly claimed his life,” Hamish says. “There were traces of accelerant, but it was thought to be a coincidence.”

“Let’s revisit the evidence.” If BK was really behind the events of today, it’s a break from his usual modus operandi. But so is his new habit of leaving dead birds.

Inara’s voice drops to a hush. “This was meant to trap me once and for all. He’s fixated on me and won’t be happy to be deprived of his prey.”

“Which is why I came to you immediately,” Hamish says. “I have a plan. But I need both of you to agree.”

Inara

“What plan?” Rex growls at my side. I’m glad he’s here.

My head is full of puzzle pieces—Burgess, the path of dead birds, the explosion—and I don’t know how to sort them so I can think.

I know I’m being too hard on myself. I’m not alone anymore.

Rex is on my side. He doesn’t have to carry me forever, but the fact that he can is a relief, a safety net I didn’t know I needed.

Right now, I’m content to remain silent and lean on him.

“The explosion is an opportunity,” Hamish says. “The department-owned vehicle Burgess was driving has already been found at the scene and linked back to him. Eventually, they might discover that he invited you to ride along with him.”

“He did,” I say. “But he made sure to pick me up off-site. No one at the department saw me leave with him.” I’m sure that was part of Burgess’s plan—deliver me to the Bondage Killer and leave the site unscathed. I can’t say I’m sorry he’s dead. “No one will know exactly what happened.”

“Unless we tell them. We can leak that you were there with him and did not survive.”

I blink, trying to follow.

“You want to spread the news that Inara is dead,” Rex says. His muscles tighten as if the mere thought causes him stress.

I can pretend I’m dead. Go into hiding, lay low. The idea takes hold, and suddenly, it all makes sense.

A laugh bubbles up my throat. I try to stop it and end up wheezing. Which only makes me laugh more.

Rex and Hamish stare at me, but I can’t stop my hysterical outburst. My head grows light with a rush of relief.

I’ve dreamed of my death, but maybe this is it. I don’t have to actually die. I just have to fake it.

“I’m all right.” I press my hands over my face, trying to get myself together.

For a moment, I get a brief vision of black feathers covering my face and the sense of falling, but as soon as I drop my hands, I’m back in the room with Rex.

Both he and Hamish have somber expressions I read as worried.

“I’m okay,” I reassure them. “It’s a brilliant idea, Hamish, thank you. I’m in. How do we do this?”

“I’ve taken the liberty of turning off your cell phone,” Hamish says. “Any calls will go straight to voicemail, and texts will read as undelivered. You’ll still be able to see them. . . but I recommend you do not respond. We’ll need you to keep up the ruse.”

“Got it.” I sober, realizing how this will play out. My contacts, my colleagues at the department? Everyone in the world will need to believe that I’m gone.

“Why would we do this?” Rex asks. “You’ll have no outside contact. And then what?”

“That’s how we catch him.” I face him so he can see my determination. “We find a way to lure him out and catch him. And maybe he’ll stop killing because he thinks he’s won.”