Page 87 of Deviant Knight (Knight's Ridge Empire 4)

He stares at me in the darkness, his eyes wide and dangerous, but there’s an amused smirk playing on his lips.

His fingers find mine, and for the briefest moment, I think he’s going to hold my hand.

A weird rush of excitement flows through my veins before reality hits and he plucks the joint from my fingertips and lifts it to his lips.

I watch, enthralled as he takes a hit, his eyes drilling into me the whole time.

My stomach clenches with desire when he slowly releases the smoke, letting it billow from his full, tempting lips.

“What are you doing out here alone, Hellcat?” he asks, his voice rough and dripping with sex.

“Trying to get myself raped and killed, obviously,” I mutter sarcastically.

His lips press into a flat line and his jaw tics in frustration.

“Not. Funny,” he spits, stepping closer until his heat seeps into my freezing body.

“Why are you out here alone?” he tries again.

Rolling my eyes, I steal my spliff back and take a drag, his eyes locked on my lips the entire time.

“Because,” I say, blowing the smoke in his face, “the couples above me were fucking. Loudly,” I add.

A smirk twitches at his lips.

“Missing me, Hellcat?” he asks, leaning in and brushing the tip of his nose along my cheek.

It’s a weirdly tender move compared to what I’m used to from him.

“S-shouldn’t you be at your parents’ pretentious party right now?”

“Should be, yeah. But it seems that I’m here instead.”

“Why?” I breathe.

He doesn’t respond, he just stares into my eyes, our noses only a whisper apart, our clouded breaths mingling as our chests heave.

“Wish I knew,” he finally says, but it’s so quiet I wonder if he even realises that he said it out loud. “I was at their party.”

“I know, I’ve seen photos.” The second the words are out of my mouth, I realise they were a mistake.

“You been stalking me, Hellcat?”

I scoff. “That’s rich. Why are you here, Theodore? What could you possibly need from me that meant you drove all this way on Christmas Eve?” His teeth grind as I say his whole name, and I can’t help the wave of satisfaction that washes through me.

He steps closer still, pinning me between his hard body and the tree at my back.

“Clearly, it wasn’t for your stellar personality,” he mutters.

“What can I give you that any of those Barbie dolls you were walking around with tonight can’t?”

His eyes flick between mine and the hoodie I’m wearing. It allows me to predict the next words that fall from his lips as he not-so-subtly avoids my question.

“Whose is this?”

“My boyfriend’s,” I shoot back.

“Right,” he laughs. “If that is in any way true, then you’ve got a hell of a lot of apologies to give him.”