Page 17 of Reaper and Ruin

I pinched my nose and turned the bottle upside down, emptying the congealed contents down the drain. The smell was foul.

X made overdramatized retching sounds. “If I die from dairy-related gas inhalation, tell my story.”

I ran the hot water, trying to clear out the obnoxious stench, and then lit a candle.

It didn’t do much to help, but it was better than nothing.

X clapped his hands. “So, you go sleep. I’ll do a YouTube workout, clean your bathroom, and maybe bake a batch of brownies because me and my new nose ring could definitely use some sugar.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Or you could come sleep with me.”

He grinned. “And by sleep, you mean sex, right?”

“By sleep, I mean sleep.”

“Sleep sex?”

I squinted at him. “How does that work?”

“You go to sleep but give me permission to do wicked, wicked things to your body while you’re out.”

Why the hell did my body come alive at the very thought of that? I was dead on my feet. I’d been awake for almost twenty-four hours straight, and a pretty traumatic event had happened in the middle of it. And yet one mention of him touching me and I was ready to go.

My breath came out sort of wheezy. “I think I would like that. You have my consent to do whatever you want to me while I’m asleep.” I clenched my thighs together, the anticipation ofwaking up with him between them, stirring up desire and maybe a kink I hadn’t known I was into.

“BZZZZ!” he shouted, making something that maybe could have passed for an incorrect answer buzzer on a gameshow.

I flinched but I don’t think he noticed.

“That is the wrong answer, Violet Garrisen! You do not pass go. You do not collect two hundred dollars.”

I had no idea what kind of game show-Monopoly mash-up was going on in his head, but as with all things X, it was easier to just go along with it. Even still, I squinted at him. “Can I dispute that ruling? What exactly about it was wrong?”

He sighed. “You can’t let me do things like that to you, Violet.”

That tingle between my thighs and the daydream of him playing my body while I was out of it refreshed inside me, a new heat curling around low in my belly.

“You can’t put something like that on the table then take it off,” I complained.

“It was a test! You were supposed to be scared and say no!”

“Well, instead I got kinda hot and sweaty and am now eagerly awaiting it happening. So tough luck.”

He sighed. “I shouldn’t even be here alone with you.”

“And yet, we’ve been together for hours. You’ve had all the opportunity in the world to kill me. And I’m not dead yet.”

He gave me a look that said it wasn’t funny to joke about things like that. Which was kind of rich, coming from him, who had built his entire personality on inappropriate humor.

“Just come to bed, X. You aren’t going to kill me.” I wrapped my arms around his waist and lifted my face just a few inches so I could kiss his mouth. “I trust you.”

His eyes darkened. “You shouldn’t.”

But he could protest all he wanted. It wouldn’t change the fact this was the man who’d been willing to sacrifice his life formine. This was a man who had eagerly replied to every text. Who had shown up every time I asked him to. Who had gone out of his way to introduce me to his family.

Maybe he was scared of himself.

But I wasn’t.