Page 39 of Unveil

And now look where that’s gotten me.

“We wouldn’t have gone far at all if you hadn’t tricked me!” I insist. “If it isn’t obvious, I don’t want you anymore.”

“Really?” he asks slowly, leaning his elbow on the center console, running his finger over his lips in thought before hisbrow raises in the mirror. “So if I buried my face between your thighs again, right now, you wouldn’t be ready for me?”

I shiver, all the heat in my body pooling in my core.

He chuckles low in the back of his throat. “Thought so. You’re pretty bold for a girl I can still taste on my tongue.”

Oh good God, don’t think about that. You’re angry, not turned on. Angry. Angry. Angry.

“You. Are. Infuriating!” I writhe against the seatbelt, stretching the tulle cuffs as far as I can while wishing I could smack the ever-loving shit out of him.

I know exactly what to do once I’ve got a little movement. Nyx model SUVs have much more space than the back of a cop car.

“Take these off me and maybe instead of drawing your death out long and slow, I can convince my dad to?—”

I suck in a breath.

Momma crying. My brother cursing. My dad getting shot with an arrow…

Guilt fills my chest, and I can barely breathe.

“Orion?” my voice breaks. “Did you kill my dad?”

His eyes soften at the edges. “No, baby. As much as Sol may hate it, Bordeauxs are family to the King Fury line. Plus,” he blows out a breath, “we need him. The bolt was a low-dose tranquilizer dart. It put him out for a few hours tops. Enough time for my brothers and me to get away.”

“So he’s safe?”

“Of course. The Bordeauxs aren’t our enemy.”

Relief courses through me, sagging me against the seat, until the rest of the night’s memories catch up.

“And Ozias?”

His face clouds. “In the hospital last time I knew.”

“The hospital?”

He nods. “I stabbed him. Dash said he’ll recover, but I made sure he’d never smile again.”

“Oh my God. You really are monsters,” I whisper, my voice hoarse again.

“That reminds me. I got something for ya.”

“I don’t want anything you give me.”

“Oh yeah, you do.”

He props his knee under the wheel to steer and plucks a bottle from the passenger seat. The bouquet he gave me mocks me beside his crossbow and a detached metal tube with a needle on the end. A tranquilizer dart.

My pulse skips, but I flick my gaze to the window pretending like I’m trying to get comfortable instead of working up a plan. As I shift, my phone and garter dig into my upper thigh. If I could just reach it, I could call my dad…

Orion flicks open the plastic bottle cap with his thumb, pops in a straw, then angles it so I can drink from my seat.

“Would a monster give you water? I bet your tongue feels like fuzzy peach skin.”

In answer, my dry tongue darts out to lick my even drier lips. But I stand my ground.