Page 32 of Wraith (Deviant Assassin #1)

Wild

K iera’s voice slices through the wet air of this dingy alleyway like a whip; sharp and biting. My chest tightens, the defiance and dismissal of her words crawling under my skin. She clenches her hands into fists, digging her nails into her palms as she pushes away from me.

Surprise etches her face as if she didn’t mean to say the words aloud.

Her chest heaves, every breath she takes ragged, like she’s trying to hold back but can’t.

The musky scent of sweat, leather, and anger thickens in the storm that’s turning violent around us.

The wind whips down the narrow alley and more wet strands of her hair lash her sculpted cheek and cling to her flushed face.

Her surprise melts into self-loathing and then a hard resolve in a heartbeat.

“Don’t get it twisted,” she snaps, her eyes glinting like polished steel, locking onto mine with a fury that makes my stomach clench as she retreats a couple of steps.

“This,” her hand slashes the air between us angrily, “is about having a good time, releasing pent-up tension. It isn’t about you and me becoming ‘more’ .

If you knew me at all, you’d for damn sure know I don’t do relationships. The one time I did it was a shit show.”

Her voice breaks at the last part. It’s subtle, but I don’t miss it. Caught in the crossfire of the war raging inside her. The bravado she hides behind slips but it’s fleeting. Her throat works as if she’s choking back emotion and for a split second, I glimpse her vulnerability.

“Kiera…”

Every muscle in my body involuntarily coils tight, ready to spring into action.

If I could find any defense against the assault of words she’s tossing like knives into my chest I would.

I should walk away right now and let her self-destruct alone.

I should hate her for spewing venom at me.

But no, I’m rooted in this spot. My thoughts race to find a way through her defenses, to be the one who keeps her together and tears her apart in all the best ways she craves.

Our silence is even more punctuated by the harsh wind, the raindrops splashing against metal, creating an incessant tin-like plink. Her gaze lands on my boots, and the most shocking thing tumbles from her lips, almost like an afterthought, a confession she can’t hold back.

“I haven’t been with anyone since… then.” Her voice drops, barely a whisper, almost too low for me to hear.

Since when? She can’t mean the husband she hasn’t seen in years…

I lift her chin, bringing her eyes back to mine, searching, and the raw truth gazing back at me lands. I’m instantly hard.

Fuck!

Realization hits me like a sucker punch.

My grip on her chin firms and the other grasps her hip, refusing to let her get away.

I spin us. The weight of my body presses her back against the dirty wall, unable to resist claiming her again.

My pulse pounds in my ears, drowning out the rain, our breaths mingling, fast and jagged.

She’s gotten under my skin, in my veins.

I’m under hers too, no matter how hard she denies it.

I’ve never wanted her more than right now.

“Why are we always doing this?” I murmur, my voice hoarse as I lean in, bracing my arm against the wall as my hips pin hers, caging her there.

The rough bricks, cold under my palm, a stark contrast to the wet heat in her swollen core, my throbbing cock nudges against. “Why are we always having sex in the craziest places?”

She doesn’t back down, her lips curling into that twisted smirk she wears when she dares me to call her bluff. Her eyes gleam, amusement dancing with the chaos inside her.

“You know that movie, where she won’t kiss the ‘John’ on the lips?” She runs her fingers up my chest, slow, deliberate, taunting. “Well, she got it wrong. Kissing isn’t intimate. A bed? Now that’s intimate.”

Her words slam into me harder than they should.

Because she’s right. This, whatever we have—this chaotic thing we do in alleys, stairwells, over the phone, wherever we can—isn’t about intimacy.

It’s about keeping the real stuff at arm’s length.

Even so, it’s real to me. Too real. The scent of her skin, the taste of her anger, the way she trembles under my touch but still refuses to break.

“Dammit, Kiera?—”

Her voice softens, a sudden shift as she cuts me off. “I prefer the dead, Wild. They can’t hurt you the way the living does.”

My throat tightens at that, the weight of it pressing down on my chest. She’s talking about herself, the walls she’s built so damn high to keep out anyone who might actually give a damn. But I’m not backing off. Not even close.

“They can’t hurt you,” I say, voice low, stepping in closer, “but Wraith can. He’ll kill you, Kiera, eventually. And I’m not gonna stand by and let that happen. You’re my priority. I want something real, and I’ve wanted it for too damn long now.”

Her breath hitches, but it’s not enough to break through her mask. She’s hidden for far too long, and I won’t stand for it.

“It’s too fast,” she whispers, and there it is—a crack, a brief glimpse of the fear behind her bravado. “It feels too fast. Can’t you just leave Wraith alone? Christ, move on already!”

Wraith.

The name hangs between us like a cursed brick wall. I know she’s hiding something about him, something big. I can feel it, the way her eyes shift, how her jaw tightens when his name comes up. But I can’t push her, not yet.

She opens her mouth, the tremble of her lip suggesting her next words will hold weight, but then she hesitates, snaps her jaw shut, and swallows hard.

I wait in silence as her lips part, close, then part again, and I catch the flicker of indecision in her eyes.

She’s on the brink of finally telling me the truth. I can feel it.

“What is it?” I ask softly. “What were you going to say?”

But in a single blink, her guard slams back up. She shakes her head, her laugh bitter.

“You want something real? What does that even mean? You aren’t in love with me, Wilder. You’re obsessed. And once you get what you want, or something better appears, you’ll throw me away, just like everyone else has.”

Her words, and the pain in her past that caused them gut me, but they don’t shake me.

She’s wrong. This isn’t about obsession, and it’s not about our crazy hot sexual chemistry, either.

It’s something deeper, something neither of us can face or say out loud.

Yet. I press my forehead to hers, her breath hot on my lips, our noses brushing.

“You think I’m going to throw you away, Kiera? You’ve already gotten under my skin. I can’t walk away, even if I tried.”

She bites her lip, her breath stuttering, and damn it, I know she’s falling for me, too.

We’re both falling, but she’s too scared to admit it, and I’m scared of sending her running again now that I’ve finally got my hands on her.

I’ve watched her too patiently for too long to screw it up and lose her now.

There’re no more words left, no way to convince her we belong together, other than to show her how perfectly our bodies fit. I spin her around to face the wall. Kicking her legs apart, I slide an arm around her waist and use the other to grab my still hard cock and slam it into her hot, wet folds.

“Wild,” she screams my name even as her pussy swells around me, begging me for a good fucking.

And I deliver just like I will forever, no matter what. I’ll always give her anything and everything she needs. She’ll feel my love, my desire and most of all my need for everything Kiera; every day until she believes it and trusts me. And I’ll for damn sure always protect her.

Especially from the likes of Wraith. I’m going to fucking kill him.

The thought of a beaten, broken Wraith makes my dick harder, if that’s even possible.

Velvet covering steel pounding into her mercilessly.

Grabbing her hips in a bruising grip, I lift her off the ground.

Instinctively, her legs bend, ankles wrapping around my calves.

“I fucking love you. I’m in love with you. And I’ll never let you walk away from that. From me!”

My thrusts match my last two words as she screams out her desire and her body tightens, straining, for another release. My fist grips her hair, wrenching her neck back. I kiss her ear, nibble on the lobe and groan, making her shiver against me.

“Wild…fuck!”

I slow my thrusts, not afraid to use bribery; anything to keep her with me. Stoke her need for me.

“No! You don’t get to come. Not until you tell me you love me, too. That you need me as badly as I need you, Kiera.”

Instantly, her body goes limp, and her jaw clamps shut tight, refusing to follow my command. I pull out and yank her around to face me. Her chest heaves with her need for me, but she shoves it aside and resolve, even more deadly cold than usual, fills her eyes.

“I’ll never say those words again,” she screams in my face, as if trying to drive me back with the force of the words.

Sorry, Heathen. Nothing is going to stop me from making you mine, fully and completely.

A thin trail of blood runs from her cheekbone to her chin.

A red rash colors her cheek from being pressed too hard against the bricks.

Some guys might feel bad, but I only want to lick the blood off her face while I fuck the hell out of her, making her scream for me.

Give in to her feelings for me. Yell my name and come all kinds of sloppy on my dick like she will every damn day from now on. Once she learns to behave.

“Then you’ll never come again.” Shock washes over her face at my cruel words. “And you can be damn sure I’ll never let anyone else touch you, either.”

My narrowed eyes lock with hers. A growl slips out from my curled lip as she stubbornly refuses to obey.

The best way to tame a brat is to give them a taste of real consequences.

So, without another word, I turn around, swing a leg over my bike, rev the engine, and drive away.

Something, maybe the glass bottle that was lying on the ground near us, hits the back of my bike.

It shatters into a thousand pieces, the sound left behind as the rumble of my engine masks my angry roar.

I’m not sure if leaving her is the right move.

She’ll probably stew in her denial and reinforce the walls around her heart.

But glaring at each other furiously won’t convince her we belong together, and she needs to realize I’m not a chump.

Kiera will have to figure her shit out and come to me this time.

I’m a grown ass man who understands the value of a tactical retreat; to draw an opponent out of hiding.

I’ll think of a way to get her to admit she loves me.

We’re going to do things my way. Right after I jerk off in the shower.