Blood Deep (Blackthorn Book 4) (12 page)

‘Depends,’ he replied. He paused for just a moment. ‘On how long you’re planning on letting this continue before saying that definitive no you have scripted as much as the rest of this set-up.’

Unease fisted in her stomach as, horrified, a split second later she realised her plan was as transparent to him as his understanding now was to her.

‘That
is
what this seduction routine is about, right?’ he added, just to confirm it.

In response to her lack of denial, in an impressively swift, fluid and well-practised move, he slammed her down on the table.

She instantly wanted to retaliate, not least in fear of what he might find. But he seemed to have every intention of leaving her clothing in position despite kicking her legs further apart. Within seconds it felt like a very different kind of restraint to what she was used to. A difference that was as shocking as it was compelling. Because though Eden held her down, it wasn’t with anger, it wasn’t with hatred and, seemingly, didn’t echo any intention to hurt her – a move simply intended to protect himself against her retaliation.

‘You brought me down here hoping I’d do something to justify you killing me, didn’t you? It seems this place has rubbed off on you more than I thought. I’m disappointed.’ His lips brushed her ear as his hard chest pressed against her back. ‘But let’s get one thing clear
right now
– I don’t mind it rough, I don’t mind it hard; I’ll play out whatever role-playing fantasy you’ve got, however dark and however twisted. But when it comes down to it, I want it legit, I want it mutual and, the platinum rule, I want it consensual. So I’m sure as fuck not going to degrade and demean myself, or you, by being the scum you’re clearly hoping I am so you can get rid of me. Nice mind-fuck, darling, but, next time, pick someone with less experience and most certainly less self-respect.’

She flushed with embarrassment, with humiliation, as he let her go and retracted.

Turning to face him, using the table behind for support as she trembled with frustration, with whatever arousal-induced heat congealed low in her abdomen, she glared back at him. She needed his actions to fuel her justification, not leave her feeling foolish and out of her depth.

Instead, he snatched up his beer and created some much-needed distance between them in the awkward silence.

‘You
knew
,’ she hissed quietly.

‘Keeping me here with the threat of Pummel looming was ingenious,’ he said, as he sauntered over towards the sofa. ‘But you shouldn’t have locked yourself in here with me as well.’

She snatched her underwear from the floor, pulled it back on in a futile attempt to regain her dignity, to appease her humiliation. ‘Because?’

‘Because that sick little game you just set up proves me right – you can’t bring yourself to kill me without a better motive than the one you’ve got. Like I said before – we both know I’ve done nothing wrong, Jessie. Now all you’ve done is prove I’m not
going
to do anything wrong.’

‘Only because you’re too scared to show me what you really are.’

His laugh was curt, fleeting, dripping with as much masculinity as his stance as he swept his tongue over the back of his lower teeth, one hand resting on his hip, the other holding his beer loose by his side. ‘Fuck you, Jessie. Don’t think for one minute you’ve worked me out.’

‘Fuck you, Eden. I’m not interested enough
to
work you out. You had your chance to take my advice. This ended for you the minute you walked through that door.’

She crossed his path as she headed to the pile of books stacked next to the sofa. Throwing the first two onto the sofa, she opened the next one down. She took out the keys, turned to face him as she tauntingly spun the hoop around her finger. ‘If you’re going to rest on your laurels, that’s fine. I’ll join you.’ She lifted the hem of her cardigan to expose the hip band of her knickers. Parting the metal loop, she wound the key ring through the elastic hip band. Crossing back in front of him, she leaned against the pool table again and folded her arms. ‘Either way, I get what I want and you lose.
Unless
you manage to get out of here.’ She shot him a hint of a triumphant smile. ‘Good luck with that.’

H
er challenge did
nothing to ease the ache and throb of his ready hardness – a hardness that needed relief. It wasn’t helped by her glancing down at his groin as she shifted the weight on her legs, jutting her right knee out instead of the left and drawing his attention back to those firm, smooth thighs.

She
had
got one over on him. Because now, as she leaned against the table, the image of vulnerability with a glare of titanium, she knew her greatest strength was that, unlike him, she didn’t have to play cautious.

Jessie wanted to push him too far, whereas if he did the same with her, he knew there was a chance he was going to end up face down dead on that concrete floor – or lose her in the process. The odds were unfair. He needed her alive, she needed him dead – it was hardly a level playing field. And with still no clue as to what she was, he had no idea of the challenge he was truly facing. She’d cornered him and she was right – Pummel wouldn’t be impressed if he didn’t show up. And with a matter of hours to go, the clock, as usual, was ticking.

But to her disadvantage, her confidence wavered under his scrutiny, exposed by the tension in her thighs, in her hands as they clenched the table. She
really
didn’t want to do this. She
really
needed him to act.

She had
seriously
underestimated him.

‘Oh, cut the bullshit,’ he said, meeting her glare. ‘If you want me to rip them off this time, you’ve just got to ask.’

Her laugh was curt. ‘If I had any intention of taking Tatum’s seconds, I already would have.’

He raised his eyebrows slightly at her spark of feigned arrogance. ‘Is that right?’ He knocked back a mouthful of beer as he sauntered back over to her. ‘Well,’ he said, placing the beer back on the pool table beside her, ‘we’ve still got a few hours to go. A lot can happen in a few hours.’

‘Exactly. And all it will take is for you to lower your guard for just one second. I hope you’ve got good focus, Eden. I’m guessing you have, having spent a few years in a penitentiary. Good-looking guy like you, you must have had to have watched your back every minute.’

He smiled. It evaporated quickly. ‘Unlike you, having Pummel to watch yours
for
you. Have you ever even tried to survive on your own? What has he got over you? Why kill for him?’

Her eyes narrowed. ‘I’m not killing for him.’

‘You’re planning to kill me because you’re scared of him. That tells me you’re not quite as powerful as you think. You might have made out like I’m Pummel’s puppet, but clearly that’s exactly what
you
are. A mindless puppet. But I’m not going to make this easy for you because, unlike you, I won’t be bullied into doing anything I’m not willing to do beyond my own convictions.’

Her eyes narrowed a fraction more. ‘Tick-tock, Eden.’

Her stubbornness, her resolve, pushed too many buttons.

As he closed the gap between them, she stood upright again.

‘Wary,’ he said, holding his gaze on hers. ‘Okay,
now
this feels like a game.’ Standing her ground, she didn’t flinch as he eased the hem of her cardigan to her hip to examine the keys. ‘So, I have to get those off you and unlock those padlocks, let alone the one in the outer room
and
get back to the house before you catch up with me.’ He looked back into her eyes with a defiant smile. ‘Fuck, I love a challenge. This place truly has beaten you more than you’d like to admit, hasn’t it? Left you so fucked up that you truly believe this is the only option.’

‘Because there’s another? You’re just going to walk out of here like nothing happened?’

‘You bet I will. Because the fact I’m still standing, the fact you even let it go that far between us should tell you that, deep down, you
want
me to walk out of here. Those words coming out of your mouth might have been fake but your reactions weren’t. From where I was standing, you were even starting to enjoy it.’

She drew back her fist with lightning speed.

A split second later it felt like she had splintered his jaw.

J
essie caught her breath
, shocked not only by how quickly she’d erupted but how painfully, painfully bad she instantly felt about it.

What surprised her though, what
truly
surprised her more than the guilt, was how minor her impact had been – as if she’d subconsciously put no real power behind her punch.

In some ways she was glad she hadn’t. Her set-up might have failed but if anything else was finally going to bring out the con’s true colours, it was that. No con with a violent streak, a history such as his, was going to take being beaten on, let alone by a female.

She moved away from the pool table and braced herself.

Eden’s head remained locked to the right, the back of his hand held against his lip.

As he looked back at her, those dark eyes unreadable, her stomach churned, sickness forming at the back of her throat. Because every instinct told her not to hurt him. Every instinct told her to apologise even. It wasn’t him who’d gone one step too far, it was her. Now the guilt damned up inside her, ready to break unless he attempted to hit her back. And then it would be over in seconds.

He moved his hand and spat blood from his mouth. ‘Ouch,’ he said, his glare unflinching, his body now turned fully towards her again.

She clenched her hands in preparation. ‘That was me being gentle.’

He raised his eyebrows slightly. ‘Yeah?’ In a move almost undetectable in its speed, he kicked her leg from under her.

She instantly lost her balance, her behind slamming to the floor, the back of her head following swiftly after.

It dazed her for just a moment.

‘And that’s me telling you I’m not,’ he said.

Hand to the back of her throbbing head, she felt the indignation erupt in her chest. She pulled herself to her feet. It had been a long time since she’d used it, had to feel enough anger to use it, but as she closed the gap between them, she slammed her palm flat on his chest, hitting him straight in the heart like a defibrillator, flinging him back a few feet.

She shook her hand at the mildly painful electric shock that reverberated back through her from lack of practice. All the same, it was a sharp and powerful shock to him – enough to cause him to arch his back as he hit the concrete floor, to grit his teeth, to expose the length of his neck as the top of his head skimmed the floor.

She stepped back over to him.

‘What the
fuck
?’ he hissed, hand to his chest.

Either she hadn’t transferred enough power, or her blood that still lingered in his system remained too effective. If she didn’t act immediately, she knew she wouldn’t act at all.

Locking into combat mode, suppressing every thought of retreating, she straddled him. Pressing the hand he held over his heart to the floor, she slammed her palm back onto his chest ready to finish the job.

She
had
to. Despite the tension in her throat, the pain of regret in her chest, she had to end it there and then.

But she underestimated the strength of the con she’d attempted to pin down, let alone his determination.

Using his free hand, Eden grabbed her wrist, wrenching her hand away from his chest before she had a chance to summon enough energy. Taking advantage of the open loop of her fingers around the wrist she held to the floor, he freed that too. Clamping it to her hip, he slammed her onto her back, pinning both her wrists to the floor, confirming her blood in his system was most
definitely
giving him an added edge.

She was quick and strong enough to resume control though. She flipped him off her, straddling him once more. Knees and shins flat to the floor either side of his hips, she slammed his hands even harder against the concrete floor, no doubt grazing his knuckles enough to draw blood.

She’d tried to be quicker this time, but the minute she let his wrist go to reach his heart he caught hold of hers again. She yanked her wrist free, resolving to weaken him with another blow to the jaw.

But this time he sent her clean over his head to land flat on her back.

She instantly stumbled to her feet, but remained crouched down as he did the same, their eyes locking as both retained their attack stance.

‘You can’t beat me in a fight,’ she warned.

‘Strong though you are, your technique is shit,’ he said. ‘So we’ll see. Whenever you’re ready, darling.’

This time there was no smirk. This time his eyes, his expression, were completely focused. She had to remind herself what she had witnessed in the alley that night before. Because ultimately she knew he was right – unlike her, he
did
know how to fight. But it was too late to back down. Her pride wouldn’t let her.

It would take just
one
good shot from her to finish the job. Except those eyes weren’t making the prospect easy. Recollections of that touch were making her hesitant. The fact all his moves so far had been fuelled by defence and not attack did nothing to help her motivation.

Nonetheless, she bit back her reluctance and lunged at him.

They had to have rolled five or six times, knocking the pile of books over, taking the temporary leg of the pool table out. One of the bottles smashed to the floor amidst knuckles and knees scraping on concrete, hands and legs moving in rapid succession as both struggled to retain the upper hand, creating a miracle that neither went up in flames amidst the wavering candlelight.

When he gained the advantage again, instead of putting her on her back this time, he swept her onto her front, thrust one arm up behind her back, his hand cupping her elbow to keep it there. He outstretched her other, not allowing her any flexion as he pinned her hand against the concrete. He kicked her legs apart, bracing them with the weight of his against her knees so that it was no longer just down to a matter of strength, but also basic physics.

She drew back a terse breath, winced, as he forced her bent arm just half an inch higher.

‘So you
can
feel pain then?’ he asked glibly.

She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, giving her body time to adjust, to feel where his weak spots were and work out how, when she flipped him off her this time, she would end it.

He used the weight of his side to keep her outstretched arm pinned to the floor as he shifted position. He coiled his hand so tight in her hair that she felt herself lose a couple. ‘You should know that playing rough brings consequences.’

As he let her hair go, she saw a glint of a penknife he had removed from his jeans. Her already fast-pumping heart skipped a beat.

‘And now you’ve also learned first-hand that being strong and knowing how to fight are two
very
different things,’ he said against her ear.

As soon as he felt her start to struggle, he spread her legs further with his to stop her getting any leverage.

‘I saved your life,’ she said through gritted teeth.

‘I know,’ he said, lifting his hips only slightly to allow him to push the hem of her cardigan over her hip, exposing her underwear.

He slid the blade not just through the thin fabric of her hip band, but through the top layer of skin too. He lifted himself just a fraction further to also slice through the other side of her underwear to pull them away.

‘Which is why,’ he said, sliding the cold blade down her bare shoulder, ‘despite you testing my resolve to be a gentleman, I’m retaining my impeccable self-control. Fortunate really, as me and you are
far
from done.’

She snatched back another breath as he pressed her tight to the floor, his hard erection pressing against her sex through his jeans. She closed her eyes, clenched her hands as she prepared herself for whatever he planned to do next.

But he withdrew the blade, slipping it back into his jeans.

‘You want to know why I’m here? I’ll lay it on the line with you, Jessie. I want out of here as quickly as you want me out of here. But you’re going to do something for me first.’

‘Which is?’

‘There’s someone I want you to help. Someone who needs your help.’

‘Who?’

‘She has a blood disease that’s killing her at the same time as being screwed by the system that should be protecting her. You help her and then we’re done.’

A
she
. Her insides coiled at the prospect. An uncomfortable feeling took root in the pit of her stomach. It hadn’t even crossed her mind that he could have someone out there – maybe even be married. It wasn’t uncommon now for partners to join the penitentiaries’ evicted in corresponding cores. There was nothing to stop whoever was with Eden from joining him – someone like him
had
to have someone waiting for him. Someone who
could
have been sick. Someone he’d be desperate enough to try and engage help for if he’d heard rumours that Pummel had some kind of miracle cure under his roof. Because the rumours
were
out there – even if they didn’t know she was it.

And he wouldn’t have known either if she hadn’t intervened in saving his life.

But that
still
didn’t explain why he’d been in her visions – what his significance was, nor whether saving him would be to her benefit or detriment.

Despite the pang she felt in her chest at the woman’s plight, she knew she had to stay hardened. She had to stay resolute. She had no option.

‘A disease?’

‘Yes,’ he confirmed.

‘All I did for you was heal a wound. You’re assuming a lot.’

‘Are you telling me you
can’t
help her?’

‘I’m telling you I’m not in a position to even if I was willing to – which I’m not.’

‘You help her, and I can be gone.’

‘So what’s your master plan – you bring her here?

‘Or I could take you to her.’

Her stomach flipped at the impossible. She exhaled curtly. ‘And how many more will it be after her?’

Because there would be more – more and more and more. It would be a fiercely lucrative trade and he’d have been a fool not to see the potential. For all she knew, the mysterious “she” may not even exist – simply a lure to get her away from there.

He clearly didn’t know she was trapped.

‘This is a one-off,’ he said.

‘And I have your word for that, do I, con?’

‘You do.’

‘I heal superficial wounds; I’m not a miracle worker.’

‘I’m not so sure.’

‘Even if she does exist, it is
your
kind that have failed her. It is not my obligation to compensate for that.’

It was Eden’s turn to exhale tersely. ‘You’re even beginning to sound like a con. But we’ve already proved you’re
not
like them.’

‘I’m closed for further manipulation today, Eden. You put in your request and I refused. You can ask as many times as you want, the answer will still be no. So cut your losses and get the hell away from here.’

‘I’m not going anywhere,’ he said. ‘And my guess is you’re not either. If we work together though, we can do something about both. It’s simple – you help me and I’ll help you.’

‘Because it’s that easy.’

‘I never said it would be easy, but while I leave you to ponder on that definitive no, I’ll have time to go out into Blackthorn, meet a few contacts, and find out what third species has eyes that change colour with their mood. And when I know that, I’ll be that one step ahead of you again. This time you take
my
advice: make it easy on yourself. I said it once and I’ll say it again: I’m
not
here to hurt you, Jessie. If I wanted to, right now, we both know I could. Instead, I’m going to walk out that door and you’re going to let me unless you want to do this
all
over again. Just one thing: next time you try to kill me, make sure your heart’s in it.’

He wrapped the fabric of her underwear around her wrists, securing them in the temporary restraint. Loosening his grip he finally eased off her.

She instantly got to her feet and stumbled backwards slightly, frantically trying to undo the binds.

He picked up one of the bottles that had rolled off the table and held it up to her as if in salute. ‘It’s been an interesting first date,’ he said. ‘My choice next time.’

She hovered on the spot as he used the keys he had freed from her severed underwear to unlock the door, her mind still skipping through every eventual scenario except that one.

He looked back across his shoulder before throwing the padlock keys back down onto the floor.

Without another glance in her direction, he left her alone in the candlelight.