Nightfall (Devil's Night #4) - Penelope Douglas Page 0,31

knowing she couldn’t see me as I took in her dark hair, kinky and wild from the tumble. The heat on her cheeks, rosy against her golden skin, was still so beautiful, and I’d bet her slender neck could still fit in my hand.

My mouth watered, and my cock started to swell.

Coming back in the room, she carried a newly filled glass of water and set it down on the chest of drawers before walking around the room. Mud smeared her clothes, and a leaf stuck in her hair as she wrung her hands.

Micah and Rory dumped her in here an hour ago, while Aydin and Taylor went off somewhere.

Aydin would be back, though. I looked over at his bed, the largest in the house, with his fresh white sheets and luxurious, feather-down comforter.

Walking over, she lifted the pillow to her nose and inhaled his scent.

I narrowed my eyes, a knot tightening in my gut.

She pulled back, and then dove back in, drawing him in again. I clenched my teeth.

She dropped the pillow to the bed and continued around the room, opening drawers and closets, sifting through the medical notes and drawings on his desk, and leaned down to inspect the jars of dead animals floating in formaldehyde.

Then, she picked up one of the bones strewn on his desk and lifted it up, turning it over.

She hissed, realizing what it was and threw it back onto the table.

I smiled.

She took out the knife Aydin let her keep and gripped it in her fist before she downed another glass of water and then walked to the locked door, yanking on it.

It didn’t give, though.

What did she think she was going to do?

What was I going to do? She was on my agenda, but not yet.

This changed things.

She paced and paced, breathing heavier and getting worked up, but then she stopped.

And she looked over at me.

I cocked my head as she thinned her eyes and stepped slowly over to the mirror on her wall, stopping directly in front of it.

The square mirror was about three feet on all sides, and she seemed to look through it, but her eyes never really found mine.

She couldn’t see me, but she clearly knew it was more than a mirror. You could never get much over on her.

She peered around the edges of the mirror, trying to take it off the wall or pry it away enough to see behind, and I stepped closer until I couldn’t step anymore.

Standing up straight, she held out her index finger and touched her nail to the surface, leaning in close to see if the reflection touched the tip. A little test to determine if a mirror was two-way or not.

The corner of my mouth curled up in a grin.

Her chest caved and she froze.

Uh-oh.

She stayed there a moment, and then…she rose up and stared through the glass, searching for whoever was watching her.

I raised my fingers to the mirror, less than a foot from her face as I stared into her stunning eyes. I swallowed the bitter taste in my mouth.

Nine years. Nine years, and I still wanted to fuck her.

Only now I wouldn’t give her sweet and gentle. Shit had changed.

“You have to take,” she said, staring through the mirror.

I trained my ears, listening.

“Because you’re too weak to know how to win what you want. That’s why you’re in here.”

She backed away and then shot out her foot, kicking the glass with a snarl on her face.

I stared.

“Come on, Will,” she begged. “Stop the waiting and come on.”

She kicked the glass again and again, baring her teeth, and I almost smiled again, remembering that night in the lab. How she challenged us, so ready to face danger.

So tough. So cocky. I liked stubborn. I liked women who took control.

But then she spoke up again, inhaling hard and shallow. “It’s not my fault,” she bit out. “It’s not my fault that you wrapped your entire happiness up in some delusion you’d cooked up in your head where I loved you and life would be right as rain if we were together.”

My amusement fell, and I flexed my jaw.

“I did what I had to do, and I’d do it again,” she growled, her voice cracking. “I’d do it again.”

She gasped for breath and closed her eyes, dropping her forehead into the mirror and punching the glass. “I’d do it again,” she choked out, her voice thick with tears.

I moved my palm to hers, staring down at her, centimeters away as