The Isle Of Sin And Shadows - Keri Lake Page 0,132

at a distance, eyes unyielding and resolute. Angry with me.

Cheeks burning with humiliation, I twist to climb off his lap, but he snatches up my arm, lips snarled like he wants to haul back and hit me, for daring to put my lips on his in the first place.

Instead, his grip softens, the tension eases. For a man who typically runs an even keel, I’ve seen him boil over and turn to steam more times than a kettle in the last few days.

Another glance at the wound on his face, and I inwardly cringe at yet more pain that I inflicted on this man. “How can I make this right, Thierry?” The answer eludes me.

Him, too, it seems, as he sits quietly behind an unfocused stare. I think this is what I find most intriguing about the man. Even his silence is as deliberate as his words.

I lean forward to plant a kiss on his chest, and his muscles tighten. When I trail my lips over his skin to his throat, he wraps his hands around my arms and pushes me away again.

“Céleste ...” My name is a growl in his chest. A threat on his tongue. His eyes flip to the impassive blackness from before. “Enough.”

Not even an hour ago, the man had his face between my thighs right out in the open. Yet, here I sit now, twice as mortified as I felt then. “This must be why women avoid you.”

“Only the smart ones, it seems.”

Tired of this stupid game between us, I try to yank myself free, but his grip tightens.

“Let go of me!” The rejection is something I’m all too familiar with, but for some reason, it stings this time. “Let me go, Thierry! Or, I swear to God, I’ll scratch your goddamn eyeballs out!”

“Listen to me, chaton. If life wasn’t so hell bent on fucking me over, I wouldn’t let you go, if you begged me. Unfortunately, in my world, you’re nothing but a pawn. A weakness. You’re a walking bullseye.”

“Bullseye? For whom--the cartel? The bad men you claim are after me? The same ones you work for, right? So, by default, aren’t you bad, too? The big bad wolf who eats young girls in the woods.”

Dark amusement shadows his stare, while his tongue slides across his teeth.

“What happens to the wolf if the girl bites back, huh? What if she’s just as hungry as he is?”

“You don’t want to taunt me, Céleste. Unless you’re looking to be fucked in more ways than one.”

“Because I make you weak? Or because you intend to turn me over, anyway?” A cold flicker in his eyes confirms my suspicions, and a knot twists in my stomach. That’s exactly what he intends to do. “What do you get out of it? A promotion? Your own personal harem to fuck every night?”

“Freedom.”

Well, I suppose that’s more worthy than free drinks for life at the bar. “What are you waiting for, then?”

“For my employer to return from business.”

Suddenly, everything makes sense. Why he’d keep me here. Away from civilization. Out of sight and out of mind. Why he’s avoided me for a week, because God forbid he might come to enjoy my company. Only a ruthless and conniving prick would have the balls to turn me over then, a plan that obviously hasn’t been entirely dismissed, where Thierry’s concerned.

I’ve read horror stories about the cartel. The way women are taken prisoner. Shared amongst them, or sold off to the highest bidder. How the man can sleep at night, knowing he’d be subjecting me to such a thing, only confirms he’s heartless. “As much as I’d love to avoid your riveting honesty, can you tell me what my future holds? The Cliff’s Notes version. What will they do to me? Torture me? Rape me?”

“Enough.”

“Why? Does it bother you? Is there some tiny little pinprick of light inside your fucking black heart, or something?” When he doesn’t answer, I swallow back the urge to cry right here on the bastard’s lap, like his pathetic little kitten, begging to be petted. “Sever it now, then. I’m sure the dirty cop will be more than happy to babysit me until your boss gets back.”

In spite of his maddening lack of response, I catch the tic of his jaw, telling me I’m hitting whatever soft spots this guy might have.

“I’ll bet his kink is bondage. Handcuffs. He definitely screams handcuffs.”

“I said enough of this. If you think an inexperienced homeless girl like yourself is capable of