Kyler's Justice (Assassins of Gravas Book 3) - N.J. Walters Page 0,26

of my targets. You should run screaming.”

She gave him a lopsided, forced grin. “Maybe I’m not all that smart.” Scratch that, she was out of her ever-loving mind. Anyone else, she’d think them insane for what she was about to do.

“Life is short.” And hers was going to be snipped off soon unless a miracle occurred. She didn’t want to die a virgin, wanted to taste life before it was ripped away.

“What are you saying?”

He was going to make her say it. “I want you. In spite of everything, I want you.”

Chapter Seven

Kyler surged to his feet with Etta in his arms and strode down the hallway to her bedroom, half afraid he’d misheard or she’d change her mind. He’d been here before, but this time was different. This time he’d been invited.

He kicked the door shut behind him, shutting out the rest of the world. “There’s no one else in this room with us.” Their loyalties were divided, but that wasn’t enough to quell the desire that flowed between them.

“Only us,” she agreed.

Was this a ruse, some trick to get him to lower his guard? Mistrust was built into his DNA. He suspected everybody of ulterior motives. And Etta was no different. She wanted to live. But more, she wanted to save her sisters.

Maggs’s tearstained face appeared in his head but he shoved it away. “What about the girls?” The last thing he wanted was to be interrupted. He walked to the bed and set her down beside it. There was a chair in the corner. He took it and jammed it under the door handle. No one would take him unawares.

The damaged window had been replaced. He went to it and pulled the blinds, not about to give anyone a visual for a possible shot.

“Um, the girls usually sleep well once I’m here.”

He removed the cloak and draped it over the chair, making sure the weapons secreted into the inner pockets weren’t visible. It was either put it there or on the floor. Etta was shifting her weight from one leg to another, her gaze darting around the room and finally down at her feet, her uncertainty palpable.

“I can leave.” As much as he craved her closeness, wanted to strip her naked and lose himself in her sweet warmth, he would never push her into anything she didn’t want. There was no way he could leave her alone outside this room. She might panic and run. Or more likely, Balthazar or her father might come after her.

It would be a definitely pleasure to rid the world of those two.

“Stay.” With that single word, their path was set. A light pink crept up her face. “I guess I should get undressed.”

“Let me.” The top and pants she wore were shades of brown and crafted from sturdy fabrics designed to last. They were too rough for her skin. She should always be draped in soft, luxurious clothing or, better yet, his body.

He undid every fastener one at a time, the backs of his hands brushing against her breasts. Her breath hitched as he exposed one creamy inch at a time. As an assassin, he knew many ways to kill, was aware of every pressure point in the body and just how far it could be pushed.

The upside of that? For every way there was to bring pain, there were ways to bring pleasure. Seduction was a skill like any other. He’d learned it but employed it rarely. He was too forthright for those kinds of games.

Now, he was glad for those skills. He wanted to know what made her sigh, what pleased her. Every muscle in his body was tense with anticipation. And he was only getting started.

“Ky.” His name was a breathless whisper.

“Kyler. My name is Kyler el Darkos.” He never told anyone his birth name. It was information that could be used against him. But he needed to hear her say it. He was a ghost, sliding through the various worlds he visited, unseen and unacknowledged, living in the darkness alone. Only she could make him real, more than a shadowy killer.

“Kyler el Darkos.”

Everything inside him stilled before roaring to life. The world snapped into focus, no longer shadows and gray, but light and filled with color. It was as though he’d spent his entire life searching for this particular moment.

“It suits you,” she continued, blithely unaware of the raw emotions slamming him. “It’s substantial and serious.” Her soft smile had his heart racing and his cock hard