He saluted her.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing. Like I told Bête, Huwin Quiakides is a psycho.”
“But he’s the Prime Commander.”
He handed her his empty glass across the counter. “I keep forgetting that you haven’t spent a lot of time around us. Psycho’s normal.”
“You say that, but you seem rather normal to me.”
“I’m just a little better at hiding it, Eve. There’s no such thing as a sane League assassin. We are all one hair trigger from snapping and taking out everyone around us.”
She snorted at his words. “That’s normal in my realm. Believe me. Most days it wouldn’t take much for me to open fire and not stop shooting, either.”
“I doubt that.”
“Why? Because I’m a woman?”
“God, no. Some of the most lethal assassins we have are women. I’d much rather go against a man than a woman in that regard.”
“Then why?”
He glanced over to her windowsill. “Because as wrecked and unkempt as this place is, I can’t help but notice that none of your plants are even wilting. And last night, you could have easily left me for dead and you didn’t.” He gave her a probing stare. “You don’t like to see things die if they don’t have to.”
She ground her teeth at how astute he was. “And you didn’t have to come between me and Sicarius.”
He winked at her. “I did that for shits and giggles.”
“I don’t believe you.” She moved around the counter where he sat.
Smiling, she walked between his parted knees. “And yes, you can use my shower.”
Jinx couldn’t breathe as she invaded his personal space. Nor could he think straight.
This is why you keep distance from everyone.
Because honestly, she could slit his throat and he wouldn’t be able to react. Not while all of his blood was fleeing his brain and heading to a part of his body that had no business being so enticed by her or anyone else.
She bit her bottom lip and put her hands on his hips. “You didn’t answer my question. Are any more assassins stopping by?”
He swallowed hard as he struggled to keep his breathing steady. “No. Why?”
She reached up to touch his face.
Jinx caught her hand in his. “This is a dangerous game, Eve.”
“Are you going to hurt me?”
He could never cause her harm. But he couldn’t afford for her to know that.
She slid against him, making every inch of his body burn.
Eve knew she had no business doing this, but she couldn’t help herself. He was the epitome of forbidden fruit.
And she was unable to resist it.
But she was completely unprepared for the ferocity of his kiss. It was wild and blistering, and it left her breathless.
Without hesitating, he lifted her and pinned her to the wall. Her head spun from the passion and strength of him. From the raw, heady scent of leather and man.
While she’d had more than her fair share of strong, powerful men, none of them could compare to the restrained ferocity of this one.
It was like petting a wild beast you knew could turn around and rip you to shreds.
The danger was heady and intoxicating. Only an absolute fool would do this.
Yet she couldn’t say no. Against all sanity, she wanted him.
Jinx closed his eyes as she opened his uniform. You need to stop this. Now!
The final shred of common sense shouted at him. But honestly? He didn’t give a shit.
All too well, he knew that every breath he drew was likely to be his last. Death wasn’t just his constant companion, but a bitch he’d been courting since the day they’d ripped him out of his life and sold him to this brutality.
The only thing he wanted was one moment of peace.
One gentle touch.
He trembled as she nuzzled against his neck, her lithe body warming him all the way to his soul.
And when she stepped back and pulled her shirt off, over her head, he was sunk.
If he had to die, he could think of no better reason than for the touch of someone who wasn’t trying to kill or maim him.
For one precious moment of tenderness, he would gladly give up this wretched life he hated.
League and Code be damned.
If he’d learned nothing else last night, it was that he lived on borrowed time. A death sentence hung over him and sooner rather than later someone was going to collect it.
Fuck it. If he was going out, let it be for something he’d actually done than for the whims of a madman who’d killed his way to the top.
Eve gasped as Jinx picked her up. “You’re going to hurt yourself.”
“You don’t weigh enough to hurt me.”
She arched a brow at that bullshit. She was part Andarion. Her skeleton alone weighed twice what a normal woman’s did. But true to his words, he didn’t seem to notice as he started for her couch.
“You know, I do have a bed.” She gestured toward her hallway with her thumb.
He gave her an adorable grin before he changed directions.
Eve cringed as she realized just how unkempt her place was. She probably deserved the embarrassment.
But those thoughts scattered as Jinx carefully placed her on her unmade bed.
Jinx braced a knee against the mattress. It was thick and deep, but something sharp dug into his knee. Scowling at the aggravation, he shifted position and shrugged off his uniform, letting it fall behind him.
Her gasp fed his spirit and when he glanced up to meet her gaze, that, alone, fed his heart.
She licked her lips as her lids slipped lower, her gaze sharp as she skimmed every inch of him. Not as an assassin to be hated, but as a man she wanted to be with.
His heart pounding, he swept the pile of clothes to the floor, ignoring her snort.
“Those were clean.”
“Then you should have folded them.” He lowered himself over her, catching her next protest with his kiss.
Warm, luscious lips took his, cushioned his even though he wasn’t gentle. He wasn’t sure he knew how to be. His handful of encounters with women had been other assassins.
Half of their foreplay had involved slapping him and punching.
Drawing blood.
But the last thing he wanted was to hurt her in any way.
No, her sweet gentleness was what he was craving. A dying man starving for the taste of acceptance. For the return play of her tongue against his.
Jinx rose to his knees, so that he could pull off his undershirt and shorts.
Not to be outdone, Eve matched his moves by lifting her hips, and skimming her pants down her legs. Her face close to his body, she paused to leave a flurry of kisses around his bruised, multicolored flesh, avoiding his cuts.
Hands free, she cupped the ass she’d admired from across her living room.
His hard muscles tensed beneath her hands then released.
Jinx rolled to his side, then to his back, as he kicked free of the material. Eve stroked his body from shoulder to hip, watching as chill bumps spread in her wake.
She straddled his hips, very careful of how she moved. In spite of what he said, he had to be in pain. And by the scars on his body, she knew he’d been dealt enough of that in his life.
All she wanted was to give him comfort.
So she moved slow and easy, waiting to see if he’d object. Being an assassin, she would have assumed he would demand to be in control.