She patted her mouth with her napkin when she was done and put her hands in her lap. “That was delicious, thank you. And I meant to tell you earlier, you have a great apartment.”
“It suited all my needs, including a parking spot in the basement garage. That’s not easy to find around here.”
“No kidding! When I first moved, I was stunned at how expensive a freaking parking spot was in the city. Needless to say, I won’t be buying a car.”
“I would get rid of mine, but I travel on occasion, so it’s necessary.”
“Where all have you been?”
“All over the world.”
“Okay,” she said in a sing-song voice. “What’s your favorite place you’ve been?”
“Probably the Swiss Alps in the summer. Everything is green and blooming, and it’s quite breathtaking. What about you?”
She smiled sadly. “I’m afraid I’ve never been much of anywhere. That’s why moving to the city was such a big deal for me. I’d love to travel one day, once I get this mess over with.” Her eyes dropped to her plate, zoning out for a moment before she stood and flashed an empty smile. “I’ll do the dishes. It’s only fair since you cooked.”
I carried my own plate to the sink and helped with the cleanup. I’d been on my own far too long to sit and watch while someone else cleaned my kitchen. We worked companionably, getting the kitchen spotless in a matter of minutes.
“I’d love to offer you a guest bed, but there isn’t one. The couch will have to do. I hope that’s okay.”
“Of course.”
“Good, then I’ll grab some blankets before I get in the shower, and you can make yourself comfortable.” I brought out all the spare bedding I had, then headed to the shower before I was tempted to do something stupid.
I stripped down and stepped into the battering spray, hoping it would wash away the desire that sparked in my veins every time I got close to Emily. Electric shocks pricked against my skin with the need to touch her. Holding myself back made it infinitely worse. I had needed a minute away from her to rein myself in, but my plan seemed to backfire.
The soothing caress of the water only served to arouse my pulsing lust, rather than douse it. Before long, I had a stranglehold on my cock, stroking myself with white-knuckled need. The need to free myself from my desire. The need to regain my control. The need to sink myself inside her. All of it collided into a thundercloud of lethal fury and sweltering desire.
Within minutes, my abs clenched and flexed, and my thighs trembled with impending release. Two more bruising pumps of my fist, and cum rocketed out from deep in my balls. The pressure inside me instantly ebbed as endorphins coursed through my veins.
It was my belief that lust was chemical. A simple bodily function that could be controlled without subjecting myself to the cloud of drama involved in being with a woman. In the past, my assertion had held true. I was able to retain control without lust taking over and warping my decisions.
My desire for Emily seemed to be different.
Even a release hardly served to diminish my consuming hunger for her. Within minutes, the pressure coiling my muscles was back and screaming for only one thing, but I refused to give in. Instead, I walked through the litany of reasons being with Emily would be a wretched idea and regained my control by sheer force of will.
Assuaging my growing need drew out my shower longer than I would have liked, especially knowing Emily was unsupervised in my apartment. My gut told me she wasn’t a threat to me—at least, not in a physical sense—but you could never be too careful.
I turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, noticing Emily had left her bag on the floor tucked between the toilet and the vanity. I wrapped a towel around me and placed her bag on the counter, unzipping the nylon duffel. At the bottom, under her wadded-up, dirty clothes, was a red leather wallet. I immediately examined its contents. Cash and no credit cards, as I’d suspected. A subway MetroCard, a reward punch card for a nail salon, two quarters, and a small key. It looked like it belonged to a lock box. I had no doubt the contents of said box would be interesting, but the key itself did little for me.
I started to close the wallet but decided to do one last search just in case. The credit card slots appeared empty, but this time, I slid my finger in each one and happened to notice a paper tucked inside the top slot. Not just a paper—a photograph. It was a picture of Emily with two small children, all three of them grinning widely, posed in front of a series of brightly colored porch umbrellas by a waterway. The picture might have been a couple of years old, but no more than that. The younger of the two kids was about three and clung to Emily like the two were very close.
Could she have children? She didn’t seem like the type to have left her kids behind, but who knew the exact circumstances. Had she hidden the kids from her ex, and that was why he was after her?
I could spend all night guessing and still never know the truth. It was just another puzzle piece to add to my collection. At some point, it would all form a coherent picture, but for now, I was no closer to an answer than I was when I first discovered she had a bounty on her head.
I could ask her outright. Tell her I had seen the bounty and demand answers, but I could see that conversation devolving quickly. Explaining how I knew about the bounty would be problematic. As I’d already established, people tended to have a visceral reaction to knowing I was an assassin. I was in no real hurry, and it would be best if I got my answers from her naturally. Plus, unfolding her little mystery was the best entertainment I’d had in years—at least, that’s what I told myself. If my reasons for wanting to learn more about her were more personal, I wasn’t ready to admit that fact.
Once I was dried off and dressed, I stopped in the living room to check on her. “You forgot this in the bathroom.”
She jumped up from her seat on the couch, where she’d made a makeshift bed for herself, and took her bag. “Thanks. Don’t want to forget that.” She sounded mildly embarrassed, and her gaze was a feather-light touch as it drifted from my wet hair down my damp chest and beyond.
I’d thought my little shower production had slaked my need, but with one casual perusal, I was right back where I started. Dangerously tempted. Swelling with need.
“I’m going to bed,” I barked. “You need anything?”
“No. Nope. I’m all good. Thanks.” She smiled tightly, and I couldn’t help but notice her nipples straining through her sports bra and thin workout tank.
Fuck me.
Needing to escape, I simply nodded and hurried back to my room, closing myself inside. Tomorrow, I’d get more answers, but for now, I needed a little distance from the sexual siren in my living room.
I had a feeling she was going to be the death of me, one way or another, and I had no one to blame but myself.
Chapter 9
Emily
I set my alarm for three a.m. and turned it to vibrate so it wouldn’t wake Tamir. I thought I would have passed out the minute the lights clicked off, considering everything that had happened that day. Not even close. For nearly two hours, I lay awake as my thoughts danced from one nausea-inducing subject to the next.
Had I been at home, I would have gone straight for the tequila. I wasn’t an alcoholic. I usually only drank, maybe once a week, but in times like these, a girl needed something to take the edge off. It was those precise thoughts, imagining the tang on my tongue and citrus smell biting my nose, that gave me enough reprieve from my worries to send me to sleep.