Pan's Salvation (Dueling Devils 5)

“Maybe I like your face.”

She huffed. “It’s more than that.”

“Wondering what you think about the roadhouse.”

“I can’t say until I taste their food.”

“I’m talking about the environment.”

Lark fidgeted in her seat.

His heart sank. This was his world. She had to be able to at least, moonlight in it.

“It’s not my normal scene, but you taught me, not all bikers are the stereotypical badasses who snatch up women in the night, steal candy from babies and start fights for no reason.”

Her dry tone made him snicker.

“Am I comfortable? No, but after what I went through, can you blame me?”

“No, I'm not mad at you. What I want to know is if you think you ever could be.”

“With time and some patience, yes. I can’t undo that memory, Hartley.”

Damn I love the sound of my name on her lips. “And I wouldn’t expect you to. I just want to keep things open and honest.”

“Okay, then tell me what the hell are we doing?”

Her words made him blink. “Well, I guess going on a date.”

“No.” She shook her head. “Us. What happens when the month is up?”

“I told you my terms,” he said careful to keep his guard up. If he handed her his heart, she could cut him down with a few sharp flicks of her tongue.

“Do you even want this? Am I alone here? Because I am out of my depth, doing things I

never imagined I’d enjoy and you’re…”

“Not?” he finished the sentence for her.

“Well, yeah.”

“Let me break it down for you, so you understand how far off the reservation I’ve traveled. I don’t bring women home. I fuck them at the club, their homes and hotels. They don’t enter my sanctuary. Until you…they were disposable. An amusing way to spend my time and they knew it. If nothing…I’m blunt and honest. You’ve seen that.”

She nodded.

“You want me to put a title on us, I can’t. Because you little bird…are a first.”

“Me?” She mouthed.

“Yes you, with those long legs, big brown eyes and that temper. I know you chose to submit to me. It’s not in your nature per say, it's how I personally make you feel and that gets me harder faster than anything else ever has in my life. I want to possess. Not like a child wants to show ownership over a toy, but like a warrior who wants to claim his woman.”

Her eyes flashed with the heat.

It burned him from the inside out. He held up a finger. “But only because you’ll allow me to.

In reality, it’s you who have the power. You’re the decision-maker. ”

Shocked, she blinked. “Me?” She placed a hand on her chest.