Sinful Hands (Chained Hearts Duet 3)

I hesitate, because it’s a long way to walk. And the bus doesn’t reach my neighborhood from here.

“If you touch me, or fucking smell me, I will hit you in the face this time,” I warn.

“So violent.” He tsks. “Are you sure you aren’t made for me?” He holds open the passenger door of his car for me to get in. I slide onto the leather seat, and he closes the door before making his way around to the driver’s side. Glancing back to the brownstone I just came out of, Keir is watching us. “Are you hungry?” I swing my head to face him.

“I’m not eating with you. I haven’t forgotten what you did.” I pull my bag tighter in my lap to cover the reaction my body seems to have being around him, his smell effects me as well. Maybe not the same, but somehow it does.

“I promise not to tie you to a bed again unless you ask me.”

I scoff. “That will never happen.”

“Oh, I think it will.” He keeps driving, not sparing me a glance to see my reaction, which is one of awe and frustration at his persistence. “Now, food. What do you feel like?”

“Home,” I answer him. “My bed.”

“Is that an invitation?”

“Fuck, no.” I scrunch my face up at his words while shaking my head. Goddammit, this man does not get the hint!

“You want to fuck instead? Because all I got out of that sentence was ‘fuck.’”

“Eat a dick and die,” I seethe.

“I hope you don’t speak like this to my cousin’s kid.”

“No, my extra foul mouth is solely and unequivocally reserved for you, which you seem to excel at provoking.” I smile mockingly.

“I aim to please.” He smiles right back, but his is way too sincere, then pulls up to a fast-food drive-thru and places his order. He looks at me and raises a brow.

“Nuggets,” I tell him with a sigh. He orders me a meal, and once we have it, he stops in the parking lot to hand me my food.

“I won’t apologize,” he states. I stare at his mouth as it wraps around his burger, and he takes a bite.

Why the fuck is that sexy?

And why can I imagine so clearly those lips biting me?

“Okay.” I didn’t expect him to apologize, so why would that surprise me.

“I did what was necessary.”

“Tying me to a bed was necessary?” I ask, baffled at his words.

“At the time it was.”

“You’re fucked-up.”

“So you keep telling me. But here you are, in my car with the food I bought you.”

“I can throw the food out and walk if that’s what you want?” I question, holding the food in my hand, winding down the window, ready to do just that.

“No, I’m just pointing it out. You see me as a monster who’s going to corrupt your brother, who, might I add, came to me. But here you are….” He pauses, lifts his drink for a sip, then smirks. “I can’t be that bad now, can I?” I hate that I feel odly comfortable around him.

“My standards are low, as you can tell.” I grab a chicken nugget and put it in my mouth. His eyes are transfixed on me as I bite. It’s not sexy, but the way he’s staring me down, it’s making me feel like it’s an incredibly sexual act for him. I look away, not wanting his gaze on me a second longer, even though I know he won’t look away because he has absolutely no shame whatsoever. “Do you even care that you killed Chase?” I ask.

It’s been playing on my mind.

Repeatedly, over and over again, I watch him die in front of me.

Chase was married, and now…he’s dead.

“Not a fucking regret.” He smiles and reaches for one of my nuggets before throwing it into his mouth.

“He was married,” I state.

“And his wife is living happily and well off now that her cheating husband isn’t around anymore.”

“Oh, that’s funny. How you use the word cheating as if it’s a bad thing.”

“It is.” His eyes bore into me. “It’s low.”

“And killing someone isn’t?”

“No. Life comes and goes. One day my life will end, then yours, and so on. It’s a natural progression. Sticking your dick into someone while you’re committed to someone else is nasty, and they should be buried if they don’t have the balls to leave that relationship beforehand.”

“Most of my clients come to me because they want things they’re too afraid to ask their wives for,” I tell him, and his jaw clenches at my words. “And I let them. I let them fuck me into next Sunday. I let them tie me down.” I add that last part for his benefit.

His teeth are grinding against each other as he listens to my words.

“Does that make you mad, knowing how I fucked those men? How I fucked Chase?” I almost whisper. Let’s face it, he can’t kill Chase because he’s already dead so I use him as an example.