Lies That Sinners Tell (The Klutch Duet 1)

But he let me go. Moved back to where he was sitting prior, the distance between us cold and jarring. I could do nothing but gape at him, breathing heavily while trying to get myself under control.

My chin burned where he’d gripped me, and my body quivered with need. But my brain was stubborn and petty, so I didn’t cross the distance he’d created. Instead, I pressed my thighs together.

And I waited.

We were back at the house in Malibu. I expected ghosts of the last time I was here to be lurking at the gate, waiting to slink through the crevices of the car to assault me with the memories of that night. But none came. Maybe I was too consumed with nerves over what was to come to recognize them.

Not just nerves. Excitement. Desire. Fear.

Maybe it was Jay. He was a ghost himself. A wraith. Something foreboding, forbidden, dangerous.

Jay hadn’t spoken to me since the ... interaction? If that’s what you’d call the moment it was made clear that this man was going to ruin me, body and soul.

The point of no return, perhaps?

I hadn’t spoken either. Though it should’ve been, the silence wasn’t awkward. It was loaded with sexual tension, promise.

Jay didn’t pull out his phone, as I’d half expected him to. To continue to play games with me. Which was what he was doing. Toying with me. I was his prey yet unwilling to escape.

He just stared. Mostly straight ahead, sometimes out the window, and to drive me insane, sometimes at me. Not sly, sideways glances. No. His full attention, up raking and down my body, finishing with my eyes.

I found it very hard to breathe during those moments. But I did not look away. I wasn’t sure if he respected that or not, since his expression stayed exactly the same.

I didn’t pull out my phone during the journey either. The urge to pull it out of my purse was there, of course. To use it as a shield, as something to divert my attention away from Jay. But I refrained. There were no shields here. No games being played on my side.

I weathered the silence, the building desire. Crossing my legs. Pressing them together. Crossing them again.

By the time the car stopped, I was near mad with need. Although the only touch that had passed between us was his fingers clasping my chin, my entire body felt like it needed just the slightest amount of friction to ignite.

I waited after Jay got out of the car. Not because I expected him to be chivalrous and open the door for me, but so I could collect myself. Jay was unflappable, not appearing to be even the slightest bit affected by the ride. I couldn’t exactly walk into the bright lights of his mansion looking like a sex starved maniac. So I took a moment, sucking in a couple of deep breaths.

By the time that was done, my car door opened.

Jay was not standing on the other side.

Karson was. I was surprised to see him, and I couldn’t hide that. Had he just been lurking around the perimeter, waiting for this?

Jay was waiting at the porch steps, staring intently at me.

I swallowed roughly, got out of the car on unsteady feet and nodded a thank you to Karson because I did not trust myself to speak.

Jay did not wait for me to catch up to him. He started walking when I did, opening the door to the house, leaving it open for me. Not holding it open. Leaving it there, leaving me awkwardly unsure as to whether I should close it myself. Was Karson going to come in? He was some kind of lackey, bodyguard, badass type person. I didn’t know what his job entailed. I was pretty sure Jay and I were about to have sex, and unless Karson’s job entailed doing things like participating in a devil’s threesome, I figured he’d be leaving. Although the fleeting thought of both men doing things to me at the same time turned me on, I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle that. Plus, Jay had me firmly under his spell, and no other man existed for me right now.

I closed the door and followed Jay’s dark shape through the halls of the house. There were lights on, a few to illuminate the way but not to light up all of the rooms like last time. The house was quiet and menacing with plenty of shadows. The click of my heels echoed through my skull, and the beating of my heart roared in my ears.

I could turn back now. I could run out the door, leave this all behind. Leave Jay behind. I’d probably be better for it. But I continued forward. Following the man in black. The wraith.

We passed the room I’d stayed in last time I was here, continuing own a long hall with the twists and turns of a dark maze. This house looked large on the outside but was even bigger on the inside. He was taking me farther and farther into his lair. To my damnation.