moment, with the man I’d fallen deeply in love with.
I gripped Ren’s arms, and I don’t know how I ended up on my back, but he was over me, and the tips of his fingers were trailing down the side of my face and over the curve of my jaw. I was finding it hard to breathe.
Ren brought his mouth to mine. The kiss didn’t start off slow. He nipped at my lower lip, causing me to gasp. As my lips parted, he took full of advantage of that. He still tasted of mint, and as his tongue curled around mine. I reached up and dragged my hand through his messy, silky hair.
A thousand questions were whirling in my head. There was so much we needed to talk about, but I couldn’t think beyond the way he felt and tasted, of how his body felt on top of mine.
I jerked when his cool fingers coasted over the skin of my stomach and up my side, to the strap of my bra. His lips left mine, trailing down my neck. Eyes closed, I tipped my head back, giving him more access. His hand closed over the cup of my bra, causing my back to arch. My hips rose out of instinct, moving restlessly against him.
I paused, my eyes fluttering open. I didn’t feel him, which was odd, because for Ren there was normally no hiding how interested he was, and he was always interested. Was he really into this or—Oh gosh, I stopped that mess of thoughts from continuing, but I planted my hands against his chest. “Do you . . . do you want to slow down?”
“Stop?” He shifted then, sliding a strong leg between my thighs, hitting that spot with shocking accuracy. “That’s the last thing I want to do.”
“You don’t—”
His mouth silenced my questions, and he was kissing me again like before, leaving little room for thought.
Ren’s hands got involved again, and his touch had warmed, so when I jumped this time it was because his fingers had made their way under the cups of my bra. “Amazing,” he murmured, sliding his other hand down to my hip. He urged me to move, and it really didn’t take much. I rocked my hips, riding his thigh as I slipped my hands under his shirt.
His mouth lifted. “Do you want—?” A knock on his front door drew his attention. He turned his head, looking over the back of his couch. A moment passed and then his eyes found mine. “Ignore it.”
I was down for that.
Ren’s fingers shoved my bra aside. The knocks got louder. His thumb coasted over my nipple.
The banging at the door continued, this time followed by a voice. “Ren, if you’re in there, I need you to open this damn door right now.”
Vaguely recognizing the voice, I groaned under my breath as I pulled my hands out from underneath his shirt. “You should probably get that.”
Ren made a low, growly sound in the back of his throat as he lifted himself up off of me. It was a little scary and kind of hot, even though I wasn’t entirely sure he was that into what was going on.
He swung his legs off the couch and rose swiftly. I sat up and fixed my bra so I didn’t have a boob hanging out, then tugged my shirt down. Ren was by the door when I peered over the back of the couch. He opened it, and I saw immediately why I had recognized the voice.
Henry strode right on in, brushing past Ren. His gaze cut to where I was peeping over the cushion, and he sneered in a way that made me feel like he was a second from spitting on the ground. “Well, that fucking explains why you haven’t been answering your damn phone.”
Ren shoved the door shut then turned, facing Henry.
“Where in the fuck have you been?” Henry demanded. “Kyle said you were reliable and that we could count on you. So far the only thing we can count on is you spending your time getting fucked.”
My brows rose. “Hi, Henry.”
He twisted toward me, giving Ren his back. “Thought you haven’t heard from him, huh?”
I smiled tightly, deciding I didn’t feel like clarifying that I hadn’t heard from Ren until an hour or so ago. I was really beginning to not like this guy’s attitude.
“This is bullshit,” Henry snapped, his gaze drifting over my face like he could actually see what he’d just interrupted and he was disgusted about it. Now I was feeling pretty insulted. “Ren, you cannot be ser—”
Henry’s neck twisted abruptly to the right. I straightened, pushing off the back of the couch as I noticed Ren’s hands on either side of Henry’s head. Then Ren removed his hands, and Henry folded, smacking to the floor with a deafening thud.
Ren had snapped Henry’s neck.
Chapter Nineteen
The sound of bone snapping echoed in my head, bouncing off my skull. A moment or two passed and Ren looked up, exhaling heavily. “He is quite annoying.”
My mouth dropped open.
“Well, he was quite annoying,” Ren clarified as he glanced down. “Not so much anymore.”
I exploded off the couch like a detonated bomb. “What the hell?”
Confusion flickered over his handsome face before his features smoothed out. “Ivy—”
“You just broke his neck!” Holy crap. Holy shit. I shot around the couch, my stomach dropping to the floor when I saw Henry lying there, arms splayed out, eyes glazed over, his head twisted at an unnatural angle. “You just freaking killed him.”
“Yeah,” he said. “I did.”
Blinking, I tore my gaze from Henry and looked at Ren. “That’s all you have to say? Yeah, you did? Ren,” I all but shrieked, “you just killed him!” I pointed at Henry just in case he was confused about who I was talking about. “Holy shit, Ren. Why would you do something like that? I mean, yeah, he was annoying, but you can’t just kill someone because he has bad timing.” I bent over, grabbing my knees as my stomach churned. “Shit, Ren, we’re going to be in so much trouble. So much—”
“He knew what you are.”
I stiffened like steel had been dropped down my spine. “What?” I whispered.
“He knew that you were the halfling,” he repeated. “He had to die.”
Maybe it was the shock of everything—Ren unexpectedly returning and being okay with what I was and then snapping Henry’s neck like it was a twig—because I suddenly wanted to laugh, but nothing was funny about any of this.
“How?” I croaked out. “How did he know?”
“I don’t know,” he answered.
My brows furrowed. “Then how do you know he knew? And if he knew, then that means Kyle knows. And if they know, then how am I still standing here? They’ve had ample opportunity to come after me.” I scrubbed my hands down my face. “They don’t seem like the type to wait around.”
“They will if they believe you will lead them back to the prince,” Ren replied, kneeling at the side of Henry’s body. He reached into the pocket of the man’s tactical pants and pulled out a cell phone. “After all, they wouldn’t want to just take out the halfling.”
But taking me out would be an end to one of the major problems we faced. At least temporarily, until the prince located another female halfling. But with me out of the picture, they’d have more time to figure out how to kill the prince. Having a special stake was only going to get them so far.
Ren shoved Henry’s phone into his pocket and rose. “I’m sorry that this bothered you, but it had to be done.”
I inhaled sharply. Did it? If Henry knew what I was, he was a danger to me. So was Kyle. I got that. I also got that Ren was protecting me, but he’d just killed a man and it hadn’t even fazed him.
“I need to take care of the body,” he said, stepping over said body. Then he was in front of me. I jerked when he curved his hand around the nape of my neck. “I should do this alone.”
I was at a loss for words, my heart beating so fast I felt sick.
“It’ll be okay. I promise.” He lowered his head, kissing me, but I didn’t feel it. My entire being was numb. “I’ll catch up with you later,” he said.
I found myself nodding and then I slipped free. I gathered up my weapons and started to pass Ren, but he caught my arm. My gaze flicked to his. “You know I had to do this, right?” he asked.
I