All words left my parted mouth.
He lowered his head and nipped lightly at my bottom lip.
Instant heat. Electric arousal. Maddening beyond just erotic. Ravenous dominance.
With each slip of his tongue, each brush of tender mouth, each exquisite ripple rushing through me, he drew out the fiery anticipation, drove the urgency of needing him to a new height.
I pulled back. “I want you now.”
Growling, he kissed me harder as if the other kisses were when he’d had control. This showed the wild, dark, and fractured parts of him. This kiss clouded my vision, my ability to think.
His mouth deliciously bruised mine, violent and full of pleasure. My lips tingled and were sure to be swollen.
He explored his hands along my body as if to let me know we would be slow, but in the steamiest way. His fingers gave me silky caresses. Skillful gives-and-takes. Raw tenderness.
I came close to begging for more, needing more than his gentle mouth.
And then he stepped back, letting go of me and taking those lips away. “Get some sleep.”
“I don’t want to sleep right now,” I whispered.
A smile curved on his face. “Is that right? What do you want to do, Zuzu?”
“See your cock.”
He hissed and looked like he was close to tearing my clothes off. “I had no idea how nasty your mouth could be.”
“You should see how much Zuzu has grown up.”
“You’ve won.” He grunted. “I’m no longer calling you Zuzu. You’ve ruined the nickname with that dirty mouth.”
“Good.”
A knock came from the door.
“Give me a minute,” Hunter called out to whoever was on the other side.
I jumped. “Who the hell is that? I thought we were the only ones here.”
“Baptiste. He’s one of my men. He’s staying with us.” Hunter’s gaze slipped across my body and then he ran his fingers through my hair. “I’m going to talk to him. Get some sleep.”
“Well…I believe that we’re not done talking either…or kissing.”
“No?” He licked his lips and to my surprise, he rubbed his hand along the front of his pants, exposing the long print of his length against the fabric. “Zola…I fucking want you. There should be no doubt about that.”
I inched closer to him.
“Give me a minute.” He let go of his cock. “Get some sleep. Let me focus tomorrow. Twenty-four hours isn’t up yet.”
“Twenty-four hours?”
“I wanted to catch this guy by that time.”
“Do you think you could?”
“I’ll damn sure try. I want this threat gone.” His gaze fell to my lips. “And then…maybe we can explore—”
“Maybe?”
“We will.”
“We have to.” I closed the distance and pressed my body against him. “This…this could be worth it.”
“I know it would be.” He wrapped his arms around me. “But first…let me protect you, and then…”
He took my lips and sipped all doubt away.
“Hunter,” I moaned.
“You promise?”
“What?” I asked.
Fear blazed in his eyes. “I won’t lose you, if we try…if we do this?”
“Never.”
Another knock came. A dark, gruff voice followed and held an accent. “Hunter, you need to see this.”
Hunter’s body tensed against mine, and then he let me go. “I’ll be right back.”
He walked off.
Because the guy’s voice held an urgency to it, I decided to follow Hunter too. Whatever it dealt with possibly concerned me, and I definitely needed to know.
We both walked out into the living room. Hunter glanced my way but didn’t say anything as he turned to his man. “What’s up, Baptiste?”
A tall black man stood in the center of the room. He had a bald head and lots of muscles. I hadn’t expected anything less from one of Hunter’s men.
Baptiste gestured to a big black hat box on the table. “This was on Zola’s bed.”
“What?” I shook my head. “That’s not mine.”
“When I’d scoped out the room, I saw it, but figured it was Zola’s hat box. But when I set the box on the dresser, I noticed how heavy it was and…the smell couldn’t be denied.” Baptiste turned to me. “Sorry, but I opened it.”
“Oh no.” I shook my head. “Of course…that’s fine.”
“I opened it and knew this couldn’t be Zola’s. This was a message from the stalker.” Baptiste touched the top of the box but didn’t lift it as he looked at Hunter. “She shouldn’t see what’s inside.”
I held my hand on my chest. “What’s inside?”
Baptiste glanced at Hunter.
Hunter nodded for him to tell me.
Baptiste shook his head. “There are gold, metal roses inside and on top of each one is a human eyeball.”
My whole body trembled. I stumbled back and sat down. Hunter walked over to me. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.” I cleared my throat. “I just needed to sit down after that information.” I did my best to keep my hands from shaking. “Are you sure those are actual human eyes?”
“I’m a connoisseur of body parts,” Baptiste boasted. “Those are definitely eyes, but I would add that the person took it from bodies that had been dead for a while. Rigor mortis has long set in on them. The whites are gray and—”