Page 22 of Viper

He threaded his fingers through her hair, cupped the nape of her neck, and tipped her head back. “Because I don’t want to do this shit anymore.”

She blinked three times. Stunned. “W-What?”

“Lie.”

She swallowed, but the lump in her chest that’d formed in the shower inched its way up to clog her throat. “I don’t understand.”

“I don’t want to lie to you anymore. Or to me.”

“You’re not making sense.”

“Like I said, this discussion would be better over coffee.” His thumb stretched easily to touch the corner of her mouth. “I want you, Paige. And this shit’s hard.”

She was falling. His words were like a symphony she’d pay millions to listen to but couldn’t afford. Her belly hummed with anticipation. The fatigue that’d plagued her moments ago was long gone.

She wanted him to keep talking. Needed to get lost in the sweet, melodic promises he sounded damn close to uttering.

“Atlas,” she breathed, remembering the reason he’d hurled at her a couple of months ago, which had stopped the similar conversation dead in its tracks. “What about Atlas? He-He doesn’t like the idea of . . .”

Us.

But she didn’t even want to say that for fear she’d misconstrued his intentions—or worse, jinxed there ever being an us.

His gaze, warm and gentle, held hers. His eyes were the safest ocean she’d ever swim in.

“Yeah. I’ve got a problem, don’t I?” he said dryly. “Morning. We’ll talk more then.” He brushed his lips over her forehead. “I’m just fucking glad you’re safe.”

He dropped his hand from her face and backed away. “G’night, Paige,” he called, disappearing into the living room. “Have a good sleep.”

She let her shoulders sink with disappointment, then crossed into the one and only bedroom and shut the door.

With temptation so close, she likely wouldn’t sleep at all.

Chapter Six

Troy stretched his arms over his head and let out a low groan. The cut on his midsection pulled, reminding him to lower his arms and jerking him further from sleep.

Though he hadn’t fucking slept much. He had a bad habit of late to bed, early to rise. When he wasn’t away on a mission, he stayed up working out, bingeing the latest TV show, or, on occasion, rolling in bed with a woman. His body was accustomed to waking with the sun—as it had today, despite the exhaustion making his eyes gritty.

The apartment building had a weight room, but it closed at 10:00 p.m., and he hadn’t been able to find anything decent on TV. Meeting a woman had been out of the question, especially when the only woman he wanted right now was in the next damn room. Sleeping in his bed.

So he’d lain on the couch wide awake for hours.

He’d also been hot as hell even with the AC pumping, likely because he’d been horny and no number of bathroom jerks had solved that problem. He rolled into a sitting position, forcing away the thought of Paige and any lingering brain fog.

Padding into the kitchen in his boxer briefs, he went to the cupboard and pulled down a mug. He started the pot that wasn’t set to run for another thirty minutes. At 6:00 a.m.

The machine chugged to life. He paced back across the living room to the patio door and pushed open the slider. Standing outside, he inhaled the deep, salty breeze and studied the boats bobbing in the turquoise water. He gripped the railing in his fists.

Last night had been a fucking rush, but the fact that the bastard had walked free was enough to drive him insane.

Craig was still fucking close. Waiting. Even if he tried to flee, he wouldn’t get far. Troy would make sure of that.

If there hadn’t been a previous victim, he wouldn’t have handed any information over to the cops. There wasn’t a chance in hell he’d even let that bastard rot in a cell with a life sentence. But the woman, Annamay Lewis, deserved justice. Her family closure. He’d let the police do their thing and take care of Craig one way or another.

The coffeemaker hissed and he turned around and nearly slammed into Paige. She stood at the open slider, his T-shirt skimming her thighs a few inches above her bare knees and her hands meshed in front of her.

“Hi,” she said simply, a shy smile on her lips.