Eyes unblinking, he ran them down her shoulder length blonde hair and over her small, plump breasts to her slim, curvaceous waist. From there, they roamed over the full swell of her hips and down her long legs to her feet. He noticed for the first time that she was wearing heels, her toes exposed to the elements. The sight of her cold feet caused him to snap out of his reverie and his eyes darted back up to her face. He was trapped in her eyes again as she smiled awkwardly, making him wonder if she could feel the tension between them as clearly as he could. He took in the whole of her face one more time, watching as her cheeks flushed pink under his scrutiny.
“I’m fine.” Lily finally responded and took a step towards him. Her knees felt as though they had turned to jelly under the intensity of his gaze and suddenly she didn’t want to leave. Suddenly, staying near this man seemed perfectly reasonable.
He pursed his lips as he stared at her a moment longer and then moved towards his apartment door. Turning the key in the lock, he pushed the door open and walked in. Lily followed him and watched as he walked over to another door, seemingly checked it was locked and then promptly dropped every blind in the room. He disappeared into another room, and when he returned, he had a cigarette balanced on his lower lip.
Her eyes followed the movement of his hand as it slipped into his jeans pocket, and when it reappeared he was holding a small steel Zippo in between his index and middle finger. Her eyes stayed fixed on it as he raised it up and flicked it open, sparking it into life and bringing it to the tip of his cigarette. The long flame seemed to die for a moment as he sucked on the cigarette, tugging the flame to it and causing the end to glow red. As he moved the lighter away, the flame danced back into life, and he stared at it with a look of fascination in his eyes before he flipped the Zippo shut, effectively killing the flame. He released a long stream of blue grey smoke with a sigh, and her eyes fell to his mouth, her knees weakening as she felt his gaze on her again.
“Bugger!” He rolled his eyes and his jaw clenched.
Lily jumped slightly at his sudden outburst. It had torn straight through her daydream about his mouth.
“Sorry. God, I’m a complete wanker.”
She watched in confusion as he disappeared into the room again. A few minutes later, he returned with a whole heap of clothes and a bathrobe. Seeing the dry clothes in his arms, she realized that in her constant daydream she’d forgotten that hers were soaked. She looked down at her body and her eyes widened when she saw her hard nipples were evident through the thin material of her halter-top. Swallowing hard, she wrapped her arms around her chest in an attempt to hide them from him.
“If you wanted to... get out of those...” Cain cursed himself for suddenly feeling like a pathetic schoolboy, but she was looking up at him with such large trusting eyes that it was making it hard for him to concentrate. “Look. Clothes. Dry. Your clothes. Wet... comprende?”
She nodded.
He pointed to the room he kept disappearing into. “Please, be my guest.”
Lily gathered up the bundle of clothes that he offered to her and slowly walked over to the room. She was thankful that he didn’t appear to be following her, and when she flicked the light on and the room was revealed to her, she was doubly thankful. It was a bedroom. An expansive bed was laid out in front of her, but other than it and a few scraps of furniture, the room was empty. She couldn’t take her eyes off the bed. What kind of guy had black silk sheets?
The tiny bubble of panic in her stomach exploded into a turbulent ocean of fear. She shut the door and hurriedly peeled off her wet clothes. Keeping one eye on the closed door at all times, she picked through the clothes he’d given her, and slipped into a pair of sweat pants and an oversized black t-shirt.
Clinging onto her wet clothes, she re-emerged and shut the door behind her. Noticing that the man was nowhere to be seen, she let her eyes wander around his apartment. It was as sparsely furnished as his bedroom, and the walls were greying with age and neglect.
As her eyes fell on the closed door opposite her, she remembered him checking that it was locked. It had been the first thing he’d done on entering the apartment. He’d walked straight in and checked that door. She felt the weight in her hands disappear and she jumped, her heart leaping into her throat as she did so.
“Jittery little chit, aren’t you?” He smiled.
She noticed that he was standing no more than a foot away from her, and he was now holding her wet things. She hadn’t even heard him approach.
How the hell did he do that? She offered him a slight smile.
“I’ll hang these in the bathroom,” He hollered as he walked off behind her. “There’s tea in the kitchen. It’ll warm you up.”
Lily still stared at the locked door, her mind racing through all the possibilities of what he had to hide.
Maybe he just didn’t like strangers near his stuff. It was perfectly reasonable. He probably had expensive stuff in the room and she couldn’t blame him for being cautious. After all, she had nothing and he knew it. She hoped he didn’t think she was out to rob him. She laughed internally at that. She was worried about him thinking bad things about her, and all this time she’d been thinking bad things about him. Well, some of it was bad. The rest, she didn’t know what to make of that. She tried to take her eyes off the door but found she couldn’t.
“You’re a little quiet. You sure you’re alright?”
She jumped again and her gaze darted between the door and him. His eyes followed hers to the door and he narrowed them.
Catching her around the shoulders, he marched her over to the couch and sat her down on it, then walked away. Lily blinked as the feeling of his hands echoed on her skin.
* * *
The man placed the tea down on the coffee table in front of her and then settled on the other couch. He leaned his elbow on the arm of it and supported his chin on the pad of this thumb while his index finger played idly on his lips.
She picked up the tea and tried to ignore the feeling of his eyes boring into her.
“Thanks... wow... God, I’m so rude. I don’t even know your name.” She turned to look at him and he seemed to be carefully weighing up his answer.
“Cain.” His lips played into a smile as her eyes widened.
“Did your mother call you that?” She almost wanted to tease him by asking if he had a brother named Abel.
“No. My associates.”
She frowned. She had expected him to say ‘friends’ but instead he’d chosen to call them ‘associates’. Either it was a British thing or he was the kind of guy who didn’t make friends.
“So... got a name for me in there?” His voice was low, nothing more than a purr. He gave her a little smile when she blushed violently and she wondered if her reaction had satisfied him somehow.
“Lily,” she said shakily and held her mug in both hands to stop the tea from spilling over her as her fingers trembled. Apparently it wasn’t just his eyes that could do things to her.
“Did your mother call you that?” Cain teased.
“Yes.” Lily sipped her tea to steady herself.
A split second of palpable silence descended on the room, and she cursed herself for answering him so curtly.
“So, Lily.” Cain pronounced her name pointedly and watched her cheeks glow pink again. He took a drag on the remains of his cigarette and reminded himself to play nice. He stubbed the cigarette out and then slouched back into his seat. “Runaway, huh?”
She frowned for a moment before setting her tea down on the table and curling up on her couch. He couldn’t blame her for being confused. One moment ago he was turning on the charm, and the next he was being nothing more than friendly.
“Would you be surprised if I said it was because of a man?” she said, a little embarrassment in her eyes.
“Not really. Where do you hail from?”
“Hail?” She raised a brow at him.
“Come from, where do you come from?” He watched her as she caref
ully considered her answer, and the corners of his mouth twitched into a fraction of a smile. He liked how cautious she was around him. In some twisted way, it made him feel satisfied.
“How about I save you the questions? I come from LA. I stole a few hundred bucks from my bastard of a father and ran away to New York. I was involved in a relationship with a guy seventeen years older than me, twice my age. He told me he loved me and then left me. I went to see him tonight. He wasn’t alone.”
Cain’s jaw tensed as she paused to take a breath.
“I have no money, no clothes, no place to go. I have nothing. I’m destitute and before you ask, I can’t go home... not now, not ever. I’m sitting in a strange guy’s apartment, after the weirdest evening of my life, and the only thing that makes this whole night worse is I think I should be scared... only I’m not.” She stared into his eyes.
His look softened, showing her that he understood the things she’d gone through all too well.
“You really think I’m strange?” He smiled, hoping to lighten the atmosphere a touch.
She giggled slightly.
“Yep. What kind of guy brings a girl he doesn’t know back to his apartment? Either you’re after something from me, or you really are just being sweet.”
“Think that’s the first time someone’s said I was sweet.” He winced inside as better words to describe himself drifted into his head. Gun, hit man, killer, murderer...
“Be honest with me. You really aren’t after something?” Lily didn’t know whether she wanted him to say he was or he wasn’t, but one thing was clear—part of her wanted him to be attracted to her.
“Honestly?” He pulled a thoughtful face. “Not after anything. Let’s just say I have a soft spot for runaways, having been one myself.”
Cain watched her eyes widen slightly and her mouth formed an ‘o’. It was at that moment that he realized he really didn’t want anything in return. All he wanted to do was shield her from the life that most runaways ended up with—a life like his. As his eyes settled back on hers, he felt something flare up in him. She was looking at him with such an innocent expression that he found himself wanting to wrap her up in his arms and protect her from the world.
He stood quickly and, without looking at her, walked into the kitchen. He grasped hold of the edge of the counter and leaned towards it, his head falling forwards as he bent over. Staring at the tiles below his feet, he struggled to level his breathing out. This wasn’t good. He’d survived nine years in New York without feeling so much as an ounce of what she’d just inspired in him and on some remote level he’d panicked. Panic wasn’t good. Panic caused you to fuck up. Panic got you killed.
He brought his fist down hard on the counter and screwed his face up until it echoed his inner turmoil.
“She’s just a girl. Keep your distance, be professional, get her out of your life.” He wished it would be that easy, but a tiny voice inside him said she was in his system now. He was going to crave her pretty smiles and warm looks until it killed him.
Walking back out into the living room, he kept his face impassive as Lily turned around to look at him, her eyes large and soft.
“You okay?”
Her words cut into him like a knife, slicing away another part of his defenses.
“It’s been a long day. You should get some sleep. You must be tired,” he said flatly, his voice cold.
She frowned for a split second. “Not really, but... you seem kinda cranky, I’ll just...”
Cain pointed to his bedroom. “It has a lock. I won’t be offended.”
She frowned again before standing and walking over to the room that he was still pointing at, his head hung slightly.
“Cain?” Lily turned around in the doorway.
He closed his eyes and inhaled sharply. He felt it in his chest, her soft voice breathing his name and causing his ears to ring with it as another crack appeared in his defenses.
“Yeah?” He turned his head slightly and looked at her.
“Thanks.” She smiled warmly, and his breath caught in his throat. “Night.”
The door closed and he ran his hands over his hair in frustration. Slumping down onto the couch, he lay on his back and stared at the ceiling.
Tomorrow she was out of here. He’d find her somewhere else to go and she’d be gone. Life would go back to normal. He’d forget about her. Something wrenched inside him, and he realized it wasn’t going to be that simple.
Closing his eyes, he let out a long sigh and recounted the events of the evening. It had all gone smoothly until one tiny moment, one infinitesimal point where his world had been somehow turned on its head by nothing more than a young woman.
He’d spent nine years outrunning fate and love, keeping himself free of ties to the world and emotions. Tonight they’d caught up with him and now they were giving him hell to make up for lost time.
He listened to the sounds of movement in his bedroom and screwed his face up, trying to shut out his thoughts of Lily. Even her name was sweet like honey to him, sticky and poisonous.
Grabbing a cushion, he held it over his face and growled into it.
“Sleep. Shut down. Switch off. Sleep.”
He willed himself into an uncomfortable and restless slumber.
* * *
Chapter 2
Lily tentatively eased the bedroom door open a crack, expecting to see Cain on the couch. He wasn’t there. Frowning to herself, she walked out of the room and looked around the apartment. She stared at the locked door for a moment before heading around the corner and into the kitchen.
“Not here.” She mumbled when she saw it was empty and walked back out again.
After another sideward glance at the door, she headed back towards the bedroom and down the little hallway that she’d noticed last night. At the end of it was a bathroom, and she saw her clothes hanging up over the bath. She touched them and smiled when she found they were dry.
Standing still for a moment, she listened hard for any sign that he was still in the apartment. When no noises reached her ears, she leaned over the bath and turned the shower on hot, and then closed the bathroom door. Slipping out of his baggy clothes, she stepped under the water and leaned her head back. She sighed. She’d never realized a shower could feel so comforting.
Having cleaned up and dried herself off, she dressed in her own clothes and pulled her hair back into a ponytail. She sighed at the sight of herself in the mirror and then looked down at the array of toiletries in front of her. Reaching out, she hesitated for a moment before picking up his toothbrush. Her thumb ran over the bristles. It was already damp. She surmised that wherever he was, he had clean teeth.
Squeezing some toothpaste onto it, she ran it under the faucet again and then popped it into her mouth, scrubbing her teeth hard while staring at herself blankly in the mirror.
She swilled her mouth out, spat it into the sink and then rinsed his toothbrush, placing it back into the holder.
Lily walked out of the bathroom feeling a good seventy percent better than when she’d gone in. Her eyes roamed around his apartment and her feet followed them, her fingers idly reaching out and touching things as she passed. Weaving her way across the room, she found herself standing by the door again. She looked at it as though it was an insurmountable barrier between her and the something that was on the other side, something that was bound to be interesting. Things kept behind locked doors were always interesting.
Reaching out slowly, she bit her lip as it edged towards the handle. Her heart raced and her mouth went dry. The moment her fingertips reached the handle, the front door swung open and she let out a small squeak as she leapt backwards.
Cain arched a brow at Lily. He tightened his grip on the large brown grocery bag held under one arm and slowly closed the front door with his other.
She smiled coyly and waved. “Hi.”
He noted her forced cheerfulness and her proximity to the door. She seemed to be an overly curious kind of girl.
“Hello yourself,” He said, keeping his expression and voice emotionless.
She followed him into the kitchen and hopped up onto the counter, smiling when he looked at her.
“I was starting to wonder where you’d gone,” she said breezily.
He froze midway through unpacking the bag when her words registered in his head. She was wondering where he was?
Shaking his head to clear it of the stupid notions that had started dwelling there, he continued to pull things out the bag. When he finished, he lit up a cigarette and pushed a small white paper box towards her.
“For me?” She smiled sweetly.
He nodded.
Opening it up, Lily saw all kinds of sweet things but she smiled most of all at the sight of the muffins.
“I didn’t feed you last night. Figured you’d be on the verge of dying now if you had been starving like you said you were.”
“Thanks.” She pulled a muffin out of the bag and picked at it before remembering her manners. “Want one?”
“I’m good.” He took another drag on his cigarette and flicked the coffee machine on. He turned back around to look at her. “See you found your clothes.”
“Yeah. I took a shower. I hope you don’t mind.” She popped a piece of blueberry muffin into her mouth.
Cain groaned internally over the images of her in the shower that were now filling his head. Instead of answering, he took another long drag on his cigarette and watched her devour the things he’d bought her. She was right—she was starving.
“Cain?”
Killing Game Page 2
