But when his hand cracked down on her ass, not hard enough to hurt, but with enough sting that she felt him there, Luna was quick to nod.
“Then use your manners, mi pequeña luna,” he said, finally working his fingers along the edge of her panties and started to pull them down.
The kiss of air on her exposed sex had an appreciative sound reverberating in his chest. Could he see the proof of her desire for him? Could he see just how wet she was?
“I have remarkable patience,” he noted and she could almost hear the smile in his voice. “I’ll keep you like this all night.”
“Kit, please …”
“Please, what?” he asked and she felt his fingers now sliding up her inner thigh, touching everywhere but where she wanted him.
The heat in her face prevented her from answering as shyness overtook her. There were so many things she wanted him to do, yet she couldn’t find the words to tell him a single one.
“Please, touch me,” she finally managed to say, her throat feeling tight.
“I am,” he said punctuating the words with a squeeze of her thigh, his thumb so close to her opening that she squirmed to get him there, but Kit held fast. “Ask for what you want, Luna, or I’ll take what I want.”
She knew what she wanted, was practically screaming it in her head, but at his threat, she didn’t forget what she wanted to say—she just didn’t say it, biting her bottom lip to keep from even opening her mouth.
She wanted whatever he would give her—however he gave it.
When she didn’t respond for several seconds, Kit sighed like he was disappointed, but then he was rubbing circles over her clit and she couldn’t care less that he wasn’t pleased with her.
“You could have asked for anything,” he said on a whispered breath. “If you would have asked me to make you come, I would have—because that’s what you really want, isn’t it? You’re so fucking wet it wouldn’t take anything to get you off.”
God, she was almost there right then, like his words were directly linked with her pussy. And as he said it, that was exactly what she wanted, then maybe she could finally think clearly.
“But now I have to drag this out because you want to be fucking stubborn,” he said, though he sounded as though that was exactly how he liked her. He was still circling those fingers, dragging her higher until sharp moans were clawing their way out of her throat as she ground her hips against his hand.
Before she could lose herself in it, however, his free hand came up to wrap her hair around his fist and pulled. “How long do you think it will take before I break you?”
Luna tried to answer, but even she didn’t understand what had left her mouth.
At first, he was contented with rubbing over her clit, but then he was going lower before pushing two fingers into her dripping sex.
Every part of her hummed with pleasure as her body jerked and she pressed back against him. She had never imagined it could be like this—that there was no cloying pain and he was completely focused on her.
And when he pressed against that wondrous spot inside her, she gave him what he wanted. “Please, make me come.”
“Then be a good girl for me and count,” he whispered a moment before he pulled his fingers free, and pushed her back down onto the bed.
Shoving her hair back out of her eyes, Luna tried to make sense of what he meant, let alone see him, but he was just out of her line of sight.
“Don’t worry,” he said softly, wet fingers gliding over her ass. “I’ll go easy on you this first time.”
He gave no further warning before his touch was gone, only to come back down with a sharp crack, one that sounded louder than it was painful.
“Count, Luna, lest you make me forget how old you are.”
Was that how many times he planned to …
Her cheeks heated at what he was about to do to her, even as she stammered out the number he wanted. And the moment she said it, another landed.
And another.
Until she was mindlessly keeping track, her eyes squeezed shut. He never hit the same spot twice, nor did he let up in intensity, but she realized all too quickly with each third hit that he landed, his touch would move between her legs, playing with her until she was a writhing mess beneath him.
Only then did he continue.
And as the last hit rained down on her already sore ass, he moved down the bed until he could get his face between her legs.
She could hear him, that groan of male satisfaction making a flush of heat sweep through her. Kit was tearing at his clothes, not caring where they landed so long as they were off.
Knowing that his need for her was as great as hers for him, her stomach fluttered with anticipation. She could already imagine the feel of him inside her—the way he would stretch her to the point that she was achingly full.
And the thought of that, coupled with the expert way he moved his tongue over her had a high cry spilling from her lips as she came.
Even as blood rushed in her ears, she could hear the satisfied noise he made in the back of his throat before he was gone.
And only a heartbeat later, he was back, the blunt head of his cock dragging between the folds of her pussy until he was nicely coated before he eased inside, the hand he had at her hip squeezing to keep her in place.
“Fuck.”
The word sounded like it came from somewhere deep inside him, but she couldn’t fully appreciate it before he was pulling out of her in one fluid, jagged slide before slamming back in again.
“Come here,” he ordered, even as he helped to draw her back against his front, his lips at her ear, but he didn’t thrust his hips—he didn’t give her more, Kit just seated himself there. “Ask me nicely and I may let you come again.”
Luna knew what he wanted, but she was determined not to give it to him. Instead, she reached for his hand, dragging it around until she had it where she wanted.
He teasingly made tight circles, whispering about how good she felt, how she was milking his cock, but he kept up that maddening slow pace.
Luna just couldn’t take it anymore. “Please, Kit, harder.”
“Finally.”
She only had a moment to brace herself before he was slamming into her exactly how he wanted. There was no longer any hesitation as he filled her completely.
There was no restraint—no careful movements to make sure she could take what he was giving. He just fucked her, over and over until his name was falling from her lips in increasing increments.
But it was his words that caused the unbridled pleasure she felt skyrocket.
That’s it, he said with breathless wonder, take my cock. And only when she was begging him not to stop, nearly screaming at the top of her lungs before she felt his teeth at her throat, and the moment she did, she came again.
He cursed, the sound dark and filled with painful need as he didn’t slow down, but he wasn’t unaffected by the way her pussy clamped down around him.
And with one last brutal thrust, he stilled, pressed hard against her as he spilled inside of her.
Luna was lost in the sensations, but distantly, she heard herself thanking him.
Early the next morning, they’d set off home, the journey passing far quicker than it had on their way out. While Kit was busy with work, Luna slept most of the way, a fact that made him smile.
Even once they arrived back home, she had disappeared upstairs, while he had gone to finish the work he’d started on the plane, but was interrupted when Tăcut dropped by his office with an unmarked package in hand and a curious frown.
Kit barely had it open before his phone was ringing, unknown highlighted at the top. As he finally tore one side free and was able to see the contents, he accepted the call.
“It’s not my birthday,” Kit said, admiring the gleaming metal as he plucked one of the blades from inside. “Why the gift?”
A pair of butterfly knives.
They were solid looking things, the handles of the kn
ives drawn away to show the sharp-tipped blades. The craftsmanship going into making them even impressed Kit who’d seen plenty of beautiful weaponry over his twenty-eight years, but more interesting was the detailing on the handles.
Skulls were carved into the metal, wisps of smoke flowing through each one.
“They’re not for you,” his brother responded, a blood-curdling scream following his words. “D’you mind? I’m in the middle of a phone call.”
“Should I even ask?” Kit inquired with a roll of his eyes.
“It’s best you don’t, but what I’m doing here is of little relevance. The package I sent was for Luna since that’s who I addressed it to.”
Actually, Kit hadn’t bothered to read the label, but as he flipped the box around, turning the flap over, it was, in fact, labeled for Luna. “And why would you be sending her gifts?”
There was a smile in Uilleam’s voice as he asked, “Do I detect a note of jealousy? I’m disappointed, brother. I never thought it would be a woman that came between us.”
“You’re not in the habit of freely given presents—that’s not your style.”
“Isn’t it? A place in my Den is considered a gift to many. Besides, I’m kind to those I appreciate.”
Kit smirked. “You’re never kind to me.”
“So that should tell you the extent of my feelings toward you.”
Kit might have laughed if his brother’s words weren’t partly true. “So you intend to gift her with knives? Are you surveilling me?” Kit asked, glancing around his office. He wouldn’t put it past the man to do something like that.
Uilleam scoffed. “Of course not. I respect your privacy.”
That, Kit didn’t believe for a second. “Then how could you possibly know she had a predilection for knives?”
“Don’t you?”
Kit chose not to acknowledge that. “Then I guess my question is why you’re sending them to her.”
“Because I have a job for her,” Uilleam said, “one I would have delivered in person if not for this unfortunate business with my banker.”
“Is that Donald you’re having tortured? What has he done now?”
“Nothing that concerns the Runehart trust. Now, back to the job.”
“Go on.”
“Her target is Lawrence Kendall.”
“That’s not wise.”
“By all means,” Uilleam replied dryly. “Provide me with an opinion I haven’t asked for.”
“The first assignment should never have personal ties.”
There was too much room for error.
Kit had seen the result of those that went after the ones who burned them, and how they barely managed to see the job done. They were still too fragile, too green to what had happened to them to allow them a clear head.
And those had been men.
Luna, even with his training, could falter against someone that had caused her such horrific pain, and that moment of doubt could get her killed.
“Quite aware of that, brother, but time is of the essence and I need to see this done.”
Ignoring that, Kit asked, “I thought he was a client of yours?”
Uilleam had a rule that so long as a client was under contract with him, they were safe from his mercenaries. And sometimes, depending on the client, even after the contract ended, he wouldn’t accept a new client that meant to go after them.
“Yes, but seeing how our business has come to an end, I thought it would be to my benefit if I got rid of him. I’m sure Luna wouldn’t mind.”
“She probably wouldn’t,” Kit agreed, “but just because you’re given permission to do something, doesn’t mean you should.”
“I think you’re forgetting something, brother.”
“Am I?”
Uilleam’s tone darkened. “She answers to me.”
A spark of irritation swept through Kit as he dropped his feet to the floor from where they had been propped on his desk, sitting upright in his chair. “And should I think you’ll cause her harm in any form, that means you’ll answer to me. How long would you wager your mercenaries can protect you from me?”
“Ah, so you’ve sampled—”
“Uilleam, don’t test me.”
He laughed, sounding genuinely pleased. “If she knew who you were—who you truly were—I wonder if she would still warm your bed?”
Sometimes, Kit wondered the same.
He had done many things he wasn’t proud of, more so before he had joined the Lotus Society. And over the span of the near decade he spent with the organization, the number of targets he had neutralized was a number that would boggle minds.
No, even he didn’t know the answer to that.
“The job,” Kit said, ignoring the rest Uilleam had said. “What is it?”
“He’ll be throwing a masquerade party—a final auction, if you will. Since someone has systematically taken out his associates, he believes it’s in his best interest to go underground. He plans to use the money made off the last of his stock to disappear.”
Kit whistled even as a smile threatened. “All of them? He must be truly desperate.”
“I would be too if I knew an assassin was nipping at my heels.”
“Former assassin.”
“D’you honestly believe he’ll see a difference? I wouldn’t want to be the reason an assassin decides to come out of retirement. Do me a favor though. When the deed is done, take pictures, would you?”
“I would ask if you were dropped on the head as a child, but I believe we both know the answer to that.”
It hadn’t been abuse he’d taken as a newborn, but rather when he’d been a child up through puberty.
“I should really get back to the torture and things. I’m on a schedule, you know.”
“You’ve still yet to tell me why you’re gifting her with knives.”
“If she does well—and I trust she will—those knives will give her a name.”
A name.
A new identity, and sometimes the only one that mattered.
“What do you think to name her?”
“Calavera.”
Kit thought of sugar skulls … “Why?”
“I found her on the first of November—day of the dead. Quite fitting, I think.”
Uilleam didn’t elaborate before ending the call, but as Kit tossed the device on his desk, he thought he should have asked.
Chapter 14
Leaving Kit’s château a second time, Luna didn’t feel the same wonder as she had the first time when they had gone off to Europe for her test run.
It could have been that she was now used to the luxuries money afforded Kit, or it could have been because she knew by the end of the night, the man who was responsible for nearly every bad memory she possessed would be dead.
Luna poured over every inch of the file she’d been given, memorizing facts that she was sure weren’t relevant to the task she was going to perform.
She didn’t need to know Lawrence’s birthday to know that he deserved a stab wound to the heart.
She didn’t need to know that Lawrence had strangled his childhood pet to death with his bare hands—though that would explain a lot.
The only thing she cared about was the schematics of the building she would be entering, complete with exit routes mapped out, and the role she was meant to play.
It was simple really …
She would dress the part, as any other guest at the masquerade party would, then she would lure Lawrence away where she would then remove her gun with the silencer affixed to the end and put a bullet in his head.
She would be out in a matter of minutes.
He would be reduced to nothing in a matter of minutes.
By the time they landed in San Diego, Luna was ready.
This time, as she showered and readied herself in the penthouse suite, the girl staring back at her in the mirror didn’t surprise her. She was proud of who she saw.
Now, she possessed the confidence that had been
sorely lacking over the years.
Kit had disappeared into the walk-in closet to change, selecting a navy blue suit with a crisp white shirt beneath.
She didn’t have to ask whether he liked what she was wearing—she could see it reflected in his gaze. In that unguarded moment, the languid heat in his gaze revealed everything.
Lust … such a dark, heady emotion. And when it was reflected in his eyes, she felt it all the way down to her bones.
Not once had she ever responded to it in another’s eyes—the sight of it usually sickened her. But on Kit, she felt it in return.
Sometimes she forgot how much taller he was, the way she had to actually crane her neck back to see his face when he was close.
Or just how much bigger he seemed.
All that muscle packed beneath a tailored suit.
Neither spoke as each studied the other.
As his gaze drifted over her skin-tight dress and back up again, he only said one word. “Soon.”
A promise … and a threat.
She couldn’t wait.
Luna noticed then that he was carrying a silver case, one that he set on the bed and gestured for her to open.
Curious, she clicked the locks, watching them spring free before pushing the top open.
Knives, crafted from heavy silver. They were exquisite, with skull detailing around the handles. At this point, she was so familiar with knives, she could appreciate the craftsmanship.
Luna didn’t think twice before she was plucking one from the case, familiarizing herself with the weight.
“They’re yours,” Kit said with a nod of his head. “Should you need them.”
Glancing down at her dress, Luna frowned and asked, “Where would I keep them?”
With deft fingers, Kit held up a holster, and she only had a moment to wonder where it went before he was kneeling in front of her, strapping the thing to her thigh and placing the knives inside of it, his touch barely lingering though he left goose bumps in his wake. It was just hidden beneath the hem of her dress, and while no one else would see it, she felt secure in the knowledge that it was there.
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