Page 99 of Insidious Heart
“The man I saw you with last night? The older man?” Stevie asks as she shifts around to face me. “Is he your handler? I think you called him, anyway.”
“Yes, that bear of a man is the one who keeps me on enough of a leash so I don’t go off the rails completely, but before that I was much looser with my methods, no real rhyme or reason, and I didn’t do things by the book.”
My little dove nods. “Your civilian kills.”
I can’t help but smile at that. “I’m impressed with how much you pay attention, Stevie, and I can’t say I don’t like it, but you’re right. Between ages fifteen and nearly twenty, I racked up fourteen civilian kills, and to make an excruciatingly long story a smidge shorter, two of those were sex workers that I did in fact hurt during sex.”
With an arched brow, I pause to give her time to process what I just said but instead of kicking me out or screaming for help, Stevie doesn’t even bat an eye. “You didn’t mean to though, did you?”
I slowly shake my head.
“Accidental because you were, what? Trying to see how far you could push things? Or maybe what exactly got you off?”
Nodding, I can feel my brows raise because goddamn, Stevie isgood.
“They don’t fit your MO, do they?”
“No…” I say hesitantly because I’m absolutely waiting for the other shoe to fucking drop. “They’re the only two strangulations I have on my track record.”
Stevie nods as she begins scooting down the bed. “I figured as much. It makes a lot of sense, really.”
“Say what now?”
“It does.” She giggles before burrowing under the blankets on a yawn. “You hadn’t honed your skills or perfected your craft yet, and you didn’t mean to kill them.”
I blink, then do it again. “There are twelve others, Stevie.”
“Yeah, and I bet they were all shitty people who deserved what they got. You just consider them civilian kills because you either knew them personally, they didn’t fit your MO, or you think they were sloppy because it was pre-Harvester of Bones era.”
Try all three,but I don’t say that because I’m fucking floored.
“Pre-Harvester of Bones era?Who even are you right now?” And how the fuck does she have me so goddamn figured out? Maybe I need to start taking Stevie to The Ripper’s crime scenes so she can profile that asshat and help me catch him. I thought I was good but clearly my girl is better.
With a soft smile and shrug, Stevie looks up at me with tired aquamarine eyes. “I don’t know but you just make sense to me, Victor. Thehoworwhydon’t really matter because I get you, the same way you get me.”
“How do you figure?” Because I don’t actually getanyoneand am now totally lost.
“The bathroom is a perfect example. You knew what I needed, knew how to make me feel better, and I never had to say anything.” Stevie reaches up and gently taps the gauze over the mark she made on my chest. “We might both have baggage, have been through hell and back, because there’s more to both of our stories, and maybe our connection is toxic or fucked up because it’s essentially rooted in murder, but it’s there. The connection we have, the way we understand each other. It’s there no matter what and it supersedes my naivety and your emotional stuntedness.” She yawns again as her eyes drift closed. “No offense.”
“None taken.”
I look down at Stevie, awed once again by this woman, and more resolute in keeping her as mine than I was before. Especially when she makes me laugh with what she says next.
“Turn out the light, give me a kiss, then spoon me for a few hours before I wake up to your dick between my butt cheeks.”
“One fight at work, a little blood play, and you’re all bossy and direct now, huh?”
Stevie doesn’t open her eyes, just nods her head with a sleepy smile before puckering her perfect lips.
And I’d be a fool to do anything other than what my sweet little dove demands of me, because no matter howemotionally stuntedI am, I know without a shadow of a doubt that Stevie Williams is a once in a lifetime kind of girl.
CHAPTERNINETEEN
STEVIE
A smile spreadsacross my face as I feel a warm hand slip under my shirt and start toward my breast, tracing the curve with a featherlight touch before skimming across my peaked nipple. I arch my spine as it happens again, pressing my bare butt against the very big erection I knew I’d be waking up to when I fell asleep last night.
Victor grunts in my ear as I wiggle my hips, his hand suddenly covering my breast completely and squeezing when I do it again. “Good morning, baby dove.”
