“You’re an exception to the rule in so many ways.” He gave my knee a quick squeeze in reassurance, then straightened. “As for victims, I just happen to have a sixth sense or something. I find a person that interests me, and after stalking them for a while, I usually find out they’re like me.”
“Like you?” I repeated with a frown.
“Bad people who are better off dead.”
At the thought of him dead, I cupped the side of his face, blinking back tears. I didn’t know what to say, but I hoped my expression was enough to convey how much I cared about him. He turned his head, kissing my palm and sending goosebumps along my arms.
“So you murder people who do bad things?” I asked, not bothering to write in my notebook; it didn’t seem so important at that moment.
“Yes, but that doesn’t make me a good person, Jill,” he said in a dark tone as though following my train of thought.
To me, it did make him the hero. My hero. What else was it called when someone rescued another from horrible conditions? But I wasn’t going to tell him that. Not until the very end.
Maybe there didn’t need to be an end? The little voice that had never been there before Jack?the voice for life?nagged at me to reconsider. The plan could change. It had to. Things were different.
We weren’t a couple; this kind of relationship didn’t have a proper title. All I knew was I belonged to him, and he was mine. That was what we were to each other. And it was more than enough.
“I have to work tonight,” he said, glancing toward my phone. “It’s likely pretty late.”
I nodded, standing up with him. “Do you work tomorrow too?”
“For the next six days. One of my co-workers is sick, so I’ve taken his shifts.”
I felt like such a child at that moment, wanting to complain about him leaving for work. Why was I suddenly acting like a baby? This was ridiculous. “I get it. In this economy, stuff is expensive, so it never hurts to have extra income,” I said with a forced smile.
“Plus, I enjoy having people owing me favors,” he said with a smirk.
I laughed, knowing that all too well from him. Still, he wasn’t even gone yet, and I missed him already. I was becoming one of those sappy romance girls.
“By the way, one of the nightclubs where I work is hosting a Halloween party I’ve been invited to. I’d like you to come with me,” he said, sliding his hand to my lower back and bringing me closer to him.
I shouldn’t have felt as giddy as I did. It wasn’t as though it was a date or anything. He was working, and I’d be there to enjoy the festivities...with him. I nodded faster than intended, almost bouncing my head off my shoulders. “I’d like that very much.”
He grinned. “Before I leave, I have an ask.”
“Okay...” My heart hammered faster, wondering what he’d ask for today.
He pulled out his gloves, then motioned at the sofa as he slipped them on. “Sit and spread your legs for me.”
I just stared at him for a few seconds, blinking. Still, I didn’t argue or ask for more details as I sat, face heating up with each pulse. He kneeled in front of me, caressing my thighs as he tugged on my leggings.
“Off.”
I swallowed hard and wiggled out of them with his help. If it was possible to die from combustion, I might’ve done it then and there. This was somehow more intimate than the last times, the way he stared at me hungrily.
He pushed my panties to the side and took his knife out. My pulse throbbed in my ears, and my legs instinctively tried to close against his.
“I have someone on my victim list I’m planning to hunt down in the next few days, and I want your scent when I take their life,” he said in a growl as he flipped the weapon so his gloved hand held onto the blade. Slowly and without losing eye contact, he pushed the handle into my tight opening, and I gasped. “I want to smell you when I kill him.”
I gawked at him, my breathing turning shallow into small gasps as he pumped in a few more times. When he pulled it out, he licked the handle, closing his eyes as though he was experiencing bliss.
“Jack...” I whined his name, needing more.
He smirked before putting the weapon away, then sliding his fingers into me. I arched back against him, and several minutes later, I came. Hard.
“I adore when you cum for me, darling girl,” he said in a harsh whisper. He kissed the tip of my nose, and I smiled as he headed toward the door.
I already missed him.
