“Please take me to my room.” I growled out, trying to reign in the confusing anger that wanted to jump out.
It took everything I had not to explode on him, which wasn’t normal for me. How in the hell could one man get so deeply under my skin in such a short time?
I needed to reign myself in. I could walk on the edge of pissing him off, but I couldn’t allow myself to cross that line. Despite how easily it was to be near him, he was still a Reaper and I needed to remember that The Reapers were capable of anything and wouldn’t hesitate to put me in my place.
???
After leading me to my room, Cyrus left me to my own devices and gave me strict orders to “unpack my shit and drag my sweet ass back to the living room”when I finished.If he made one more comment about my ass, I was going to find a way to murder him in his sleep. Reaper or not, the asshole had it coming.
Upon entering the room, the first thing I noticed was the enormous floor to ceiling windows that completely made up the far wall.For being notoriously private, The Reapers sure liked their big ass windows.Vivid moonlight cascaded through them, blanketing the room in a soft ethereal glow. I’ve lived nowhere near the hills before, and from this elevation, the moon looked enormous.
As I placed my duffel bag on the bed’s black silk sheets, the flickering of a long natural gas fireplace caught my attention. Directly in front of the fireplace stood two cozy cream armchairs and a small coffee table adorned with a stack of weathered books. By anyone’s standards, the room was beautiful. But I couldn’t help but wonder,why the hell did they give it to me?
I was nothing to them.
A means of repayment.
Nothing more.
As I unpacked the little belongings I had, the pulsing of my forearm kicked up again, sending pain radiating outward. I needed to check on the wound I haphazardly dressed at the motel.
Sneaking out of my room, I carefully crept towards the bathroom we passed down the hall. I wasn’t even sure if I was allowed to use it, so I made it a point to get in and get out as fast as I could.
Tucking myself inside, I locked the door behind me, stripped off my jacket, and got a good look at my arm in the mirror. The wound had already leaked through bandages, but that wasn’t the worst part. The surrounding flesh was red and painful to the touch. It needed to be cleaned and dressed properly, otherwise I’d get an infection.
I tossed the soiled bandage in the toilet, flushed it, and ransacked their cabinets, looking for some kind of first aid kit. The rich assholes had to have some kind of medical kit considering their line of work. When I reached the bottom drawer, I hit the jackpot and found a fully stocked drawer full of medical supplies.
I grabbed a bottle of rubbing alcohol and without thinking, raised my arm over the sink and drenched my entire forearm in it. The wound burned like a motherfucker, and my teeth bit hard into my lower lip to stifle the scream that tried to claw its way out.
Grabbing the gauze, I redressed the wound in seconds and tossed some ibuprofen back for the pain before putting everything back as I found it. I still didn’t know how volatile The Reapers were and it was in my best interest to avoid doing anything that might piss them off. After living with a volatile man for nearly over half of my life, I understood the importance of being cautious in a dangerous environment.
Sneaking out of the bathroom, I blindly rushed towards my room, looking over my shoulder to make sure that no one saw me. I made it about ten feet before my body slammed into a solid wall of muscle. The force of the impact sent my body crashing towards the ground. It was almost as if the universe was serving out karmic retribution and it wanted to remind me of my place in this world, just in case I forgot after seeing my new living space.
“Fuck.” I stammered, laid out on the hardwood as my eyes tried to refocus.
A rugged hand covered in tattoos slashed into my line of sight. I reluctantly accepted the help. It was bad enough that I had stupidly crashed into him, I wouldn’t let my embarrassment stop me from being polite.
As soon as my eyes looked up at the man in front of me, all common sense left the building. I stared at him.Hard. It was almost impossible not to.
His tall frame stunted mine and from his sharp jawline down, intricate tattoos covered his porcelain skin. The slightly unbuttoned white shirt he wore gave my mind just enough ammo to run with, and I stupidly wondered what other parts of his body had tattoos.
My heart slammed in my chest as his dark grey eyes skimmed my body and took on an almost primal look as he peered at me through his dishevelled black hair. He wasn’t big or bulky, but there was something about his presence that had my nerves on edge. My mind and my body were on opposing ends. I couldn’t shake the overwhelming need to run, yet something about him made my traitorous body long to get closer to him.
Thank god my survival instincts kept my ass firmly planted where it was. Even they knew better than to trigger the dangerous man standing in front of me.
It was then that I noticed the stains littered across his body. It looked to be the same deep crimson on the artwork I spotted downstairs, but as the sharp, coppery aroma filled my senses; I realized my terrible mistake.
The man I just slammed into was Ezra,The Artist, and the deep red liquid splattered all over him wasn’t paint, like I naively thought. It was blood. Ezra wasn’t an artist at all; He was a goddamn killer.
“A fallen angel.” Ezra murmured softly as a sinister smile crept onto his face.
His thumb reached out to graze my lower lip. The sensation of his touch sent delicious shivers down my spine. My mind urged me to get out of there, but my stupid legs refused to budge.
As I watched his hand pull away, my eyes locked on the bright ruby streak now staining his thumb. My brows furrowed in confusion.Is that my blood? Did I bite my lip that hard?
Acting on instinct, my tongue swiped out to lick the spot that his thumb just brushed and sure enough, my taste buds picked up the distinct coppery flavor.
I watched with a mix of fascination and horror as he slowly brought his thumb towards his mouth and licked off the stain. The alarm bells that were once chiming softly in the distance were now blaring in my head.Bitch, get out of there!
