Deathtrap (Crossbreed #3)(110)

I placed my hand on his heart. “Be honest. That’s all I want.”

“Aye, Precious. You have my truth. But we have to keep this between us. Viktor won’t take kindly to a relationship brewing; it’s against his rules.”

“I’ll agree to that. No sense in getting fired.” I smiled softly. “Who does this before sex? Declares all these intense feelings? We might not even like each other in bed.”

A dark hunger flickered in his eyes, and his voice became rough and sexy. “The things I’ll do to you will make your ancestors blush. There’s a nice spot over your grave if you want to test me.”

I leaned in and kissed his mouth. “The mausoleum is warmer.”

“I’ll pass. I’ve developed a sudden appreciation for abstinence.”

“Does that mean our relationship will be sexless?”

He smiled against my mouth, giving me tingles in all the right places. “Perhaps I’ll wait until you want it more than I do.”

I slipped my tongue between his lips and abruptly backed away, leaving him wanting. “I’ll accept that challenge.”

Once I climbed down the statue and hopped to the ground, I realized we could make up the rules as we went along. I couldn’t give Christian words of love since they weren’t all there yet, but I could give him hope. In return, he gave me butterflies. He gave me companionship. He sometimes gave me coffee in the morning. And most of all, he gave me his heart on a chain. Maybe sooner or later he’d give me a broken heart and a reason to leave Keystone, but I was willing to take the risk.

Christian jumped straight from the roof to the ground and then fell in step beside me. “You’re not a jealous woman, are you?”

“We’ve never had sex, so I hardly have claim on anything. Maybe I’m just as skeptical about this whole thing as you are.”

He clasped his hands behind his back. “You’re unlike any woman I’ve ever met.”

I snorted. “This is so us. Declaring our feelings in a cemetery.”

He bumped shoulders with me. “And you thought I wasn’t romantic.”

“What I can’t figure out is why you would spend a million dollars on a necklace when you’re walking around with holes in your sweaters.”

“It adds to the mystique.”

Tiny snowflakes began to fall, and it felt like we were caught inside a snow globe after someone had violently shaken it.

“This weather can’t seem to make up its mind,” I said.

“That’s why they call Mother Nature a woman.”

“And Father Time drags his ass like a man?” I watched our footsteps fall in sync. “I really don’t know a thing about you, Christian Poe. What’s your favorite color?”

“Red.”

“Dripping from the neck of your victim?”

“There’s a lovely little vein on the groin I find most delicious. What makes your mouth water?”

I grinned, my stomach growling. “Angus burger with extra cheese and a milkshake.”

“Don’t forget the onion rings.”

I hooked my arm in his. “Come on, Vamp. You’re buying me dinner.”

He squinted at the setting sun. “So… exactly what are we?”

“Why do we need a label? We’re partners. Maybe prospective lovers.”

“We’re like two savages in the night.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Christian began to recite a poem:

“Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing,

Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness;

So on the ocean of life we pass and speak one another,

Only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence.”



Maybe it would have been easier to have erased his confession, but I needed to see what was possible. I was certain I had an impenetrable heart that would survive what became of us, but life was about taking chances… even if they turned into regrets.

Ancient souls below our feet cried out for us to live and seize the day.

I gazed up at him. “That’s a depressing poem. How did I ever fall for such a morose guy?”

He stopped in his tracks. “You fell?”

I gave him a fragile smile. “Falling. I’m still falling.”

Christian wrapped his arms around me. “Then I’ll catch you.”