Run To Me (Lazarus Rising #4)(59)

Her sex seemed to clench. Want him again. She was starting to wonder if she’d always want him.

“If this man…if he’s the one who did this to me, if he’s the one who k-killed me,” she couldn’t help but stumble over that part, “Then I deserve to face him. I deserve to see who did this to me.”

“He wants you.” His pupils had expanded, making his eyes go dark and flat. “From what you and Wyman have said, it seems like he went fucking crazy, Willow. If he couldn’t have you, then he wasn’t going to let you walk away. And when you waltz in that place, when you get close to him again, what do you think will happen?”

Her mouth had gone dry. “I’ll kick his ass.”

His lips quirked. For a moment, his eyes seemed to lighten. Then the darkness returned. “His fantasy will be walking right toward him. He’ll see you, and you’ll be the only thing he wants. He’ll do anything to have you.”

“Is that why he wants to destroy you? Because he thinks that you have me?” She hadn’t meant for her voice to become so husky. Had she?

“He wants me dead because I’m touching you.” And he was. His fingers were sliding down her neck. A light touch. One that shouldn’t have sent fire trailing over her skin, but it did. He did. “He wants me dead because the bastard knows that touching won’t be enough for me.” Down, down his hand went. Stopping over her heart. “I’ll want to possess you completely. He can’t have that.”

Possession. “I’m not a thing. I don’t belong to him or you.”

Jay didn’t move. His gaze was locked on her. “When I’m balls deep in you, Willow, I sure as hell feel like I belong to you.”

Wait—what?

His hand fell away from her. He turned his back toward her. “You’re right. It is your life. Your choices. And you have a right to face the sonofabitch who did this to you.” She saw his hands fist at his sides. “But he won’t touch you again. I’ll bury him first.”

Sometimes she forgot—sometimes, it was too easy to just look at Jay and see his controlled veneer. His intelligence. The tech billionaire. The charmer. The guy with the quick smile and good looks. But then he’d say something, he’d do something…a giveaway that spoke of his past. His time on the streets. The life he’d led long ago.

A life where he hadn’t been quite civilized. A life where he’d been out of control.

“You’d do it,” she said, realizing Jay wasn’t just boasting.

“I’m not exactly the type to talk shit.” His broad back was still to her. “I can make it so that no one ever finds his body. After what he’s done to you, the guy doesn’t get to walk away. You won’t spend your life looking over your shoulder, wondering if he’s coming for you. He’ll end tonight.”

“Jay, you can’t just kill a man!”

He glanced back at her. “He killed you.”

Her tongue slid over her lower lip.

“I can’t believe Wyman hasn’t taken out the bastard.” Now Jay’s eyes narrowed. “He calls you his daughter, but he let the man who murdered you walk? Doesn’t make sense to me.”

“He’s…Wyman called him a monster.” She crept closer to Jay. “He could be enhanced.”

He inclined his head. The hard intensity never left his gaze. “That’s what I fear. So I’ll make sure my team is ready for him.”

“What if he’s like me?” The question slipped from her. “What if he just comes back from death?”

“Lazarus subjects don’t come back from a bullet to the brain. Anyone can die. You just have to kill the person the right way.”

He was ready to kill, for her. “I can fight my own battles.” He didn’t need to get blood on his hands.

But Jay just gave her a half-smile, one that didn’t light his eyes. “One day, you’ll get it. Your battles are mine.” He motioned toward the shower. “Your turn in there.”

She turned and took a step toward the bathroom. Stopped. “We aren’t going to talk about it?”

“It?”

“You didn’t use protection. I didn’t want you to.” She drew in a deep breath. “I know it wasn’t responsible, and I’m sure we’re safe. It’s the wrong time of the month.” Did those words sound as weak as they felt? “The risk of pregnancy is—”

“I’d love to get you pregnant.”

She whirled back to him.

“So I’m not worried. Not the least bit. What I am trying to do, though, is keep my hands off you. In case you didn’t notice, I have a bit of an issue.” He turned fully toward her.

Um, that was more than a bit. His towel was tented. Extremely so. Her heartbeat sped up. “Reva is…beautiful.”

“Yes.”

He could have denied it. Her stare shot back up to his.

A mocking smile was on his lips. “Reva didn’t do this shit.”

Good to know. Her hands unclenched.

“Are you jealous, Willow? Because she’s the past.”

Willow believed that. She also—“Yes, I think I am jealous.” She advanced toward him. He wants me. Me. “It’s not good to make someone like me jealous.”