Reaper's Stand(80)

But these men weren’t my friends and they weren’t making fun of me. They were staring at me like I’d lost my mind. Maybe I had.

“Christ, she’s falling apart,” someone muttered. That was even funnier. I snorted again, then choked a little bit on my own giggles. I laughed so hard my throat hurt and tears streamed down my face.

A wall of cold water hit me, shocking me into silence.

I shook my head, blinking rapidly. Reese stood in front of me, an empty bucket in his hands. His eyes were cold and there was so much coiled tension in his body I could feel it, like electricity crackling through the air during a storm.

The bucket fell to the floor with a jolting clatter, and he kicked it out of his way.

“Shut the f*ck up.”

Eyes wide, I shut the f*ck up because this was Reese, but not a Reese I’d ever seen. This couldn’t possibly be the same man who’d laughed with me, made love to me …

I couldn’t find my Reese in this man’s face.

That first night at the Armory, he’d scared me. Then I’d fallen for him, and while my brain remembered he had darkness inside, my body convinced me it wasn’t true. Now I realized I’d never seen the real Reese at all—I’d only seen hints of his true capacity.

Holy God.

This was the reality of Reese Hayes, and it was darker than I ever imagined.

He terrified me.

Expressionless, Reese stepped toward me, reaching down and slowly wrapping his fingers around the hilt of the big hunting knife he wore strapped to his leg. The thing was huge, and it’d freaked me out the first time I saw it. Then I’d gotten used to seeing it and it became just another part of him.

Apparently the part he used to murder people.

The wicked blade glinted as he brought it up, testing the edge with his thumb.

“You’re going to kill me,” I whispered, feeling my own mortality wrap around me like a suffocating blanket.

He didn’t answer. Nope. Just started walking around behind me, circling out of my line of sight. I glanced toward the other men, wondering if they’d stop him or say anything, but their eyes were dead, and I saw my own end clearly reflected back at me. One of these Reapers would bury my body later tonight. Nobody would ever know what happened to me, and I would never learn what happened to Jess, either.


“Will you wait until we find out whether she’s alive?” I asked hesitantly.

“Not the time to be askin’ favors, sweetheart,” he said with quiet emphasis. Suddenly he caught my hair, jerking my head backward hard and fast. The knife flashed, and then I felt the blade digging into my throat. A line of fire crossed my neck. This was it. Reese Hayes was about to slit my throat.

I waited to die, the sound of his breath harsh in my ear. Then he laughed.

“You don’t get off that easy, bitch.”

That’s when I realized he hadn’t severed my windpipe … The blade still pressed at my throat, and I felt a faint trickle of blood slide down my neck. He’d cut me, but not badly. Just enough to part the skin.

“Now tell me everything,” he whispered. “Don’t leave out anything, whether you think it’s important or not. Got it?”

I started to nod and he jerked my hair back violently.

“Bad idea to nod when you’ve got a knife at your throat,” Horse said casually from across the room. “Might wanna be a little more thoughtful in your movements right now, London. Just a suggestion.”

“Yeah,” I said, my voice so hoarse that it came out with a croak. I cleared my throat, then tried to talk again. “Um … you know Jess got mad at me and went down to her mom, Amber? Well, the guy Amber was living with is holding Jess prisoner. You already know she was scared of the men at Amber’s house, told me she wanted to come home. That was Wednesday morning. Then my house blew up Wednesday night, and you brought me out to your place.”

Reese’s fingers tightened in my hair hard enough that I wondered if I’d have any left in a minute. The knife shifted painfully.

OhmyGodohmyGodohmyGod!

“So you know about that,” I continued, almost thankful for the cuffs holding up my wrists. I wasn’t sure I could’ve stayed on my feet without their support. “The next morning I called Jess and she said she’d changed her mind. That was in your bedroom, remember? Looking back, I think they’d taken her already. She didn’t sound like herself, something was off. That night I came out here for the party—” Reese growled, low and deep in his throat. He jerked me into his body, still holding the knife to my throat, and I felt his cock hardening against my ass. Must’ve been remembering our time together out in the courtyard.

A hint of desire built between my legs, and I wondered just how much more twisted my lust for him could get. He’d made me feel free, adventurous … guess that sense of adventure ran deeper than I realized, if I could get turned on by him holding a knife to my throat.

In the unlikely event that I actually made it out of here alive, I really needed to look into some serious counseling. The thought struck me as funny, and a snort of laughter escaped. Nobody else laughed—guess they couldn’t quite appreciate the humor?

“Your daydreamin’ bullshit is only cute on days you haven’t tried to kill me,” Reese murmured in my ear. “Fuckin’ talk or I’ll cut you.”