Lethal Sin (Dangerous Games Book 1) (5 page)

There was something impossibly erotic about the way she moved. Each step had purpose, each roll of her hips and shift of her shoulders seemed to deflect his gaze to a different place on her body, and he couldn’t figure out what she was planning. Too much space separated them for her to move fast enough to take him off guard, but she didn’t seem bothered by it.

Then he caught on as she reached the wall and slid a cane from its nesting place.

Fucking. Minx.

“Do you even know how to use one of those?” He asked, suddenly critiquing his own design of the room because all that was near him was a fucking linen closet with cleaning supplies. She was standing right by the good stuff.

“I have a pretty good idea.” She started to walk towards him, and he had to fight the urge to back up. This little woman shouldn’t have made the hair stand up on the back of his neck, but the way she swished the cane through the air made him swallow. Nobody had ever used one on him, and if he could help it no one ever
would
, but he knew from the screams he’d drawn out of women in this room that they hurt – and it didn’t take a lot of strength for a cane to do a good deal of damage.

He had to get that fucking thing out of her hands.

Suddenly she was only a few feet away and with a quick dart towards his left side she brought the cane down on the side of his thigh. There was a beat where he wondered why it didn’t hurt, and then pain surged from the point like a line of fire. He roared and lunged for her, but she was too damn quick on her feet. She twisted back and away from him, a manic grin across her cheeks, her blue eyes sparkling with mischief again – and although his leg was cursing him, he was too turned on to care.

The hunt was on.

“Did that hurt?” She mocked in a high-pitched, girlish voice, and he growled, stalking towards her, forcing her to backpedal a few steps.

“I’m about to show you exactly what it felt like.” He lunged for her and she countered with a swipe of the cane that had him jerking back to avoid it hitting his arm. If he didn’t know better, he’d have thought she’d practiced with the damn implement because she held it delicately, but already seemed confident with it.

The girl laughed. Actually laughed at him. “What did you say?” She feigned having to think for a moment, and then she pointed her finger at the ceiling and widened her eyes like she’d had an idea. “That’s right. Come and get me.”

Mateo looked her over and the haze of lust growing inside him was fighting the cold, calculating killer he normally was until neither side was winning and his head felt like a mess. She paused her steps a yard or two away, the cane angled down at her side which caused his eyes to drift back up her long legs, her curves, and the soft swell of her breasts peeking out of her top.

He wanted her naked. He wanted to fuck her. He wanted her to fight him so he could win and hear her scream his name as he took her.

When he finally made himself meet her eyes again his cock jumped because her intense stare was locked on his, and she looked just as excited as he was.

Could that be possible?

Before he lingered too long on the possibility he rolled his shoulders and stalked towards her, and this time she backed up. He faked to the right and she switched the cane to her left hand in defense, but he countered and reached for her other side. As his fingers wrapped around her upper arm he felt her muscles tense, and he blocked the swing of the cane. Twisting he tried to rip it from her hands, but the silky smoothness of the wood was yanked from his grip before he could get a good hold. She kicked him in the knee and he almost buckled, but was able to catch himself and shove her back farther into the room.

The girl was light on her feet, not even stumbling with the force of his push, but her eyes were rapidly flicking between him and the door far behind him. “You’re a long way from winning, girl.”

“How’s your leg?” She retorted, and he felt a growl rumble in his chest.

Mateo smiled and charged her, catching her wrist harshly as she attempted to hit him with the cane again, and much like he had in the warehouse he lifted her and dropped her hard onto the padded floor. Tightening his grip on her wrist he felt the fine bones grinding together until her grip loosened and then he ripped the thin implement from her fingers and threw it towards the wall. It took him half a second to realize he’d landed between her thighs, but his cock was clearly ahead of him as he felt the heavy, straining weight tightening between his legs.

Instead of fear he saw challenge in her eyes and it made him want to take her even harder. Reaching between them he caught the lace of her panties in his fingertips, but just as he was about to rip them from her she slammed her knee into his ribs. The stunning pain was combined with the sudden flip-flopping of the room as she threw him to the side with a clearly practiced move that ended with him on his back and her rolling backwards to pop up from the floor a few feet away. She grinned at him – and then turned to dash for the door. He had never moved so fast as he pushed up and ran after her, they were maybe six feet from the door when he caught her shirt and then fisted her hair to throw her to the floor behind them.

This time she didn’t keep her balance, but she hit the floor and rolled over her shoulder to land upright in a crouch. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly as she stood slowly, and he could feel his own heart racing behind his sore ribs.

Who the fuck is this girl?

“Want to ask me where he is again?” She asked with a smile lifting the edge of her lips. A dark rush inside him smothered all thoughts of Scarpa and the job and the
whys
behind how she had come to be in his house.

Roaming his eyes over her he shook his head slowly. “No. I want to fuck you.”

The words thundered inside her like a gong. Mateo was growling like a Porsche engine in front of her and her clit was pounding, begging for attention. Even though the door was a mere handful of feet behind him, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to try for it again – or let him have her.

Swallowing, Camille spoke again, “You haven’t caught me yet, Mateo.”

“Tell me your name.”

“Everyone calls me C.” She forced a deep breath trying to calm her racing pulse, but the way his eyes were devouring her it was a pointless exercise.

“What does C stand for?” Mateo asked and took a step forward, which she countered with two steps backward to cover the sheer distance his legs ate up. He was well over six feet tall and judging by the way his shirt clung to him, she knew he was hard, solid muscle. The kind of body she would have gratefully amused herself with for a night under different circumstances.

“Depends on who you ask.” The damn smile wouldn’t leave her lips and she hated that this felt
fun
. She should be worried, concerned for her well-being – if not her life – but all she wanted was for Mateo to come after her again. To chase her, maybe even catch her.

“I’m asking
you
.” He started to take long, confident strides towards her. Dancing away she kept moving, angling to the side, hoping to trick him into flipping their positions, but he adjusted and kept her moving towards the back of the room, farther from the door. “Name,” he demanded.

“Cassie,” she answered.

“Liar.” He growled and she had to sidestep a strange wooden pillar that drove straight into the ceiling above her.

“Christine.”

“You’re easier to read than you think, girl. That’s another lie.”

She scoffed and peeked over her shoulder to find that there was very little room left. “Colette.”

“Last chance.”

“For what?” She asked, stopping while she still had a few feet before she was against the wall.

“To tell me before I make you tell me.” He paused in front of her, but with his long arms she knew he could reach out and grab her if he tried.

“What happened to making me tell you where Callahan is?”

“My priorities have shifted. You have until the count of three, C.” He raised a hand in the air, his fingers tucked against his palm.

“Caitlin.”

“That’s one.” He raised his middle finger, and she laughed and flipped him off in return.

“Courtney.”

“Two.” Another finger came up, and she felt wetness gathering between her thighs as her pussy clenched around nothing.

Fuck
.

Part of her wanted to just tell him her name even though she had long ago made it a rule not to give her real name to anyone. Names were power, just like the names of friends were power, and the knowledge of family was power. Giving up any of it was like painting a target on your chest – right over your heart. That’s why it was better to have none of them. No family, no friends, and no name.

Swallowing, she balanced on her back foot, ready to run. “Caroline.”

“Three.” He raised his last finger and caught her mid-step just as she tried to flee, his arm wrapping quickly around her waist and lifting her off the floor as if she weighed nothing. In an instant she found herself over his shoulder, and when she tried to throw her body weight so she could flip off of him he clamped his hand down on her thigh. His fingers dug in until she imagined there’d be even more bruises by the time dawn finally arrived outside this windowless room.

As if it mattered. Dawn wasn’t going to save her.

Camille kicked at him but he was unfazed even when she did her best to bring her knee down into his chest. He pinned her legs to his chest and for once she wished she weighed a little more so that this might actually strain him, as it was he seemed to be unbothered.

“You never listen, do you?” Mateo tossed her onto the bed and she bounced as she looked up into his dark eyes.

“Not usually.” She shoved herself backwards trying to make it to the other side of the bed, but he caught her ankle and harshly yanked her back towards him.

“That’s fine. I enjoy bringing naughty girls in line.” His words sent a thrill down her spine that she wished she could ignore, but even as he tore the zipper of her skirt down and yanked it off with his free hand, all she could feel was the rising tension inside her.

“Are you still upset about the cane?” She asked as his eyes landed between her thighs, forced wide because his legs were now between hers as they hung off the side of the bed.

His gaze came up to meet hers, impossibly dark because his pupils were dilated so fully. He looked like an animal preparing to devour her. Surprise flitted across his expression before raw lust returned. “You know what it’s called?”

“I knew that little toy of yours from a movie.” Camille smiled and then tried to kick him back from her, but just as her foot cleared his side he caught her knee and slammed it onto the bed. Her hip protested, and it was only because she was flexible that her muscles didn’t immediately scream in pain from the force.

“Bad girl.” He tsk’d, leaning forward to wind a fist in her messy blonde waves. The ache steadily increased and then his voice thundered above her. “I’m going to let go of your hair, and you’re going to take your top off. Slowly.”

“Or what?” She spat through gritted teeth.

His grip tightened viciously in her hair until she had to look at the opposite wall in an attempt to ease the strain. The next words he spoke were sinfully dark as he pressed firmly against her until there was no mistaking the hard outline of his cock. His threat was almost whispered against the skin of her chest, “Or I’ll take this sweet ass of yours first.”

In a moment he released his hold on her hair, but his hands found a grip on her inner thighs, spreading her wide in front of him and she had no doubt he would fulfill that promise,
without
the aid of any lube, just to punish her. She didn’t move at first, still debating whether or not she could get out of the situation without following his every command like a puppet, but then he sharply twisted the delicate skin on the inside of her thigh and she had to swallow her yelp.

“Fine!”

“Fine what?”

“I’ll take my top off, asshole.” With a muttered curse Camille laid back on the bed, despising him for making her an active participant in her own torture. She reached over to undo the zipper that kept the top tight and then she shimmied it up, moving much faster than he’d ordered. The instant it slid over her head she got an uncensored view of his ravenous expression. His dark eyes skipped over her skin and she could almost feel his touch before he hid the look behind the cool mask he normally wore.