Chapter 32

Chapter Thirty-Two

GREY

"Why not?" The words wrench out of my cinched throat. Normally, I'd assume Zane is joking around or trying to annoy me, but I've never seen such an intense expression on his face.

His lips press together in a thin line, and I spot the heavy inhale that flares his nostrils.

"We caught someone from The Grateful Project sneaking around our house tonight."

My heart gallops in my chest.

"We picked them up on the surveillance camera," Zane says, his eyes flicking away from me.

"Did they get in?"

"No, Finn came home and scared them away."

Thank God. I don't know what I would have done if they actually tried to hurt one of The Kings. Just because the boys walk around like gods doesn't make them any less human.

"Are you sure it's ALL The Kings you're worried about?"

I glance at Sloane.

"Aren't you happy nothing happened to Zane?"

Maybe.

But I'll never admit it out loud.

"Babe?" Zane says, his tone a little too casual, too conversational. As if he's trying not to alert me to how weird it is to wait while I have a conversation with Sloane in my head.

I straighten my back. "Did you get a good look at their face?"

"No. But they're still out there. That's why we moved you and Cadey to a hotel room." He gestures to the suite.

I scrunch my nose. "So… how do you know the thief was with The Grateful Project?"

He smirks, a charming, handsome smile that somehow doesn't quite ring true. "My bad. The next time someone snoops around the house, I'll ask for references."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know what you meant," he teases. "But right now, we're going to assume everything is a threat."

"Okay. I get that." I glance up at Sloane who's watching me with a concerned crinkle between her eyebrows. "It's fine to move out of the house until we find the burglar, but why can't I check out the location tonight?"

"The break-in reminded me that we're dealing with dangerous people. People who could be watching our every move." He leads me to the edge of the bed and we both sit. "I want you to be safe."

"I don't care if I'm safe."

" I care."

"And I appreciate that."

He chuckles and pushes my hair behind my ear. The stubborn curl pops right back out.

"What if Sloane's killers see you finding the evidence? How long do you think they'll let you keep that evidence? They'll do everything they can to take it from you and then it'll all be over. We need someone expendable, someone totally removed from us, to pick it up."

"He has a point," Sloane says.

I look at her and then back at Zane. "So who would that be…"

Suddenly, Zane plucks me from my seat and drops me in his lap. I yelp in surprise, but his firm hand on my hip keeps me in place.

"What are you doing?" I hiss, trying my best not to notice how warm his body is.

"Sorry, Sloane. I need a moment with my wife," Zane says to the armchair in the corner.

"She's over there." I point in the other direction.

"Oh." Zane looks that way.

"Don't tell him I'm still here." Sloane waves a hand. "This is getting good."

Zane sees my attention is still fixed away from him. "She hasn't left yet?"

"Uh…"

"Alright then." He lays me down until my back is flat on the bed. In a move filled with wicked intent, he's over me, his hard, sculpted body wedged between my legs.

My breath snags in my throat when I feel the hardness of him. I almost black out when his strong, calloused hand skims down my thigh and hikes my leg up to his waist. The pulse traveling between my spread legs begs for more.

"How about now?" Zane whispers.

"Uh…"

His lips curve up with the inky darkness of a solar eclipse. Watching the black sail through those blue gemstones, I feel an addictive mix of adrenaline and terror.

Fingers digging into my waist and shifting away the thin cloth of my pajama top, Zane whispers, "Still here?"

I arch my back, zinging from the heated touch of his skin on mine.

His eyes are like midnight oceans spilling over the boundaries of land and destroying everything. A tsunami lashing through the night.

"Should I keep touching? If I do, Grey. It'll be hard to have a conversation."

"No, no. She's gone."

"Hm." He doesn't remove his hand from under my top. I'm surprised when his lips descend to murmur against my skin, awakening a grove of goosebumps. "I think you and I should have many more private conversations."

"Don't you…" I speak breathlessly, "shouldn't you get off me now?"

"And what if she comes back?" He tilts his head, his tone innocent.

"What do you need to say that she can't hear?"

"A lot." His mouth grazes against me, closed at first, a mere whisper. And then, a more open-mouthed nip that has even the hairs on the back of my neck rising to meet his touch.

On instinct, my fingers reach up and sift through his hair. Some part of me needs to touch him. Can't stand when his hands are on me and mine aren't on him too.

"You're… taking advantage of a weird situation," I say, turning my face to expose more of my neck.

He rewards me with more kisses and meets my eyes with a flash of a smirk that sends sparks flying through my lower stomach. "You better get this conversation back on track, Grey, because I'm starting to lose interest in talking."

"How am I supposed to concentrate when you're kissing me like that?" I snap.

A low, sensual laugh travels from his chest, calling to mine until I'm rubbing against him to catch the vibrations of his body. His laughter wafts from him and into me and I can feel it like an intense earthquake. The kind that sends lava spurting out of a volcano.

The sensual heat is almost smothering.

I really can't remember what we were talking about.

"You can't pay attention, can you?" Zane taunts.

"Just give me a second," I grumble. "Uh… we were talking about the break in."

I inhale sharply as he clamps his teeth on the shell of my ear and then soothes it with a sultry lick. The stinging pain followed by the wetness of his tongue has me gasping out loud.

"What about the break in?" Zane asks, moving his hips as he shifts my thighs a little wider and adjusts me under him. It's like he's not even wearing sweatpants. Like I'm not even wearing shorts. With this little fabric, the friction is about to set me on fire.

"Not… fair." I pant. "You're the one who wanted to talk in private. You should… say something."

I'm reveling in his heat and I don't really want to talk, but Zane leans up. Blazing fingers trace up my spine. His hand scoops the back of my neck and he pulls me forward, leaning down until our foreheads touch.

"I think whoever came to the house tonight was looking for you," he says darkly.

I stiffen.

"They already tried to kill you once. There's nothing stopping them from trying again."

I want to fight him on that, but he has a point. This investigation isn't child's play and it makes sense that someone could be watching us, even now, waiting on the right time to kill me. They already killed Harris. And now Slavno. It's a domino effect and I'm next in line.

"They've had plenty of opportunities to get me alone. Why haven't they tried it again?" I ask.

Zane rubs his thumb along my hairline. "I don't know. But I don't want to take any chances either." He gently sets me back until I'm flat on the bed. "I won't let anything happen to you, Grey."

"Death is coming for all of us. I'm not scared. I just don't want to die before Sloane is brought to justice."

"Death should know we're a package deal. If you go, I'm coming to the grave with you."

"Don't joke like that."

But I know he's not joking. Zane is looking down at me with an anger in his eyes that burns me to the quick.

I'm coming to the grave with you. The promise lingers in the air, staining the silence, making me shiver. Making me burn.

"Zane…"

Fingertips grazing down to the waist of my pants and slipping inside, he whispers, "Don't you get it yet? I exist for you, Grey. I breathe for you. Everything I am and everything I will be is yours."

"I didn't ask for that."

"No, you didn't. And still, I'll give you everything."

"Without expecting anything in return?"

"No." He chuckles darkly, teasing the band of my panties. "No, I'll take everything from you too. Until you no longer deny who you belong to."

"Whom."

His smirk is dirty. Filthy, really.

The skin of my stomach jumps as he traces a line down the center of me.

"Whom?" Zane whispers. "Why is it whom?"

White-hot electricity snaps through every nerve. "Y-you're not referring to the subject in the sentence. It's more like a prepositional phrase." I gulp. "So you'd use ‘whom'."

"English nerd."

"English teacher ."

My stomach clenches. I can't believe I just said that.

There's silence for a beat.

Suddenly, Zane tips his head back and laughs.

I bite on my lip, trying not to laugh too.

"Remember, Miss Jamieson, this is my classroom. Not yours." He molds his body to me, shifting his hips dangerously. Heat lashes into me like a whip.

Sweet mercy, I want him to trap me here. Touch me there. Unleash all the dirty promises behind that maniacal smirk.

I doubt he'd have any objections to that request. Zane looks two seconds away from tearing my pajamas off and plunging into me, but there are still so many questions that I need answered.

Taking advantage of his one-armed state, I wiggle out from beneath him and spring to my feet. "We can stop here," I say breathlessly.

Zane tilts his head, his ink-black hair falling silkily and emphasizing the squareness of his jaw.

"Sloane normally doesn't show up for an hour after you and I…" I clear my throat. "So I think we should be good."

A long moment stretches between us.

At last, he releases a sigh. "Alright."

Relief twines with my lust, dousing the flames a bit. I'm glad he's not pushing. If he insisted, I'd probably convince myself that staying right there under Zane was a better use of my time than following up on the evidence.

My head begins to clear as I pace the suite. "The break-in tonight is not totally a bad thing. The other side is nervous. It means we might be on the right track."

Zane watches my every move, not saying anything.

I face him. "I understand that I need to be cautious, but I can't wait until the burglar is found before I take action. I've waited years to get my hands on actual evidence."

"I'm not saying we don't take action. I'm just saying you can't." He gets up to grab a bottle of water from the mini fridge. My eyes bug as I watch his sweats. Those grey pants aren't concealing anything and I can't help but blush a little when he catches me ogling.

"Who are you sending to the storage lockers?" I blurt.

"I'm not sure yet," Zane admits.

"What about Theodore Hall?"

Zane frowns. Hard. "Why him?"

"You said you wanted someone removed from us. Someone expendable." I remember the frazzled state Hall was in. "Theodore was begging me for help. He seemed like he'd be willing to do anything to get on The Kings' good side."

Something dangerous flashes through Zane's expression. "What do you mean ‘he seemed'? Did you see that idiot today?"

My blood stills. "N-no."

"Lie to me again and I'm throwing you on that bed, Grace."

I flinch. Clear my throat. Chance a look at Zane and see him fuming.

Oof, I'm in trouble.