13. Austin #2
I crouched, grabbing his chin in a punishing grip and forcing his focus back to me. “Don’t look at her. Look at me.”
His neck wobbled as he did, fear wafting off him like cologne. Or maybe he’d already pissed himself.
“How many of your employees have you touched?”
“Austin—” McKenna said at the same time Marv answered, “I-I don’t know.”
“How fucking many?” I yelled, gripping his chin harder.
He winced at the pain. “The girls! All the girls.”
My nostrils flared. That meant he’d touched Brynne too. I was doing Booker a favor by ending this prick’s miserable life.
It took all the restraint I had not to tear his eyes out this fucking instant.
“That why you make them wear that skimpy little outfit, even when it’s cold?”
He nodded frantically.
“Use your words, and I’ll consider making your death quick.”
“Y-yes.” His voice wobbled over the answer.
“You’re going to kill him?” McKenna whisper-shrieked. As if the cook would seriously come in here and stop me. Pretty sure he’d shit his pants when I all but threw Marv in this office, because he’d been real quiet ever since.
“I thought my intentions here were pretty clear.” I cocked my head, ignoring the pungent scent of Marv’s breath. “Touch what’s mine, and you lose your privilege to live.”
“Austin, he’s my boss .”
“He won’t be missed.” I reached into my pocket, pulling out my pocket knife. Despite it fitting in my jeans, it wasn’t small by any means. Marv knew as much when I flicked it open, and his eyes widened.
“Please, please don’t. I’ll never touch her again! I?—”
I dropped Marv’s chin and grasped his neck. “No. You won’t. You’ll never touch any girl again.” And because I was bored, or maybe I was impatient and wanted to get McKenna home, I drove the knife through his stomach.
Blood instantly soaked my hand, the pressure of my grip on his neck keeping his garbled protests somewhat quiet.
But I didn’t squeeze hard enough that my fingers would leave bruises.
I couldn’t have that if we needed to come up with a suicide story.
Chances were, though, the guys would help clean this up.
I yanked the knife from his flesh at the same time I let go of him. He fell to the floor in a heap, blood pooling around his cheek as he choked. I admired the red staining my blade, twirling it in my fingers before tossing it on the floor near his stomach. I’d deal with the fingerprints later.
I turned to find McKenna staring at me with an arched brow, the mug at her lips as she took a sip of rich coffee. I couldn’t help but smirk. My girl liked it. Liked watching me murder her pathetic scumbag boss for simply touching her.
Slowly, she lowered the mug, one hand on the bottom, the other with fingers wrapped delicately around the handle. “Was that really necessary?”
I could hear the playful lilt in her tone. Could see the slight tilt of her lips.
Fuck me.
I strode toward her, folding my hands around the hot ceramic and taking it from her. I blindly set it on the filing cabinet to her right, leaning into her space. “What can I say? I’m protective.”
She took a small step back, and I followed. “More like possessive.”
I shrugged, resting my hands on her waist as I walked her backwards. Her back hit the door, our noses brushing. I inhaled the scent of strawberries and coffee, my cock twitching with the smell of her. “Call it what you want, baby. No one touches you and gets away with it.”
The back of her head rested against the door as she tried to pull my attention to her eyes. I was too focused on her mouth to care. “What’s your plan, Austin?”
The way her lips wrapped around my name… Her breathy voice, slightly pissed at me, mostly turned on.
“Say my name like that again.” I’d do anything to hear it one more time.
Her chin tilted up, her cheeks flushing as her eyelids grew heavy. “Austin.”
The next second, her legs were around my waist, my hands—one still bloodied—gripping her thighs as I crashed my mouth to hers.
There was no hesitation, no peckish kissing.
We were all tongues and teeth and heavy breaths, starving from the endless tease we’d become to one another.
But even as we gave in, right here, right now, I knew our little game wasn’t over.
I was just really fucking horny for her.
And by those little breathy moans she was eliciting, I’d say she was really fucking horny for me too.
“If all it took was killing someone, I’d have slaughtered the whole damn diner,” I muttered into her mouth.
We’d been skating around an undrawn line for a while now, but this?
Her pliant and needy with my cock pressed between her legs?
I’d do anything she asked to have even a speck of this with her again.
Her fingers tugged on my hair, a pinch of pain following the action. I reluctantly let her guide my head back until I was looking at her, my lips parted and glistening with her saliva.
“This isn’t because you killed him.”
I was so drunk on her, I didn’t care why it was. I only wanted more.
Fuck, what was wrong with me? When had the obsession with McKenna gotten to the point I was so fucking wasted for her?
But I didn’t really care about that either. She had me in her clutches, and I kneeled at her feet willingly.
“Why, then?” I asked, my voice bordering on a throaty whisper as curiosity got the best of me.
“Tell me the answer, and I’ll do it again.
” I tried to inch closer, but she held me at bay by the strands of my hair.
I’ll do anything to make you touch me like you want me , I wanted to add, but figured I should stop myself before I started sounding sick.
McKenna seemed to be the type of woman that would be disgusted by a man pining after her.
This? This was only stalking.
Nothing huge like love.
Her gaze narrowed as she studied me, something akin to pity in her eyes. “You really are obsessed with me.”
“I never claimed not to be.” I moved one hand from her ass to wrap it around her slender neck, pinning her to the door. She tightened her hand in my hair, but this time, I didn’t allow her to hold me back. I hovered my lips over hers and inhaled through my nose. “Did you like the coffee, kitten?”
Under my palm, she swallowed. My thumb coasted over her pulse point, my teeth aching to dig into her soft flesh.
“It was fine,” she gritted out, trying her best to paste on some false sense of anger. It was her defense mechanism to portray indignation rather than to let someone past her carefully fortified guard. But that was fine. I could deal with that.
I dropped her to the ground, using my now-free hand to grab her wrist, the one gripping my hair, and pulling it away until it was pressed against the door, right above her head.
Blood smeared her skin as she pulled away from my grip, but that tiny spark in her eyes gave me the approval I needed to lean in and brush my lips against the shell of her ear.
To trail my tongue along her jawline and down the side of her neck, stopping at her pulse. “You like when I take care of you.”
McKenna’s entire body froze, like she wasn’t expecting me to keep pressing the matter. Too bad for her, I quite enjoyed pushing her buttons.
I moved my lips back up to her ear at the same time as she said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“How I made you coffee,” I murmured, noticing the goosebumps rising on her flesh.
“You didn’t even make it the way I like, so don’t flatter yourself.”
The corner of my mouth twitched. So stubborn. “Yes, I did.”
She huffed out an irritated breath .
“I’ve been watching you, McKenna. I know exactly how you like your coffee.
How you cook your eggs.” Slowly, my hand around her neck glided down her chest, between her breasts and to her stomach that fluttered under my touch.
“How you like to shower in candlelight.” I moved lower, fingertips trailing over her bare thighs right at the base of her skirt.
“How you secretly liked me killing your boss because he’s been harassing you for years.
” My fingers disappeared between her legs, rubbing along her wet panties and her swollen clit.
“How you’re soaked right now because of it. ”
“You’re so cocky,” she said, the words full of breath and need.
I nipped at her ear lobe. “You love it.”
My nose ghosted her cheek as I moved back to her mouth. Right as my lips brushed hers, she shoved my chest with her free hand. My foot moved to catch myself, and I dropped her wrist, staring at her.
“Talk to me when you’re not covered in some other man’s blood.” Then she opened the door and stormed out, leaving me in a room that, without her scent to mask it, was starting to smell a lot like blood and piss.
My tongue ran over my bottom lip as I stared at the door. Without a glance back, I followed in her steps, pulling out my phone to dial Booker and Henley. I didn’t have time to clean this shit myself.
I had a woman to chase.