Angel/Hiss (Bayou Heat Box Set Book 7) by Alexandra Ivy, Laura Wright Read Free Book Online

least make it quick?”
    He frowned at her odd words. “Make what quick?”
    “My death.”
    He sucked in a shocked breath, feeling as if he’d been punched in the gut. Was this truly what they’d come to?
    That she could believe he would ever hurt her?
    “I’m not going to kill you,” he rasped.
    She shrugged, slowly rising to her feet. “I’m a loose end. What else are you going to do with me?”
    He scowled, deeply offended by her accusation. Had he ever done anything but try to protect her? Even when he knew he risked his own life to keep her hidden.
    “How can you ask me that question?” he demanded.
    “Don’t pretend to be offended, Locke,” Chelsea taunted, giving a toss of her head. “We both know you have no morals.” Her lips twisted in a humorless smile as her hand reached up to touch her scarred features. “Of course, people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. I allowed my own vanity to lead me down the pathway to hell.”
    He crossed the floor, grabbing her hands in a tight grip.
    Chelsea had agreed to help with the Pantera project in hopes that the healing properties of their blood would erase the scars that marred her face. Unfortunately, she didn’t realize she was making a deal with the devil until too late.
    “None of it was what I wanted.”
    Her lips twisted. “Of course it was.”
    “No. I’ve only done what was asked of me,” he insisted in harsh tones.
    “Don’t…” She pulled her hands free, glaring at him with blatant censure. “At least be honest about your lack of conscience. You’ve killed and tortured and held innocents captive for your own gain.”
    Stanton grimaced. Okay. He couldn’t deny her accusation. He might not be the one ultimately in charge, but he was far from innocent.
    “You’re right. I sold my soul.” His jaw tightened. “But that doesn’t mean I haven’t had regrets.”
    Chelsea heaved a sigh, her expression softening with regret. “Too late.”
    Stanton reached to lightly cup her scarred cheek. “Is it?”
    “What?”
    “Is it too late?”
    She carefully inspected his taut features, searching for…something.
    “Have you left your beloved master?” she at last demanded.
    His heart fractured. It was the only thing she’d ever asked of him. And the one thing he could never give her.
    “No. I can’t,” he muttered, wishing she could understand. “I owe him too much to walk away.”
    Her lips flattened. It was an old argument that had torn them apart.
    “What do you owe him?”
    “I was starving in the street,” he said, leaving out the nastier parts of his childhood. Like the bastard who’d pimped him out from the age of five. And the younger brother he’d watched beaten to death by a local gang. “Without my master I would have died.”
    She released an explosive breath, refusing to accept his belief that he owed his master his unwavering loyalty.
    “Foster parents do that every day without expectation of their children becoming their devoted slaves.”
    “He did more than save me,” he insisted, his thumb rubbing her full bottom lip. “He educated me and gave me a life of luxury.”
    “And that’s so important to you?”
    Her simple question squeezed the air from his lungs. Until Chelsea, everything had been easy.
    His master told him what needed to be done, and he did it. No fuss. No muss.
    He didn’t have to consider tedious things like right or wrong. Or the pain he was causing others.
    “It was.” His fingers tightened on her cheek, an acute longing twisting his gut. “Now…”
    “Now what?” she prompted when his words trailed away.
    “Now I fear my purpose in life was nothing more than an illusion.”
    Her hand lifted to lie against his chest, the light touch sending jolts of pleasure through him.
    “Locke?”
    His lips twitched. He loved that she always called him by his last name. Even when she was wrapped in his arms.
    “What am I going to do with you?” he muttered.
    ***
    Angel considered himself