KILLING ME SOFTLY by Jenna Mills Read Free Book Online Page A

of rules shall we play by?"
    There were no rules. No boundaries. Not when the game was one of life and death.
    "Why the frown? Isn't this what you wanted?"
    What … she … wanted. Oh, she wanted, all right. A lot. "Are you always this suspicious of people you don't know?"
    "Not just people I don't know. Only the naive think knowing someone means you can trust them."
    "Once a cop, always a cop," she murmured. He'd said as much.
    His laugh was dark. "Ah, cher . My instincts have nothing to do with a badge."
    "And what are your instincts telling you?"
    "That beneath all that bravado, you're hiding something. You stroll onto my land like you have every right to be there, then defy me as though you haven't a clue as to what I'm capable of."
    She knew what he was capable of. That was the problem. It was also the draw. She knew she should have gone back to the hotel after her encounter with Travis. She should never have walked deeper into the night, directly toward the oak-shrouded church where people had once come to pray … and mourn.
    But the second she'd seen the glow from within, she'd been drawn to move closer, look inside. What she'd seen there had chilled her, even as a warm rush had whispered through her. He'd looked so alone standing in the shadows among photographs that said far more about the man he was, than the places he'd visited.
    The butterfly…
    Angling her chin, she shoved the unwanted emotion aside and focused on an equally unwanted possibility. "I suppose your instincts are why you arranged for my little welcoming committee?"
    His eyes narrowed. "Pardon?"
    "The two men who so gallantly wanted to warn me this evening after I left the restaurant." On more of a fishing expedition than a crucifixion, she held back their names. It disturbed her to realize how badly she wanted his denial. "How much did you pay them to prove your point and scare me off?"
    The rumble started low in his chest. "You think I paid someone to scare you off?"
    She lifted a single eyebrow. "Didn't you?"
    He stepped closer, crowding her against the side of the old church. "You really think I'm the kind of man who pays others to do his dirty work?"
    Her breath quickened. No. She didn't think that at all. If Cain Robichaud had dirty work to do, he took great pleasure in doing it himself.
    "I have to consider the possibility," she whispered.
    His thighs brushed her hips. "But you don't want to." His voice was quiet, hoarse. "I can see that in the way you're looking at me."
    The night pulsed around them, thick, intimate, reducing the world to just the two of them. She eased the hair from her face and reminded herself to breathe, but only succeeded in drawing the scent of patchouli and clove deep within her.
    The urge to step away was strong, but he stood too close, wedging her between his big body and the wall. "How is that?" she asked. "Like you've lost your mind?"
    His smile was slow, purely carnal. " Non , like I'm the only man in the world." Shadows played across the planes of his face, emphasizing the glow to his eyes, the heavy whiskers at his jaw. "The mistrust and the fascination, the curiosity, like you're looking at something you want to touch, but aren't sure if you put your hand out whether you'll be kissed—or bitten."
    Her heart kicked hard. Every instinct for survival told her to break the contact between them, look away, focus on the statue of a woman seated on a park bench overlooking the bayou, waiting for a lover who never returned. But she didn't move. "All that just from my eyes?"
    "I'm a photographer." He raised a hand to her face, but rather than touching, he traced the outline through the smoky air. "You can look for my secrets all you want, but know that before all is said and done, I'll have yours, too."
    Because God help her, she would give it to him.
    "Be careful what you wish for," she shot back with a silkiness that pleased her. Refusing to give an inch, she slipped under his arm and let a slow smile of her own