In Too Deep

Thirty

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Her heart rate sped up, and her palms grew damp as she walked into Vicious' apartment. The awful anxiety she had felt earlier intensified with each passing moment. Nova swept her gaze around the empty living room, then strode down the hallway to get to his bedroom.

She had just walked in when Vicious stepped out from the bathroom, stealing her breath with his exposed torso. His hair was damp, and droplets of water were cascading down his neck and upper chest, a towel wrapped around his waist, which was dangerously close to exposing his nudity.

He looked almost startled to see her, his gaze darkening for an instant before his perfect smile slid effortlessly into place.

Seeing him alive and well almost brought tears to her eyes. Nova didn't realize how badly she needed to see him alive until she saw him standing there, and how her body was responding instinctively to the sight of his, which made it harder to rein in her emotions.

Vicious was walking over to her, and then she felt his hand slid around her waist. She turned into him and surrendered everything to his touch.

"Hi," she gasped as his lips brushed against her neck and lingered on her pulse. His tongue swept against it as she tried to turn around to him, but his arms tightened around her. He moved behind her and pressed into her. "Where were you? The warehouse...the warehouse caught on fire, and the police were all over the place. I thought you were—"

"I did it," he murmured against her flushed skin.

Confused, Nova clasped a hand over his on the other side of her neck and held it there, turning in his arms. Vicious' hands fell around her waist again, his eyes dark with lust and need as they swept over her form. She reached her finger under his chin to tip his head up to look into her eyes.

"What do you mean you did it? Did what?"

"The fire," he whispered against her skin as he lowered his head, "I set the place on fire and reported it. It was a necessary thing to do, although I should have told you guys about it." His arms slid around to her back, pressing a hand to her hip to anchor her against him. "I knew there was something I forgot to do." His shoulders shook with laughter.

Nova was still trying to process this information. "Why would you do that? And why would you scare me like that?" She swatted his chest, openly glaring at him. "If the police find something..."

He grinned, the sight was delicious to her, as he rested his forehead on hers. "The only important thing they will find is the dead bodies I left behind." He gave her a chaste kiss on the neck before he pulled away and grabbed his boxer briefs on the bed.

"Dead bodies?"

He shrugged and shamelessly dropped his towel to the ground, revealing his thick hardness. "I was cleaning up a mess." He pulled up his briefs to his waist without taking his gaze off her.

Needing more than that, Nova asked again, "What mess?"

Vicious' voice grew gruff when he explained, "Vipers know about you, or at least they knew about you." Right now, he was putting on his dark, tight pants.

"What do you mean they know about me?" Her eyes expanded, and it hurt to breathe as her lungs strained against her chest.

"I came to meet you guys after the auction was over, but then I got really suspicious when I saw a black van parked in the shadows, right outside the building. I couldn't get out of the car until I was sure I knew who was in the van. For almost ten minutes, nothing happened. Just as I was about to dismiss it as nothing, a man came out of the van to pee," His voice slipped, and the icy rage he must have felt earlier was in him again.