Instead, he sinks to his knees with a long gurgling moan. He falls over on his side, the gravel biting into his face.

Raylan kicks the Djinn over with the toe of his boot. The Djinn rolls onto his back, his mouth still working soundlessly.

I step closer, looking down at him. I hold up the lantern so I can see his face.

Without his goggles, he looks . . . utterly average. He has a soft, plain, almost gentle-looking face. Brown eyes, wide and bloodshot now, but almost pretty with their dark lashes under his straight brows. Thin lips and weak chin. A man you would never look at twice, passing on the street.

I suppose that was helpful in his profession.

I look up at Raylan instead.

He’s panting heavily, his shirt slashed open on his shoulder, his right cheek bleeding.

His blue eyes find mine, and I see infinite relief in them as he looks me over, as he sees that I’m safe.

He pulls me into his arms, holding me tight against his warm chest.

“You’re okay. You’re okay,” he tells me.

I think he’s reassuring himself.

* * *

22

Raylan

I can’t let go of Riona. I’m holding her, probably too tight, but I can’t relax my grip.

I should never have left her alone at the house.

How the FUCK did the Djinn find her!?

It could have been the emails—he might have tracked the IP address. Or maybe it was the phone calls.

Either way, I wasn’t careful enough. That won’t happen again.

I kiss Riona, tasting the last remnants of adrenaline on her lips. I can feel her shaking from her sprint across the yard.

“What are we going to do with him?” she asks, looking down at the body of the assassin.

“I’ll bury him somewhere out on our land,” I tell her.

“Don’t go right now,” Riona says.

“I won’t,” I promise her.

I’m not letting go of her, even for a second. Instead, I scoop her up in my arms and I carry her into the house. I carry her all the way up the stairs to her room, and I lay her down on the bed, on top of the covers.

Then I kiss her, pinning her down against the pillows. Running my hands over every inch of her body, making sure that no part of her is injured.

We’re both still keyed up full throttle. We’re full of nervous energy that has to go somewhere.

Riona strips off her clothes and climbs on top of me. Her pale skin gleams in the moonlight streaming through the window. Her hair looks dark auburn, and her eyes are green as moss. She looks like a creature you might find deep in the woods. Something that would lure you off the path, that you would gladly follow to your doom.

She straddles my hips, stroking my cock with her pussy lips. It feels so good that I think I’m already inside of her, even though I can see that I haven’t even penetrated her yet. She’s just slowly grinding her clit against the shaft of my cock.