Descent (Black Heart Romance presents Heaven & Hell)

Since Hallie seems to be in the bathroom and I don’t have cameras installed there to watch her, I
decide to get some actual work done. I don’t have any meetings today, but I take a call, make a call,
respond to some emails, and then movement from the monitor catches my attention again.
Hallie has emerged from the bathroom, dressed and ready for the day. Half of her hair is pulled
back and secured with a barrette while the rest is left down. She’s wearing a silver metallic skirt
reminiscent of a go-go dancer with a loose-fitting light pink sweater. The material looks so soft my
fingers itch to touch it. I envision her being here when she steps out of my bathroom dressed and
ready for today. Close enough that I can reach out and run a hand down her arm. Slide it around her
waist and yank her back into me so I can feel more of her body as I nuzzle my face into her neck and
inhale her intoxicatingly feminine scent.
In my vision of how that moment would go if she were here, she smiles.
On the video monitor where she’s all alone, she doesn’t.
She slips on a pair of low heels the same muted pink as her top and checks the time before
apparently deciding she has time for lunch before Arson gets there.
It should at least bore me watching her eat. I should be able to content myself that it’s unlikely
she’ll do anything exciting in that short stretch of time. It should be easy not to watch.
It isn’t.
I don’t know why I can’t stop watching her, but when the smaller window in the top corner of my
screen registers a bald, tattooed man at her door, tension gathers in my shoulders.
Maybe I wanted to watch and make sure everything went smoothly. Doesn’t make sense, though. I
trust Arson—as much as anyone can trust a professional criminal, anyway—but I still find myself
tense as she opens the door with a big warm smile to greet him.
Jealousy pinches me. Ridiculous fucking jealousy—she’s only greeting him so happily because
she thinks she’s establishing some boundary against me and he’s there to help, but her smiles belong
to me, goddammit, and I don’t want her giving any to him.
I guess it doesn’t help that Arson is a good-looking man that radiates danger, that he’s the kind of
man women tend to find appealing, and sweet misguided Hallie thinks she’s allowed to go out on
dates with men who aren’t me.
It’s adorable how she doesn’t realize she’s mine yet.
It would not be adorable if she found herself attracted to Arson, though, so I watch closely,
making sure she shows no such signs.
Realistically, I know even if she were interested, it wouldn’t matter. Arson knows Hallie
belongs to me so he won’t touch her, but I’ll feel uneasy until she knows that.
It’s impossible not to feel the stirrings of possessiveness as I watch her follow him through the
apartment, offering him drinks like a polite host and more smiles that belong to me. Watching her with