Descent (Black Heart Romance presents Heaven & Hell)

level—all but implies consent.”
“I—I didn’t know where I was going. I didn’t know what this place was. I still don’t,” she adds,
looking around at the other people in the room for help, someone to take her side.
“You can all go,” I tell them without looking away from Hallie. “I don’t like an audience.”
Her gaze lingers on Jackson the longest. She hasn’t yet accepted that he lured her here to be my
next meal, so she manages to look stunned when he slinks out with everyone else, leaving her here at
my mercy.
I observe her face as she watches everyone abandon her, all of them knowing she was lured here
under false pretenses, that she didn’t mean to open herself up to this.
“Bastards, aren’t they?” I murmur, my lips tugging up in faint amusement.
She takes a deep, fortifying breath and looks up to meet my gaze. I expect to see fear etched
across her lovely features, but she has a look of quiet determination instead. “Who are you? What do
you want with me?”
“Calvin Cutler—we already covered the rest, remember?”
“Look, Calvin… you seem like a reasonable man.”
“I am.”
She nods, her eyes brightening a bit with useless optimism. “Good. Being a reasonable man, you
understand that I had no idea I was coming to…” She pauses to look around, as if unsure how to even
categorize this place. “I don’t know, a secret sex club?” Directing her gaze back at me, she continues,
“And you should certainly understand that I am not going to have sex with you. We’re complete
strangers. I don’t have sex with strangers, no matter how attractive.”
I cock my head, surprised at the offhanded compliment.
I’m a little less surprised when she goes on, slyly trying to get her hand on the wheel and turn
this car around.
“Now, you’re obviously a man who wouldn’t have any trouble at all finding a willing female to
come with you to a place like this, but it’s not me. I’m not willing. And my friend, Charity? She’s a
lawyer. A damn good one. Now, I’m a peaceful person. I don’t enjoy conflict, especially unnecessary
conflict, and this… this is unnecessary. We don’t need to see this through to its inevitable end—you
get a quick, cheap thrill; I go straight to the hospital without showering to ensure they get as much
physical evidence as humanly possible; Charity has to come back from her honeymoon and start
preparing an ugly court case because I’ll sue you for damages on top of the criminal charges.” Her
gaze sweeps my suit jacket as if impressed. “That looks like a really nice suit. I bet you’re pretty
well-off. Do you really want to give your hard-earned money to me? Aren’t there cheaper and easier
ways to get laid?”
Reluctant amusement roots itself deep inside me, deeper than I’ve ever felt it. “Wow. You’re