Free Tempting Evil by Keri Arthur

free haircuts for years.”
    “I
like
medium to long hair. Anything wrong with that?”
    “Normally, no. But long hair doesn’t suit the shoes you’re stepping into. She’s trendy. With it.” He flicked the end of my hair. “This is not.”
    “I know, but—”
    “Trust me,” he said. “You’ll look divine. And your hair will grow back, regardless.”
    I blew out a frustrated breath, but gave in to the inevitable. I was being ridiculous and I knew it. Besides, I wanted my life back, and if doing that meant cutting my hair extremely short, then surely that was a small price to pay. “If it doesn’t look good, I’m going over to your place and destroying all your makeup.”
    He grinned. “Warning heeded. Now shut up and let the master create.”
    For the next three hours he had his wicked way with my looks, and I had to admit, the end result was startling. He’d dyed my skin a dark gold, covering the smattering of freckles scattered across my cheeks and shoulders, and giving me the rich glow of a sun worshipper. My hair was as short as I’d feared, the ends barely brushing the bottom of my ears, but had been layered so that it framed my face, giving me a cheeky, yet extremely sexy, look. He’d also streaked it with blond, which played amongst the natural gold highlights in my red hair and gave the overall effect of three-toned hair. Breathable, bright green contacts completed the transformation.
    “Wow” was all I could manage to say. I didn’t look like me, even though he hadn’t changed all that much.
    He gave me a pleased smile. “One more touch, and we’re finished.”
    “And what’s that?”
    “Voice modulator.”
    “Ewww.”
    He smacked my shoulder. “Stop being a baby.”
    “Hey, it’s not the inside of your cheek that thing is being shoved into it.”
    “I got hold of some of the smaller ones, just because I knew you’d whine.” He showed me the round pieces of soft plastic. They were even thinner than the last ones we’d used, their thickness being little more than that of extremely fine paper. Width-wise, they were no bigger than a small coin. Once inserted, no one would feel they were there unless they were actually looking for the things—or I decided to deep-throat someone.
Not
an option considering where I was going.
    “Open wide, darling.”
    “I bet you say that to all the men,” I muttered, but did as he asked.
    He inserted the small plastic chips in either side of my mouth, and it still felt like he was ripping out teeth rather than shoving plastic under my skin.
    “Owww, owww, owww,” I said, when I could. “You could at least use painkillers when you do that.”
    “Stop being such a baby. Besides, the surface of the modulators
are
covered with an analgesic and deaden the skin as they go in.”
    “Hate to tell you this, but it doesn’t work.”
    “Trust me, this would be a whole lot more painful if it wasn’t. Now, say something else so I know they’re working properly.”
    “I hope one day someone does this to you, just so you can see it
is
painful, painkiller or no painkiller.” My voice was several octaves lower, and rich with a huskiness that conjured long nights in smoke-filled rooms. A threat had never sounded so sexy, let me tell you.
    “Very nice,” he murmured, then bent and grabbed a backpack. “You wardrobe and worldly possessions.”
    “Joy.” I unzipped the bag. Inside was jeans, tank tops, a pair of sneakers, a belt that had a real-looking spider as the buckle, a couple of sweaters, and one barely-there dress. All of them looked worse for wear, worn and wrinkled looking. Except for the underclothing, all of which was top shelf and extremely sexy.
    “A female thief would at least ensure decent underclothing, no matter what other state her clothes were in,” Liander commented.
    “But I’m not a very successful thief if this bag is all I have to show for it.”
    “Jack told me your cover had to leave Sydney in a hurry, and to pack