Free Dylan's Reaper: Soul Reapers #3 by J.D. Lowrance Page B

needing space and a chance to get my bearings.
His presence alone sparked a deep desire within me.
    “ I am a good time. ” His husky voice fanned
the flame of that desire.
    “ I bet you are. ” I hated the tremor in
my voice, giving him all the ammunition he needed to know he affected me. A
shit-eating grin appeared on his face. Knox gave me the space I needed to
breathe as he led me over to a smaller group of people at the bar. I was
thankful that I knew most of them. As if reading my mind, Knox introduced me to
the man with Emma.
    “ Dylan, this is Tru. ”
    “ My husband, ” Emma finished.
    “ Nice to meet you, ” I said, shaking the
hand he offered.
    “ Same here, ” said Tru.
    Everyone seemed pretty somber as subdued
conversations happened all around.
    “ Is everything ok? ” I looked to Knox.
    “ It will be, ” was all he said as he
placed a kiss on my forehead.
    “ What happened this afternoon? ” The change in topic
threw me, as did the space he kept between us.
    “ What do you mean? ”
    “ With Colton, ” he explained.
    “ Oh. Colton was mad at a brother for
talking shit. ” Which
Trigger did!
    “ About what? ” His multicolored eyes
bore into mine.
    “ I figured you would have heard by
now. ”
    “ Indulge me, please. ” Although he added the
please, I took it for the demand that it was.
    “ Me, ” I whispered.
    “ Why? ” His words warm against
my cheek as he hovered next to me, close enough to touch, but keeping his
distance.
    “ Because I was telling Cam and Logan
about myself and the fact that I worked at a bar and occasionally stripped was
made known to a table full of brothers. Trigger ran his mouth to my big brother
and has a shiner to prove it. ”
    Knox laughed. The tension eased from my body at the
sound. Was I really nervous he would reject me because I stripped?
    “ Hence the dance lessons today. ”
    It was my turn to laugh. “ You
saw that. ”
    “ Wouldn ’ t
have missed it. ” We both laughed. At that moment someone
turned up the music. Hozier ’ s Take Me to
Church filled the room, drowning out the conversations around us. It felt
like we were in our own bubble as everything faded away. We stayed in that spot
as we just stared at each other.
    “ Tell me something about yourself
that no one else knows. ” It was my turn to throw a curve ball
into the conversation.
    “ Let ’ s
see. ” His smile contagious as
I smiled back. “ I don ’ t
like cucumbers. ”
    “ Really insightful, ” I teased, bumping my
shoulder into him.
    “ The color purple makes me break out
in hives. ”
    “ What? ” I laughed. “ Sounds
like you are mental. ”
    “ Maybe, ” he shrugged. “ Your
turn. ” Flirting with Knox was
fun.
    “ I believe in Vampires. ”
    “ Oh really, ” he laughed.
    “ Yep. I have slept with the blankets
up to my neck every night since I was a kid. ”
    “ Why? ” he chuckled.
    “ Because when I was a little kid I
watched Dracula, and not a corny one, the legit Bram Stoker ’ s
Dracula. And it scared the hell out of me. I was like eight or something and I
thought Dracula would come into my room and bite my neck as I slept so I used
to bunch the covers around my neck so he couldn ’ t
get me. Well fifteen years later and I still sleep like that. ”
    “ And I ’ m
mental, ” he taunted. “ Sounds
more like irrational fear. You know, the kind where you don ’ t
know how it started but it is so ingrained and runs so deep that you can ’ t
help but hold onto it for fear of losing yourself to it. ”
    “ Wow, ” I said, turning to
really look at him.
    “ What? ” Knox was surveying the
room and still had not looked at me.
    “ That was deep. ” His eyes shot to mine.
    “ Not half as deep as I want to be in
you, ” he growled as he took
one slow, stalking step towards me.
    “ Oh. My. God, ” I yelped, taking a step
back from him. “ Are you serious right
now? ” His constant need to
push sex was driving me bat-shit crazy.
    “