Spider's Game ((Book One) #Wattys2016 Winner!)

Chapter 13- A Walk Through the Park

The sun's warmth flickered over Allison's back, stroked her cheek with a softness matched only by a mother she barely recalled. A lull fell over her. Her eyes fluttered closed for a moment and she allowed Halis to guide her down the path.

Moments existed in staccato bursts in her memory. Could she keep this one? Maybe forget whose hand held hers? She played a dangerous game lowering her guard but she doubted he would try and kill her here. No. He like her planned something in private.

A kill was an intimate thing, the culmination of a complex dance.

She'd seen enough of his kills to know the final steps.

Allison turned her face to her companion. Her heart shivered at the sight of him, his dark skin fading into the shadowed trees, leaving his white teeth and the whites of his eyes bright. He stepped closer and her body took over for her heart. Her breath quickened at his closeness, a giddy warmth spreading over her. Her flesh desired him, yearned for him to reach across the infinitesimal distance and touch her.

If she'd required any warning that he was dangerous, her reaction to his nearness would have sufficed. There was no cause for the reaction. Oh, she might have taken it for love, even with all her training were it not for Red. Every time she thought Red's name or pictured his occasional smile, her heart sang and the world brightened. No. She didn't love Halis.

"How did someone like you end up here, with me?" Halis said. His dark hand brushed her white cheek, and she leaned her head to prolong the touch.

"Can't I be here because I desire it?"

"No, you lovely little thing, there are greater mechanisms at work. Fate, luck."

Pheromones. That was the only explanation for the tightening of desire in her belly. Somehow he was putting off a scent that lured her. But people couldn't do that. Not to this extent and not on purpose. For important missions, Red sometimes provided her with a few injection shots to amp up her own appeal. Was this what those men felt like? Drawn against their better reason?

"Luck," she whispered. No not luck, something much more purposeful than that. Did he know? "Yes, our whole lives have led to this moment. But that can be said about any moment."

He leaned down and the touch of his lips jolted through her. Would this be what it felt like to kiss Red? The thought was not new, nor was indulging it. If her body wanted to play traitor, fine. Not like she'd ever get this from the man she truly wanted.

I am strong enough to resist Halis' pull. She wrapped her arm around his neck, lifting herself to her tiptoes. As the kiss deepened, she leaned into him. The firm muscle of his chest pressing against her. Tonight was the night.

All she had to do was get him back to her place, kill him and disappear. Everything was prepared, she'd leave no trace and no connection between Halis' death and the Agency. She'd turned on her net-implant just long enough to clear the waiting cache of communications. Her report on Halis' sex life should be back at the Agency center now. Her job didn't include questioning why they wanted the information but she was thankful they had. Her observations warned her not to go to bed with Halis until the time came to end the dance.

Few of the girls Halis met with survived, the ones who had came away pregnant.

"Back to my place?" Halis said.

"No." Allison repressed a shudder at the thought of the dark mansion on the hill, Halis' frozen demoness of a sister lurking inside. No. His place wouldn't do. She'd been warned about Silvia, even if she didn't know what the warning meant, Allison didn't intend to go near Silvia. "Maybe..."