Michelle Maddox - Countdown

– and doing it quickly.

Christ. That voice was so distracting.

I took another step.

A silver camera buzzed past my face, so close that I felt the wind from it. I glared up into its lens and it came back for another pass.

"How is Kira feeling right now?" the voice asked. "Ready to win The Countdown and receive her ultimate prize of a first-class ticket on the Off world shuttle?"

"Fuck off," I told it. "Pretty please."

It flew away and out of my peripheral vision, but I could still see two other cameras moving around in the air nearby.

Jonathan had told them what I wanted. Okay, so that made it official. I was playing for keeps. I wanted that prize more than I wanted anything else in the world.

Another step. Balance. Another step. Balance.

I raised my gaze to look at Rogan, who was much closer now, his head still propped up, and he watched me as I approached. His jaw was tense, the muscles in his arms tight. The closer I got, I could see a small grin appear on his lips.

"What the hell are you smiling at?" I managed.

"Just the fact that you've come to my rescue. Does that make you my knight in shining armor?"

I didn't smile. "I haven't rescued you yet."

His grin faded. "Just watch your step. Don't fall. Here comes another camera."

It buzzed close enough that it almost touched me. "What the hell? Are they trying to knock me off this thing?"

"They're not trying to give you a helping hand, that's for damn sure."

"Why'd you let them tie you up like this?"

He pulled at the bindings. The platform shook slightly. "Like it was my idea. They took me outside the room and knocked me out again. I woke up here. Trust me, it was a hell of a shock."

I studied the ropes that tied him. "This is going to be tricky."

"I don't think the knots are too tight. It's just awkward."

I studied the face of the man who may have killed my family. He looked up at me with those blue-green eyes framed with dark lashes and that fading scar. He wore the same clothes as before: bloody, dirty, ripped. I still saw the handsome man under the ruin, the one I'd let charm me into believing in him.

His dark brows were drawn together as he frowned up at me. "Why are you looking at me that way, sweetheart?"

I blinked back tears. "Just shut up. I need to concentrate."

I thought back to gymnastics. One lesson had been how to kneel down on the bar without losing balance. It had taken me forever to learn that without falling off, but I had finally gotten it. However, that was more than ten years ago, and definitely not a skill I used all the time. Unfortunately.

I slowly crouched down far enough that I could fumble with the bindings around his ankles just above his worn black boots.

His body took up the entire width of the platform and then some. He couldn't move without shaking everything around, and I couldn't get past him.

He eyed his wrists. "Now what?"

A camera whizzed past my ear and I swatted at it, hitting cold metal.

"Five minutes remain in this level of The Countdown."

I met his gaze and saw there was more than a trace of fear behind it. There was concern. For me.

My heart wrenched. Why was he concerned for me? Dammit. I hated that I'd convinced myself he was a good man-and even now, after everything, I still had doubts about his guilt. Was it because I wouldn't allow myself to believe I could be attracted to the man who may have murdered my family?

"I'm thinking."

He blinked. "What they said earlier… about what happened with you and that lawyer scumbag-"

"It was true. All of it."

His jaw tensed. "If he wasn't already dead I'd find him and rip his heart out."

I willed myself to stay focused on the platform. "Nothing happened. I learned my lesson the hard way."

"I'd still kill him."

"It's that easy for you? Killing?" My voice broke on the word.

His expression darkened. "I'll do it for a good cause. For the right reason. To protect myself or somebody I care about."

"Are you saying that you care about me?"

"Sure." He averted his gaze. "And now I care that you untie me so we can get this fucking level over with."

"Don't forget it's supposed to be a reward level."

"I couldn't give a smaller shit. I just want us to get through this in one piece. Now you're going to have to climb over me and untie me so we can keep going. There's not much time left."

I put a hand on his jeans-clad thigh and slowly eased myself lower. He spread his legs so his feet dangled off the side of the platform to give me space to maneuver. Now on my knees, I slid myself closer to him until I couldn't go any farther. I placed my hands on his hard-muscled abdomen, then one at a time on his chest, sliding up to his shoulders. I grabbed the platform above his head on either side of his arms. Our bodies were now firmly pressed against each other. I heard his breathing hitch and felt his cock harden against my stomach.

"Is it wrong that I'm enjoying this a little bit?" he rasped.

"Yeah, it's wrong."

My breasts rubbed against his chest, and he inhaled sharply and let out a low groan. "Dammit, Kira."

I leaned in closer and whispered in his ear, "Jonathan told me that you're the one who killed my family."

He tensed and pulled his face away so he could stare into my eyes. His were wide. "What?"

"You heard me. Seven years ago when you were a Kerometh addict." A tear slipped down my cheek and fell into the empty air beneath us. "You broke into our home in the dead of night and shot my mother, father, and sister. And you would have killed me, too, if the cops hadn't arrived."

He shook his head. "No, Kira-"

"Shut up. Just shut up. That's why they picked me to be your partner. Because they knew what you did to me. They knew. Jonathan told me-"

"Jonathan's a fucking liar," he spat out. "He's one of them. Don't you see? He's lying to you. I didn't kill your family. I swear to God I didn't."

"And I'd believe you? Why would I believe you?"

"You have to believe me."

"I don't have to do anything." I shook my head and slid past him, going hand over hand, pulling myself clear of his body. "I can leave you here. I don't have to save you, as long as I save myself. You can die and I'll live."

Something in his expression shattered. "You're the only one who's given me the benefit of the doubt in years. Please don't take that away."

I just held on to the platform and closed my eyes tightly, trying to stop any more tears from spilling.

He craned his neck to look at me. His eyes glistened. "Kira, I've done bad things. I'll admit that. I've killed before. But I haven't killed anyone who didn't deserve it"

"Maybe you have a lousy idea of who deserves to die."

"I swear, Kira, I didn't kill your family."

"How would you even remember? If you were in the middle of a Kerometh fury, then you wouldn't be thinking too clearly."

There was deep anguish in his expression as he strained to keep me in his gaze. "I've never taken Kerometh a day in my life."

I brought the back of my hand up to wipe at the tears on my cheeks and frowned so hard that it hurt. He'd never taken Kerometh before?

"There are three minutes remaining in this level of The Countdown."

I'd read Jonathan. I knew he was telling me the truth.

The truth, I thought. How did I know for sure it was the truth? Because he read as being an honest man? Even honest men could lie when they had to.

What else had I felt? Guilt. Jonathan felt a deep sense of guilt, but I didn't know why.

Maybe he felt guilty that he was being forced to lie to me about Rogan. If Rogan had killed my family and left me as an orphan who almost had to sell her body to get enough money not to starve to death, then I hated him.