Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 107209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
“I think that we should keep our relationship on a personal level.”
She blinked as anger coursed through her. “Don’t give me any of that ‘Don’t ask me about my business’ Godfather bullshit,” she snapped.
“Godfather bullshit?” he asked, one of his eyebrows rising.
She huffed out a breath. “You haven’t seen The Godfather?”
“No,” he murmured, “but I like the ‘Don’t ask me about my business,’ part of it.”
She shook her head. “There has to be trust between us if we’re going to fulfill this contract.”
“There’s trust,” he said easily, “but not enough of it. If I tell you to stay out of a fight, next time you do it.” His voice remained level and his gaze sure. “Tell me you understand me.”
She looked at him, but no words came out. “Maybe this was a bad idea,” she finally said.
He shrugged. “You signed the contract. We have three months.”
“And if I don’t fulfill it?” she asked, fury competing with the desire running through her blood.
“You’ll fulfill it,” he said. “We’re dating for three months. That can mean whatever you want it to mean, except we will stay in this room.”
An unreasonable fury slammed through her, and she punched him in the shoulder. Her knuckles instantly protested.
He grabbed her wrist and drew her hand up to his eyes. “Did you just fracture your hand?”
“No. I may have bruised my knuckles,” she muttered. “I should’ve hit you on your head, but I’d probably break my whole arm.”
“Probably,” he agreed. “I didn’t think we’d have to add a no-hitting clause into the contract. I’d rather you didn’t damage any of your bones.”
Her ears rang. She was so angry, partly at herself. She gulped, trying to ignore his fingers around her wrist, as he absently rubbed his thumb across her palm. He was going to drive her crazy. “When you got in the fight earlier and you were cut, your blood burned my arm.”
He nodded. “It is known that Kurjan blood burns other species unless you’re a mate. Sometimes it doesn’t burn intended mates, but sometimes it does. We don’t know why.” He released her. “Go to sleep, Lyrica. We only have a couple of hours until dawn, and I want to meet with Fizzlewick about the attackers. Also to see if he has anything more for me about the two female victims.”
Vero’s presence was warming the entire bed and her eyelids became heavy.
The image of him fighting to the death, just wearing his boxers, seared into her brain. He’d been coldly methodical and brutally powerful. She knew the immortals were stronger and faster than humans, but she’d lived with them for months and had seen fights and a deadly battle. Nobody moved as fast as he had. Tingles exploded along her skin, the purely feminine kind, and her mind tried to shut down the sensation. “Vero, I want to know if you killed that guy.”
He opened his eyelids again. “I don’t think it’s any of your business. It has nothing to do with your job here or with our relationship.”
She didn’t care. “Don’t make me punch you again.”
“Go to sleep, Lyrica.”
“No,” she said, pushing his chest with both hands. “Did you kill him?”
His sigh moved them both. “No. He’s still alive because he hasn’t given me answers. In addition, I’ve had all the males who arrived at the same time as him brought in for questioning, and I’ll release them after a quick discussion. Now. Go. To. Sleep.”
“Stop telling me what to do,” she snapped.
“Fine,” he said, rolling on top of her and then rolling back over, securing her on top of him. Hard. Muscled. Male. Aroused. “You did give consent.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Lyrica’s body melted atop Vero’s rock-hard form, unable to do anything else. Hard and soft. Male and female. Hunted and captured. No give lay in his cut muscles, and his power thrummed around them. Surprising black shards tore through the deep blue of his eyes.
She gasped, her shoulders jolting and her elbows sliding down his shoulders to the soft mattress, bringing her face closer to his. Hope had told her about the tertiary eye colors found in vampires and demons. It made sense that Kurjans had the same attribute. “What are you doing?” she whispered.
“Trying to get you to stop talking.” His breath smelled minty, mixed with bourbon?
Her knees naturally fell to the sides of his hips, and they both groaned when her core met his. Only his cotton boxers and her satin panties separated them. He pulsed against her sex, and liquid heat rushed to her core. Her nipples hardened against his bare chest, the light T-shirt a laughable barrier between them. A raw craving, more intense than she’d ever felt, electrified her nerve endings.
All of them.
A soft dawn light filtered through the blinds, sliding against his chiseled features. His rough, shadowed jaw, his dark, unruly hair, and his thick, long eyelashes that framed those immortal eyes. The black had almost overcome the blue, leaving only a bright indigo rim around the fathomless darkness.