Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 92392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Three on my right.
The murmurs thinned along with the soft weeping.
The wheels of the cots clicked against the tile and the click got louder as the room hollowed out around them.
The men in black moved to the children's beds now.
They started at the far end. Two men to a bed. Their gloved hands slid under the small backs the way you would lift a sleeping cat. They tucked blankets around the little ones. They placed stuffed animals into the crooks of small arms. They wheeled the children through the double doors one after the other, and the doors swung closed behind each one with a soft heavy sound like a book falling shut.
I stopped reading and looked up at my guard.
He finished listening on the phone and then put it up.
I gestured for him to come over. “What’s going on?”
"The war is over. The Dragon was victorious."
My heartbeat picked up as my breath rushed out of me. I had to touch my chest to calm it. “Oh my God. Seriously?”
“Yes. And now the Dragon wants this room empty so he can talk to you."
I blinked twice. "What? They’re moving all these babies just so he can talk to me?"
“Yes.”
“I can just come to him—”
“The Dragon gave the order—”
“Since the war is over, please make sure the injured are at least being transported to hospitals in Tokyo. Talk to the Roar’s assistant, Ali, about it and say I said so.”
“I will do that now, Tora.”
“Thank you.” Relief hit my shoulders.
The guard pulled out his phone and left.
The corner of the page bent under my thumb. I forced my thumb to relax, and it curled right back.
A nurse came to get the little girl next to me. “We must go.”
The little girl frowned. “But the story isn’t done.”
“Don’t worry.” I handed the book to her. “This is yours.”
She gasped, took it, and hugged the book to her chest. “Thank you, Mrs. Tiger.”
“You’re welcome.”
Two men in black came for Zo's bed. They lifted him carefully. He rolled onto his side, muttered something about a sandwich, and kept snoring. The men wheeled him out at the same speed as everyone else.
More and more people left.
The last of the mothers walked past me and waved. “Thank you, Tiger.”
I nodded.
The room continued to empty. The medical staff. The injured. The mothers. The grandparents. Even my guards.
Soon, I was alone.
Why would he empty this room to talk to me? Why not just have me come to him? What’s going on?
And then suddenly. . .this uncomfortable pressure rose within my chest.
I blinked. It felt like someone had set their palm flat against my chest, but from the inside. And then I just knew that meant. . .Kenji was in the building.
I can feel him. We’re bonded?
A cold shiver ran through me.
I looked up and felt him getting closer.
The overhead lights buzzed.
Above me, a door in the building opened for him. Men bowed and separated. Then another door opened and another. I couldn’t see any of this happening, but I could absolutely feel it.
Holy shit. I don’t know if I will get used to this.
I rose from the chair.
I feel him without a doubt. Why didn’t I feel him before? Does he need to be at a certain distance?
His hot presence spilled into my chest, and my body answered. My nipples went hard against the inside of my shirt so fast it stung. I went so wet my thighs slicked, and my heart began to ache.
I was aroused, and he was too. We were both eager to be in each other’s space.
Baby. . .
But then, under all the hot wave of yearning. . .intense rage rose too.
What?
I tensed.
He’s. . .fucking angry. Really. . .really. . .angry. . .
So furious that it was no longer just in my body. His fury rained down from the ceiling and filled the space.
I stepped back, trying not to drown in it.
He won. Why is he so mad? Was someone hurt? Or did they not win the way they wanted or. . .
The answer came to me easily, and then I knew. . .that. . .the rage was for me.
What?
Terror rocked me down to my soul.
Why the fuck is he mad at me?
Chapter twenty-five
The Silence
Nyomi
I stepped back against the wall, continuing to confirm that Kenji was near. His cold rage poured through the air like winter finding every crack in a house, thickening each breath until the room felt carved from ice. But that rage was only the surface of it.
Underneath it, his hot, lusty wanting moved like volcano magma traveling under a massive glacier—hidden, patient, yet capable of swallowing mountains while the world above believed everything was frozen.
My flesh forgot whether it had been made to survive him. . .or surrender.
The fabric of my shirt became unbearable against my nipples. Between my thighs, heat gathered and slicked. My pulse lost whatever rhythm it had once possessed, battering against my ribs as though desperate to escape me.