Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 129676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Tate suppressed a grin. “Such a ballbuster at twenty-six. I want to add more rules.” He stood, eating up the distance between us. He stopped a breath away from me.
My heart rioted. He smelled of tobacco, fine leather, spice, and my own personal demise.
“One, this is exclusive. You dump your little boyfriend as soon as you walk out of here. Two, you act like you don’t detest me in public. Three, do not hire anyone to assassinate me. If you want to kill me, do it yourself.”
I let out an exasperated snort. He remained stoic.
Oh. He wasn’t kidding.
“Haven’t you been married three times before?” My eyebrows slammed together.
“Yes.”
“Did any of them try to assassinate you?”
“Only one that I know of, but it is possible the other two were more discreet.” He sounded entirely unbothered. “I married my way up the high society ladder. I’d inherited wealth, not status. I needed the latter to make GS Properties what it is today.”
“So the marriages were to make connections?”
“Yes. They knew what they were getting into. But some people get incredibly touchy about being used as a tool.”
“How overly dramatic of them,” I huffed. “Children?”
“They weren’t very mature, but I wouldn’t go that far.”
“Successors.” I rolled my eyes, sighing. “Do you have any?”
He shook his head. “None.”
Tate being thrice divorced was a positive sign. If he treated marriage like a currency, there was bound to be someone more beneficial for him in the future. He’d have to enter another union. To break things off with me.
“I agree.” I choked on every word. “On the stipulation that you will secure Mum a spot in the experimental trial, fly her out here, and allow her to stay with us once she finishes her treatment.”
“Acceptable,” he clipped out.
“I’m afraid I won’t bud—really?” My knees buckled. I didn’t know if I was relieved or terrified. “O-okay then.”
“Now, there’s only one matter left.” The feral spark returned to Tate’s gunmetal pupils. “You need to prove that you can touch me without recoiling.”
My mouth parched. “How is this important exactly?”
“Well, you’ve given yourself unlimited time to warm up to the idea of touching me. It is vital we establish you are capable of it at all.” A diabolic sneer found his mouth. “As it happens, I am right here, within reach.”
Panic slashed through my spine.
He wanted me to touch him. Now.
My formidable, decadent boss.
The man I’d seen blackmail and annihilate people for sport.
I refused to recoil.
“Where?” I asked evenly.
He shrugged. “Anywhere. Everywhere.” His voice, low and husky, licked at my skin like a smothered flame. “Surprise me.”
“Close your eyes,” I ordered.
“Why?” His eyes narrowed.
“Marriage is built on trust, isn’t it?” I blinked innocently. “We need to start somewhere.”
Shockingly, he let his eyelids flutter shut.
I lifted my hand toward his face, teetering on the fine line between panic and exhilaration. I had a feeling that even though his eyes were closed, not only could he see me, but he could also see through my clothes and thoughts and feelings.
I let my fingers guide me. Tell me which part of him they wanted to explore.
My fingertips fluttered less than an inch from his face, searching, contemplating, deciding…
I pressed two fingers to his mouth, surprised to feel it hot and soft against my fingers. Human.
I sucked in a surprised breath.
He always looked so cold. Like he was carved out of stone, engraved by the sharpest scalpels. The tips of my fingernails scraped his lips apart.
My head was swimming. I thought I felt the hot edge of his tongue pressing against my skin for a taste, but I couldn’t be sure.
What I was certain of was the terrible, desperate ache that built inside me. It felt like someone cracked an egg in me, and its content, yolky, thick, and warm, pooled between my legs.
And in that moment, I knew why Tate had not balked at my condition about taking my time consummating our marriage.
He knew.
Knew one touch would reveal my entire hand.
Every single card in it.
That I was attracted to him. That his darkness always appealed to me. That it mirrored a side of me no one was privy to.
Tate’s eyes snapped open, his gaze meeting mine. There was satisfaction there. Hunger too. The starvation of a man beaten, damaged, and wrecked but not broken.
His mouth spread into a grin, and my fingers fell upon his straight white teeth. He was the Cheshire Cat now. Playful and elusive.
“This’ll be fun.” His teeth grazed my fingers. “You know what they say. Fourth time’s a charm.”
Age seven
It was my birthday. I was 93.6 percent sure of it.
The last time I’d seen a calendar was three months ago, in the headmaster’s office. He’d left me unattended for ten minutes, enough time for me to scan each of the twelve pages and memorize them by heart. Then I went back to my room and scraped the date into the bottom of my bedframe so I could keep track of time without Andrin knowing.