Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 58442 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 292(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58442 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 292(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
“Should I tell the guards we’re hungry?” I say.
“That would be nice,” Evangeline replies.
“Don’t leave the room, though,” Raiden says. “Go to the door, tell them, then come straight back.”
“Okay…”
I almost say sir. We share a secret smile as he realizes.
Once I’ve told the guards we want some lunch, I return to the table.
“I’m sorry for snapping,” Raiden says. “This has all been… a lot. An innocent man is dead. My girlfriend’s life threatened.”
He takes my hand warmly and looks at me with emotion. It’s part of the act, I assure myself. Any feelings that flutter inside me are incidental, no big deal.
This has an expiration date–a few hours.
“I understand how difficult it must be for you,” Evangeline says. She smiles warmly at us. “At the very least, you’re happy. You’ve found someone. That means something.”
“Dare I ask if it means our deal will be honored?” Raiden says with an eyebrow raised.
Evangeline nods. “You’ve been in the will since the beginning.”
“What–really?”
“Of course,” Evangeline says. “You’re a Blackwell and my grandson. I wouldn’t cut you out.”
“Sebastian told me he persuaded you to actually take me out.”
“He shouldn’t have said that,” she says. “It’s not true.”
“He’s always resented me,” Raiden mutters. “Always wanted to be part of the family. Once, he told me he was ‘the runt of the litter’, as if he was part of the family.”
“Sebastian is a complicated person,” Evangeline says.
“I still don’t know why you hired him. Why do you keep him so close?”
Evangeline turns away. “I don’t like that suspicion in your voice, Raiden.”
“A man has been killed. A knife meant for me, most likely. It’s natural for me to consider the mysterious man who’s always been resentful of me.”
“First,” Evangeline says, “we don’t know for sure if the knife was meant for you. Second, Sebastian simply wouldn’t do that. I know him better than anyone. You’re completely wasting your time if you’re even considering him.”
I squeeze Raiden’s hand, giving him a look. Calm down.
He smiles gratefully at me, but he can’t shake the tension that touches every part of him.
“My girlfriend has got a point. I need to chill.”
Evangeline tilts her head at me. “Did you speak, dear?”
“No,” Raiden says. “But she’s got a way of looking at me so that no words are required.”
“I believe we call that love,” Evangeline says.
“Whoa.” I let go of Raiden’s hands. “I wouldn’t…”
Go that far, I almost say.
Then I remember the deal.
I need that cash.
Murder or no murder, emotional complications aside, my grandmother needs that fifty thousand.
“Say that love is good enough,” I go on, hoping I can salvage this. “Love seems like too small a word. Love doesn’t describe what we are.”
Guilt twists through me as Evangeline beams at us.
Soon, lunch arrives a platter of nibbles accompanied by three plates. A man in a fox mask lays out the plates. Sebastian.
He stands at the edge of the table. “Anything else?”
“No, thank you,” Evangeline says. “Will you join us?”
“Apologies, ma’am, but I’d prefer not to.” He turns his fox mask to Raiden. “I think it will be easier that way.”
When Sebastian leaves, Evangeline sighs. “He’s a good person, Raiden.”
“Until the killer is caught, everyone is a suspect.”
“Let’s not talk about this,” I say. “Let’s forget for a little while and enjoy this meal.”
“You’re right, Aurora,” Evangeline says. “Tell me about you. Your passions. Your dreams.”
I feel spotlighted, but it’s better than her and Raiden arguing.
As I talk about my love of fashion and costumes, Evangeline’s face lights up. She watches me avidly, as if she’s engrossed by every word. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Raiden watching me approvingly.
After lunch, Evangeline says she wants to lie down.
“We’ll do the same,” Raiden says. “Rest up before the cops get here.”
In the bedroom, he comes onto me instantly, his hands roaming over my body, his length growing hard quickly, as if the hunger in him didn’t go away, just paused as we dealt with the mayhem.
It takes every ounce of self-control I have to push him away.
“No, Raiden,” I say.
He spanks me, making my body grow hot, my resolve weaken. “That’s not what you call me, remember.”
I want to sink into the moment, fall against him, feel his solid arms wrapped around me, feel his manhood pushing against me like before, his head kissing my entrance, teasing at the release to come.
It’s like there’s this force inside me. That’s melodramatic, I know, but I don’t know how else to describe it. It’s like when I get an idea for a new look and I can’t let it go until I begin working on it.
This is a similar feeling, except the work I want to begin is on us. Real work, forgetting about the deal, starting with stripping naked and throwing myself at him, not just feeling his manhood kissing my entrance, but taking him, all of him, every inch.