Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 98496 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98496 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
“I’ve sent inquiries about this, and I have received confirmation that they’re willing to advance us $100M on the spot if we commit to this.” Mel paused. “But this won’t work without your full cooperation.”
Her lip curled. “You want me to play prodigal mother, is that it?”
His answering laughter was pleasant, but his words were not. “For one billion dollars, sweetheart, I’d make you fuck your own daughter if that’s what it takes.” Closing the distance between them, he cupped her chin and, pressing a bruising kiss on her mouth, he murmured, “What do you say, my beautiful whore?” He bit her lower lip, hard enough to make her bleed. She gasped, a mixture of pain and pleasure glittering in her eyes, and his lips formed a ruthless smile.
“Bastard,” she spat in a low whisper, but the way her nipples pebbled against her dress belied her anger.
“You’ve done much worse than this as Dresden’s wife,” Mel pointed out. Turning to Rocco, he ordered the cowering Lyccan to continue with his surveillance. “I want to know all the places Kassia Summers goes to, the people she hangs out with. I want to know everything, and if there are times when you can be sure she’ll be alone, tell me immediately.”
When Rocco left, Mel raised a brow at his lover. “Have you made up your mind about how badly you want that billion-dollar bounty?”
THREE DAYS AGO
18-year-old Kassia Summers was going crazy.
It was the only reason that could explain why, one second, the professor had been standing right in front of her, and then the next second he had disappeared and Kassia found herself alone in a park office with...a wolf.
And it wasn’t just any kind of wolf.
Big was a gross understatement, and so was badass. Resting on its haunches, the black wolf in front of her was even taller than Kassia. Lethal power emanated from the creature, and it was so terrifying that if the wolf thought of baring its fangs, she had a feeling she’d faint on the spot.
Across the office, the wolf stared at her, unmoving, unblinking. A pool of Alessandro’s clothes lay on the floor next to it, screaming a truth Kassia didn’t think she could make herself believe.
Dry-mouthed, Kassia whispered, “A-Alessandro?”
The wolf nodded.
No. Way.
She swallowed. “Alessandro Moretti?”
The wolf’s familiar green eyes gleamed with amusement, as if asking if she knew any other Alessandro who shapeshifted, and Kassia’s cheeks flamed even as her head continued to spin with disbelief.
Alessandro Moretti had turned into a wolf.
The wolf staring at her now was Alessandro Moretti.
She pinched her arm, as hard as she could, just to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. It hurt, but it didn’t make the world around her waver.
This was real then.
She was in love with a professor who had turned out to be a werewolf.
Pain struck her head, as if the thought of the professor being a werewolf was too much for her brain. What if this was all an elaborate million-dollar prank, Kassia wondered wildly. Maybe, if she asked him to do it again, the professor would be forced to reveal the truth.
Yes, that was it. This was a prank. It had to be.
“Change back,” she blurted out before she could think better of what she was asking.
The wolf inclined its head to the side, as if contemplating the validity of her request. A second later, the wolf disappeared, and a completely naked Alessandro Moretti stood before her.
Kassia jumped back in terror. “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.” She knew she was freaking out, but she couldn’t help it. “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.” Had she really just seen that? No, she couldn’t have. She was imagining things. Heartbreak had made her delirious. Or high. Whichever. This couldn’t be—-
When the professor took a step towards her, she screamed again. “Stop!’
The professor stilled.
“Change back.”
The professor turned into a wolf.
Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!
“Change back to a human.”
The naked professor returned.
She still couldn’t believe it, and she found herself ordering him to shift forms again.
Wolf, man, wolf, man, wolf, man—-
Alessandro had had enough after he changed for the tenth time. “Dammit, Kassia, stop making me shift like you’re asking a dog to play dead.”
A nervous, shrill giggle escaped her at the unexpected words, and as she watched the professor bend down to pick up his clothes from the floor, her heartbeat gradually decelerated, and she started breathing again.
When the professor was fully dressed, appearing as handsome and elegant as he had always been, she almost felt like pinching herself again. Had it really happened?
Alessandro saw Kassia start to open her mouth, and his eyes narrowed. Just one look at her expressive face told him exactly what she was planning to ask, and he said immediately, “No.” He shook his head in exasperation. “I’m not a fucking Transformer.”