Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75457 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75457 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Maddox is in the middle of five—yes, fucking five—women who are fawning all over him. He’s sitting on a stool, water up to his stomach, and they’re all standing around with their big boobs, tanned skin, and minuscule tops.
What little I can see of him through the crowd, I get the allure. He’s got the top half of his long hair pulled back, which only serves to highlight the perfect angles of his face with full, lush lips. His facial hair is growing back, but it’s nothing more than a five o’clock shadow. He’s laughing right along with the women, his hand curled around a fruity concoction with an umbrella in it.
One woman has her hand on his shoulder, the other touching his knee. I should remove those hands right now, but that would cause a bit of panic what with all the blood that would result from such a move.
And he doesn’t seem to be upset. Or brooding. Or even angry. None of those emotions that Veda said he was feeling and I certainly felt when I opened myself to him.
I guess he found the cure to his malady.
Women.
Frail, simple-minded, mortal women who could never hope to please him the way—
He senses me.
I see his body tighten and then Maddox’s eyes move past the group and land right on me without even needing to look around. His laughter dies, but a smile remains on his face as he does a lazy perusal of my body. I flush hot and it has nothing to do with the tropical sun beating down on me.
It’s because he looks like he could eat me up.
“If you’ll excuse me,” Maddox says, rising from his perch and pushing past the women. “My woman is here.”
My woman?
His drink is still in his hand as he wades through the waist-deep water. I move to the side of the pool to meet him.
When he reaches the edge, I glance back at the female gaggle. They’re all looking at Maddox with longing. A few of them glare at me.
Maddox’s hand wraps around my ankle and slides up my calf. I glance down and he’s even more beautiful as his head tips back to look at me, the sunshine hitting him full in the face and making his green eyes lighten to peridot.
“In all the months we’ve been fucking, you’ve never once sought me out,” he says, his voice sounding languid… almost slurred.
I frown. “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” he says with a careless wave of his drink, spilling some into the pool water. He brings the straw to his lips, takes a long sip, and grins at me. “More than fine.”
“Are you drunk?” I ask in disbelief.
His hand slides higher up my leg, and I ignore the tingles it causes. “Don’t be ridiculous. Immortals can’t get drunk.”
“Then what’s wrong with you?” I ask suspiciously.
He reaches into his swim trunks and pulls out a tiny glass vial. “I’m extremely buzzed.”
I grimace as I bend over and snatch it from him. I hold it up to the light and squint at the amber-colored liquid inside. “What is this?”
“No clue. Got it off a Dark Fae down some dark alley. Said it was guaranteed to take my mind off my troubles, and it seemed to be working. But then you showed up and you are always trouble. But the good kind.”
I glance back at the bar, the women still watching with hope. “Looks like you had your mind off your troubles just fine,” I mutter.
Maddox glances over his shoulder at them and grins. When his attention comes back to me, his hand squeezes my calf. “Them? They’re no one. Diversions.”
“Do you fuck diversions?” I demand, feeling the snap of electricity in my fingertips.
He might be slightly inebriated, but Maddox’s gaze turns hard, his voice low and clear. “I only fuck you, Zora.”
There’s no describing the sweet relief and gratitude that sweeps through me, especially since I can’t quite give Maddox what he really wants.
A piece of my heart.
“You got a room here?” I ask, and I swear, flames leap in his eyes.
“Yeah. Is that where you want to go?”
I nod, and that’s all Maddox needs. He sets his drink on the edge, puts his hands on the hot concrete, and pushes up out of the pool. His bronzed skin coated in water drops makes him look every inch the demigod he is.
His hand comes to the back of my neck, and he pulls me to my tiptoes to lay a scorching kiss on my mouth. The public display of affection catches me off guard but it’s so damn good, I can’t help but submit.
When he pulls back, he flashes a playful grin. “Needed to do that. Had to dash all those ladies’ hopes quickly.”
I’m laughing as he brushes his lips over mine again before biting my lower lip. I gasp but then he has me by the hand, leading me around the pool and into the resort.