Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 145721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
“Everything and more,” she teased with a wink.
He cleared his throat, and she felt him press against her almost involuntarily. “Then perhaps we should see where that leads.”
He took her hand in his and looked nowhere but at her as they disappeared from the main room. Her heart pounded as he guided her away from Imani and Montrell. She was his plaything. This was normal. But it wasn’t a game. Not entirely. Not with the tiny scrap of underwear hardly concealing her desire.
He slipped down the hallway to the study, and his breath came against her ear. “Which door?”
She returned to herself all at once. A job. Just a job. They were here to steal something.
“Right,” she said. “I already unlocked it. Left was just full of crates.”
He nodded and stopped before it. “We have an audience,” he whispered under his breath.
Then he rocked her back against the wall, his body covering hers. A sharp exhale escaped her. She could feel the hard lines of his body, feel his fire leeching into her.
An audience. Which meant there had to be no reason to suspect that they were going into that room for any other purpose but a hookup. Graves’s head dipped into her neck. His breath was hot against her skin. Her hands gripped the front of his suit as she tipped her head back seductively, wanton.
“What are you?” he growled low. He wrapped an arm around her waist. “Are you a siren, luring me to my death?”
She was stunned by the words. The real words there. “Are you lured?”
His response was to turn the handle and push the door open. He tilted his head to the side, and she entered the darkened depths. The door clicked closed behind them.
“This is it.”
Graves nodded. They were in a study—Imani’s study—which was exactly what they were looking for. “Get started. I’ll guard the door.”
Kierse swallowed down the feelings rushing through her and got to work. She rifled through Imani’s belongings. She was careful and meticulous, and after a minute, she asked, “Can you sense anything? Any magic in the room that would indicate where the letters would be kept?”
“No. The whole house is flush with magic. It’s everywhere.”
She grumbled, “That’s helpful.”
Kierse had moved to the bookshelf and was pulling at the books in hopes of finding a hollow one when Graves cursed softly under his breath. In the span of a heartbeat, he was before her. She faced him in confusion, but he just tugged her back against him. Her lips parted at the sudden change in his demeanor. Time slowed in the way she had only experienced when she was fighting. And then Graves descended on her.
At the first touch of his lips on hers, she was lost. It was neither gentle nor comforting. It wasn’t even intimate, exactly. It was possessive, demanding, and achingly alpha. It said mine, mine, mine. The kiss was an awakening. Like every kiss before ceased to exist. There was no moment before or after this. Here was eternity.
He leaned her back against the bookshelf, heedless of the books digging into her spine. His hands cupped her face like she was one of his prized possessions. And his mouth owned her, parting her lush lips and brushing his tongue across her own.
That was the moment the door creaked open.
Chapter Twenty-Three
A throat cleared. “I don’t mean to interrupt.”
Graves kissed Kierse for another moment before retreating. He brushed his thumb over Kierse’s swollen bottom lip. The gesture was almost tender. Then he faced Imani in the doorway. “Do you mind?”
Imani looked as if this was exactly what she’d expected to find. “Might I offer a bedroom on the second floor?”
“You know how I like my books.”
Something dark passed across her features. “That I do. But this is my personal study. No guests allowed.”
“Well, come along then, Wren,” Graves said, offering her his hand.
She let him guide her out of the room. Imani watched them the entire time, even as they played up their parts. It didn’t seem to matter. Imani closed and locked the door again behind her. They weren’t going to be able to get back in there while anyone was still coherent.
She could see on Imani’s face that she didn’t trust Graves. If they had more time, Kierse would suggest staying in the city for a few weeks, gaining their trust. But she only had tonight.
Instead, they spent the remainder of the night dancing and enjoying the party. But that kiss had brought her too close to reality. She was too cognizant of everything going on around her. She almost wished that she was drunk just so she wouldn’t have to be so aware of everywhere Graves touched her.
There was a point in the middle of the night when everything seemed to hit a fever pitch. As if the magic in the punch had reached its apex. Kierse didn’t understand it. Imani and Montrell didn’t seem affected. They watched on high and occasionally touched each other provocatively, to the delight of the party.