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)
She swallowed. It was a threat. He’d probably kill her. He was capable of it. He could end her existence at his leisure. By the Monster Treaty terms, he’d even get away with it. The fact that he hadn’t meant he needed something from her. Hence the line of questioning. She just didn’t know what he needed.
She hated breaking her rules. She’d promised herself she’d never out a client. But if it was between her life and some dick billionaire who didn’t care about her, self-preservation kicked in fast and hard.
“Gregory Amberdash.”
Graves’s eyebrows rose slightly. That wasn’t the answer he had been expecting. “The wraith?” The ring magically reappeared in his hand. “Who is Amberdash working for?”
“That’s above my paygrade.”
He glanced back at her as if remembering that she was involved. “You will find out who he is working for.”
Kierse huffed a laugh. “No, I won’t. That wasn’t part of our deal. And anyway, he’d never tell me. That’s not how he works.” She lifted herself off of the velvet chair in defiance of his other edict. She only wobbled slightly as she regained her balance. “I’ve answered your questions. I’m not going to do your dirty work. Ask Amberdash yourself.”
Graves sighed and then shook his head once. He seemed frustrated that she wasn’t groveling for her life and offering to do whatever he asked just because he hadn’t killed her.
“You are going to make me do this the hard way, aren’t you?”
“Just call the cops. We’re on a first-name basis. Won’t do a damn thing.” There wasn’t a jail in New York that could keep her locked away.
He grinned then. “I have no intention of alerting the authorities. My methods are much more . . . effective.”
Her stomach twisted. “Your methods?”
Graves didn’t respond. He just began to methodically remove his black gloves. He pulled each finger individually, slipping the material out of place before carefully tugging the leather forward. She caught a glimpse of the dark lines of a tattoo circling his wrists before he tugged the cuffs of his suit down. His hands were large, with long, slender fingers. She didn’t know much about music, but the pianists she had seen in clubs had fingers just like that. Made to grace the keys and hypnotize a melody out of hidden strings. She had no idea why he covered them in gloves in his own home.
“Come here,” he commanded with all the blunt force of a car crash.
But she refused to budge. She’d been on the receiving end of demanding men before in her life. She’d learned her lesson. She was no longer a sapling constantly moved by the next heavy breeze. She was a mountain, immovable.
He saw her defiance. The no that lingered in the air unsaid.
It infuriated him. This man—this monster—was used to incalculable respect. She could see it all over him. Power was the only way to test a person’s character. She found him wanting.
He stepped forward then. Two quick strides that brought him directly before her. She tilted her head up to read the clouds roiling through those piercing gray eyes.
“Fine,” he ground out.
He jerked the zipper of her jacket down, exposing her neck, and her heart sank. Fuck, he was a vampire—and about to drain her. She opened her mouth to protest but stopped when she got a look at his surprised face. He was staring at her necklace with bald interest.
“A wren.” His gaze swept back up to hers. A cruel smile curled on his lips. “Interesting.”
“Why?” she asked, protective of the necklace that was her most prized possession. The only thing she had left of her parents.
He didn’t answer. Just slowly, ever so slowly, brought his hand up and pressed the tip of his index finger to the spot right behind her ear. With the grace of a predator toying with its food, he dragged the finger softly down the pulse in her throat. She refused to shiver, though her heartbeat had skyrocketed at the barest touch. Her body came alive.
She’d spent her entire life hating vampires, but suddenly she understood how some humans volunteered to be fed from. She was in pain and abjectly frightened of what was to come, but she couldn’t move if she had wanted to.
His finger reached the hollow opening between her collarbones and trailed back up again. Then he wrapped his entire hand around her throat, caging her there. He had command. He had all the power. She could see the hunger in his features.
She swallowed back her own confusion and desire and fits of anger. As if he could touch her like this. As if he had her permission. How dare he! Yet, she didn’t move away. Her body thrummed in response. Like met like. Power met power.
He leaned forward. And for one sharp moment, she thought he meant to kiss her. But he stilled, staring deep into her eyes. He shook his head once. Something like surprise hit his features.