Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 115860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Did he? Like I wrote about in the diary?
My heart stops. The notion of Caden pounding on my door and pushing his way into my flat before he strips me bare, spreads my legs with insistent demand, and thrusts deep inside me floods me with a dizzying, sweltering ache.
“Well, I fell asleep early. But after feeding me a load of shit about having inappropriate feelings for me, I’m shocked you dared to knock on my door again.”
He charges across the room and flattens his hands on my desk, leaning in with a snarl. “That wasn’t a load of shit.”
“So you stopped by to…what? Proposition me after you refused the sex I previously offered?”
“To apologize. If I want your trust, trying to force you to take me to the meeting with your contact isn’t the way to earn it.”
“All right, then. Tell me, why are you pursuing this story so hard?”
“Not to steal it. I know you think that’s my plan. I swear, I’m not working for a rival or hoping to plaster it across the internet with my byline.”
I prop my chin on my hand. “Really? Then why?”
“I’m bloody interested. And according to the online comments I’ve read, so are your readers. Can you blame me?”
“Your interest seems a bit more intense.”
He grimaces. “All right, I’m worried, too. Mathias sounds powerful. If you print this story, will he or his army be able to track down your source? How do you know he won’t come after her again? Who or what will keep her safe? Is she going with Aquarius on holiday or staying at Aquarius’s place? And what about you? If this madman can’t find her, won’t he pursue you to lead him to her?”
“I can’t imagine that anyone magical reads… Wait. Aquarius’s place? I never mentioned that.”
Caden stiffens. “You did. The other day.”
“No. I wrote that down, though. On the notes in my handbag. You snooped.” The lying snake! “Just as I suspected, you came to my flat Saturday, not because you’re interested in me but because you’re trying to scoop me.”
“You’re wrong.”
“I’m not. Why else would you turn down a blatant proposition and repeat things I’ve only written in my personal notes? You apologized merely to get back in my good graces, and it won’t work.”
With a frustrated sigh, Caden rakes his hand through his disheveled hair. But when he meets my stare again, it’s not anger or guilt I see. Not even close. Scorching desire rips across his expression, as if he’s a hair’s breadth from coming across my desk and tearing off my clothes.
My traitorous body vibrates with an answering ping of need.
“Listen up. If I was less of a gentleman, I would have very gladly taken you up on your offer, fucked you until neither of us could breathe, and proven precisely how much I want you. Over and over. Until you screamed your throat raw. Until I wrung your muscles limp. Until your body was too exhausted to move and your pussy was too sore to take me again.”
I suck in a breath. I shouldn’t believe him, but his low-voiced growl… Bloody hell, the man makes me a walking hormone. With him this close, it’s hard to think straight.
Suddenly, I’m uncomfortably aware of my knickers flooding. His hot stare says he’s knows I’m aroused.
Too bad. I’m not about to let him use my desire against me.
“Bollocks. I challenged you to a game of chicken, and you flinched, you story poacher. I won’t fall for your manufactured lust.”
Caden leans closer, towering and seething. He puts off heat like an oven. His scent—musky and tinged with sandalwood—melts me into a puddle of lust. So does his mouth, hovering a scant meter above mine.
“What I feel is very real. If I were on top of you, fucking you deep while you screamed my name, you’d know better.”
I resist the urge to fan myself. “Prove it.”
“I can’t.” Caden curses, something low and ugly. “I want to; you have no idea how badly. Fuck! This is too bloody complicated.”
Ah, the excuses. “I’m a smart woman. Try me. I’m sure I can keep up.”
Chapter
Eighteen
Caden
For a long moment, Sydney merely stares with that challenging ginger brow raised, as if she’s convinced she has me figured out.
“You don’t understand what’s going on in the magical world,” I gasp out.
She scoffs. “And you do? The magical war is escalating, according to my source. Mathias rose from an exile that was supposed to be like death and last forever. Apparently, no one knows how he did it, but he’s seeking to overthrow a terrible class system that oppresses the poor. His goal is to help them rise up.”
“Or so he says. You never believe everything you hear, so why take this at face value?”
“What I believe isn’t important. This angle makes for a juicy story. Holly wants me to portray Mathias as magickind’s savior rising up so the people can embrace him and his cause. The battle in the tunnel a few weeks ago was one of many necessary to throw off the oppressors. Stay tuned for more details.”