Total pages in book: 187
Estimated words: 184867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 924(@200wpm)___ 739(@250wpm)___ 616(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 184867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 924(@200wpm)___ 739(@250wpm)___ 616(@300wpm)
She knows. I can feel it in the way she kisses me back with equal desperation.
And the second she told me the truth about her father, the last ounce of hostility I was holding on to vanished.
“We have to stop,” she murmurs, but I can’t take my lips off hers.
I refuse. If I do, the dream will shatter, and so will I.
“No.”
“Caleb.”
I groan into her mouth, kissing her one last time with everything I have to give before I have to return to reality.
“Your phone.”
My eyes burst open, and I tear my lips away from hers, still heady from the way she kissed me back.
But then I hear my ringtone.
I clear my throat and fish it out of my pocket, the name on the screen making chills run up and down my spine.
“Ares?” I say as I pick up.
“Open the door.”
I hold my breath and look at Crystal, who definitely heard too.
She pushes down the handle and slowly cracks open the door.
Ares stands there with a phone against his ear just like me, staring us both down.
Oh fuck.
ARES
I’m surprised.
Not just him … but her too?
Did they sneak out without my knowledge?
Or is something more nefarious going on here?
I home in on her face, her round lips swollen, pink, and freshly kissed.
Fuck.
“What is she doing here?”
Crystal’s pupils dilate, and Caleb steps in front of her to save her from my ire. “I brought her with me.”
I never thought he’d actually have the balls to show her the truth.
But I guess he would eventually crack.
I grip the door. “So … you brought her here out of all places,” I mutter. “For a second there I almost believed you let her escape.”
Caleb swallows. “I was going to take her back straight away.”
Crystal gawks at him.
“Right,” I reply.
I stare at them both until they get the message.
“Let’s go,” Caleb says.
Crystal nods and follows him outside under my watchful gaze.
“How did he find us?” Crystal whispers to Caleb.
“He’s not the only one who knows how to put trackers on phones,” I reply.
She seems spooked I responded, throwing glances at me over her shoulder every so often as we walk down the hallway.
It’s almost cute.
If it wasn’t for the fact that she most definitely tried to fucking escape.
When we get downstairs, Crystal pauses. “How did you get here? There’s no car.”
“I had a taxi drop me off. We’re traveling together,” I reply, holding out my hand. “Caleb. Keys.”
He sighs out loud and chucks them my way. But he knows better than to make a fuss right now. And there’s no way in hell I’ll let him behind the wheel in his condition.
The drive all the way home is quiet. Too quiet. And the two of them are sitting in vastly different corners, pushed against the windows, like they’re desperately trying to avoid touching each other …
For fear of what might happen?
Or for fear of what I might say?
My eyes narrow on them in the rearview mirror. Something happened between those two, something more than just a kiss, and I want to know exactly what that is.
I park the car in front of the Tartarus building, and Caleb jumps out first, causing us both to be at her door, simultaneously trying to open it up.
My eyes connect with his, visceral anger firing me up.
He backs away, and I pull the handle without saying a word.
Crystal’s eyes bore a hole into my head as she steps out, close enough for me to take a whiff of her scent. My hard-on twitches as she steps away and waltzes toward the front door with a snooty look on her face.
We all go inside, and I take a deep breath when the door finally closes behind me. “Caleb.”
“I’m fine,” he grits, hands in his pockets.
“Caleb. Pockets.”
His nostrils flare, and he pulls out his knives and places them on the table.
“The others too.”
He rolls his eyes and takes out more from his inner pockets and boots, chucking them all onto the floor. “Happy now?”
“Good boy,” I say, my lip tipping up into a brief smile.
A blush creeps onto his cheeks. “I’ll be in my room.”
“Don’t stay alone in there too long,” I say. “I’ll have Blaine check on you.”
“Blaine?” Crystal mutters.
“Yes. The guy you chained to the bed and stole the key card from.”
Her eyes widen while I hold out my hand.
“I can hear you, you know,” Blaine yells from atop the banister. “And if you wanna know, Ares was the one to free me.”
“You’re welcome,” I tell him.
Crystal leers up at him. “Yeah, sorry for leaving you hanging. Literally.”
“Ahh, it’s fine, I loved it,” he muses, sauntering off. “But do tell me the next time you plan on leaving me butt-naked, darling.”
She blushes and rubs her lips uncomfortably, like she’s trying to hide the fact that she’s had sex with him. But I know everything that goes on in this house.