Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 112926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Lucien turned to the bartender and said something to him in French. I didn’t understand the words, but I quickly figured out what he said when he turned back to me.
“It’s on me. A treat for a lovely lady.”
I was already shaking my head. “Oh. You didn’t have to –”
His hand tightened around mine. “Please, allow me.”
“Thank you.”
Lucien opened his mouth to say something else, but he was interrupted by the ringing of his phone. “Excuse me, chérie.”
As he moved away, I caught sight of Maddox again. Our eyes met, and I stopped breathing. His gaze was dark, and his jaw was clenched so tightly that I wondered if it’d crack under the pressure. I could see the ticks in his sharp jaw as he gritted his teeth. His face – I didn’t know how to describe it. Anger made his eyes appear darker, almost deadly. A shadow loomed over his face, his expression almost threatening. There was a predatory feel in his glare as he watched me closely.
He constantly pushed me away, putting more and more distance between us. Why was he so angry now? I couldn’t tell. I. Couldn’t. Fucking. Think. Especially when he stared at me like this.
Maddox was maddening. He pulled and pushed; he loved and hated. I always thought I understood him better than anyone else. But right now, he confused the hell out of me.
“Lila.” My eyes snapped away from Maddox, and I looked at Lucien. He was apparently done with his phone call, and his attention was back on me. Before I could pull away, he gripped my hand in his once more. “If you need anything while you are in Paris, please call me. I could take you sightseeing. I know many beautiful places.”
He let go of my hand, and I turned my palm over to see his business card. Smooth trick, Mr. Frenchman. “Umm, thank you.”
Lucien leaned down and quickly placed a chaste kiss on both my cheeks before pulling away. “Au revoir, chérie.”
I didn’t watch him leave. All my attention was on the man sitting beside me. He took a large gulp of his drink.
“He likes you,” he said, once Lucien was out of hearing range.
“Jealous?” I shot back immediately.
A smirk crawled onto his face, and he chuckled, his wide chest rumbling with it. “He wants to fuck you, Lila.”
My stomach clenched, goosebumps breaking out over my skin. My breath left me in a whoosh. His words were spoken dangerously low, although the harshness in his voice could not be mistaken.
“How would you know?” I retorted, angry and confused. He played with my feelings, turning my emotions into a little game of his. Maddox had me in knots, twisting me around like a little plaything.
He grunted, shaking his head, and then he let out a laugh. As if he was sharing an inside joke with himself. “I’m a man, like him. I know what he was thinking about when he looked at you like that.”
“Maybe he wasn’t thinking about sex. Maybe he’s a gentleman. Unlike you.” I was playing with fire, I knew that. I was testing him, testing us.
“I dare you,” he whispered so softly, I almost missed it. Maddox looked down at his glass, his fingers clenched around it. Even in the dim lights, I could see the way his knuckles were starting to turn white.
He was giving me a dare now?
He didn’t finish his sentence, and I wondered if he was contemplating his dare. Maddox’s jaw flexed from obvious frustration. For a brief moment, I thought maybe he wasn’t angry at me. Maybe, he was angry at himself. He was fighting himself. Could it be that the problem wasn’t me?
He drank the rest of his drink in one gulp and then slammed his glass on the counter, before swiveling around in his stool to face me. Maddox stood up and walked a step closer to me, until my knees were touching his strong thighs. He leaned forward, caging me in between the counter and his body. Our gaze locked, and he licked his lips. He had me captivated for a moment until he mercilessly broke the spell.
“I dare you to sleep with him.”
I reared back in shock. Wh-at? No, I must have misheard him. This couldn’t be…
“What?” I whispered, my throat dry, and my tongue suddenly heavy in my mouth.
Maddox’s eyes bore into mine, staring into my soul. When he spoke again, his deep accented voice danced over my skin dangerously. “I dare you to fuck him, Lila.”
A trembling started in my core and then moved through my body like a storm. Not just a quiet storm. A tsunami of emotions hit me all at once, reckless in its assault. I submerged under the dark waves, suffocating, and then I was being split open, so viciously, it sent tiny cracks of my heart and fissures of my soul in all directions. I clamped my teeth together to stop myself from saying something –anything that would make it worse.