Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 112416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
“Yes, I think we’ll be able to find a way to work together. I’m not worried.”
Haru’s skin crawled as he took Ruben’s hand and shook it. His lackadaisical smile remained in place.
Yes, he was also sure that Ruben would figure out a way to get what he wanted, even if it meant killing Yujian after he gained his godstone crystals. That was fine. Let him plot his schemes and play his games. No one took from a dragon and lived to tell the tale.
And Haru was so keen to wipe all these wretched people from existence.
CHAPTER 15
Adrian Westergren
Panic made Adrian impulsive.
And when he was impulsive, he did stupid things.
As soon as Adrian spotted Haru walking safely and calmly down the stairs from his meeting with Ruben Deinum, he knew he’d been dangerously impulsive and they needed to leave now.
Adrian peeled himself away from Amelia and a group of people talking on and on about skincare and charged halfway up the stairs to wrap his arms around Haru’s waist.
“What is wrong, my precious treasure? Did you miss me that much?” Haru chuckled. He leaned in for a kiss, but Adrian dodged his lips and pressed his cheek to Haru’s, allowing him to whisper in his ear.
“Gotta go. Fire.”
Haru jerked his head away and furrowed his brow at him as if he couldn’t comprehend those three basic words. “What? Did you—”
Adrian slammed his mouth over Haru’s. But it wasn’t a kiss so much as him moving his lips against Haru’s, trying to force the words into him. “Fire. We gotta go.”
The dragon pulled away and smoothed out his expression, smiling indulgently. “Very well, my treasure. You’re so eager for me. We’ll leave now.” One arm wrapped behind Adrian’s back, Haru ushered him out of the house, maintaining his sedate pace as if nothing in the world could hurry him.
Amelia Drost and her brother both called after them, trying to get them to stay, but Haru offered a lazy wave of his arm above his head. “No, no. I can’t stay a moment longer. My treasure needs me.”
Once they were outside and away from most of the prying eyes, they picked up their pace, locating Vitor and the rented black car.
“How did it—”
“Drive! Drive! Drive!” Adrian shouted, cutting Vitor off. The spy asked no more questions. He just stomped on the accelerator and rushed down the driveway before Haru had a chance to close the door.
“What’s going on? What happened?”
“It seems Adrian set a fire,” Haru announced. His tone was still the same relaxed, amused tone he’d used when pretending to be Yujian Visconti, and Adrian kind of hated it.
“What?” Vitor shrieked. “A fire was not part of our plan.”
“I panicked, okay? It’s my fault. I panicked.” Adrian slid low in the back seat so he couldn’t see Vitor’s glare in the rearview mirror. “It felt like Haru was trapped in that meeting with Ruben Deinum forever, and I was stuck outside with all those snobbish pricks who kept trying to grab my ass. I had no way of knowing if he’d been discovered, and—”
Haru cut off Adrian’s excuse by slamming his hand against the door Adrian was closest to. He leaned over Adrian, nearly covering him with his entire body. The expression on his handsome face was stark and frightening. There was a coldness in his dark blue eyes Adrian had never seen. All traces of Yujian were wiped away, and the man hovering above him was a ruthless killer.
“Who touched your ass?” He spoke each word precisely, sending a biting chill through Adrian.
“What? I don’t know. I can’t remember most of their names. None of the people Vitor told us to keep an eye out for.”
Haru didn’t take his eyes off Adrian as he shouted at Vitor. “Turn around. There are some people I need to kill.”
Adrian groaned and shoved Haru’s shoulder. “Stop it. This is serious.”
“My Adrian, I am being very serious. They touched you. Without your permission. I must shatter their bones and crush their hearts. They must not be allowed to continue breathing.”
And the terrifying—and maybe thrilling—part was that Haru was serious. Adrian could see it in his frigid eyes and the stark lines on his face. The dragon would return to the house and take every life, innocent or not, just to be sure no one lived after Adrian came to harm.
Drayce’s warnings that Haru was insane were making more sense now.
Yet, there was still the strange flutter in Adrian’s chest and the unexpected warmth in his stomach. Something inside Adrian longed to pull Haru close and kiss him until they were both panting and desperate to fuck. He wanted to do something else crazy to hear more dark threats tumble like sweet promises from Haru’s tongue.
The part of Adrian’s brain that was still logical screamed that this desire wasn’t normal, but he couldn’t worry too much. No one in his life had ever cared this much, had wanted to possess him so thoroughly. The more it happened, the more Adrian ached to hand himself over.