Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 161615 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 808(@200wpm)___ 646(@250wpm)___ 539(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 161615 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 808(@200wpm)___ 646(@250wpm)___ 539(@300wpm)
Catch the spy? Who’s doing that? Me? What the fuck?
The words were a blade that sank without warning.
First of all. . .there’s a spy!? Where? On the island? Second of all. . .you want me to catch the spy?! Wise people have always said. . .be careful with what you ask for, but damn. . .I didn’t know this would be the prize.
Kenji sneered. “We’ll discuss this tomorrow.”
Reo didn’t move. “She’s passed your conditions. All three. You said if she passed, you would hear strategy.”
Kenji’s jaw flexed.
Reo gave a half bow. “Sleep well.”
He left.
The door clicked, and quiet poured over us, thick, heavy, and intimate.
I turned to Kenji. “Spy?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“On the island.”
“And how am I supposed to catch the spy?”
“That is what the strategy will be about tomorrow.”
“But, how do we know if I can even do it. This test was just to catch lies not—”
“You’ve already caught two spies. Watari. The one that was assigned to you—”
“The guy that eyed my list of jazz bands when I was planning your date?”
“Yes.”
“He was a spy for your father?”
Kenji nodded. “And then the man by my doorway. Oguri.”
“The shady looking one. He was another spy?”
“Correct.”
“Oh.” I blinked. “Damn.”
Closing the distance between us, he folded me into his arms, robe and all, heat and scent and the drum of his heart. My forehead found his chest. His palm covered the back of my head, fingers curving into my damp hair. “But this is a conversation for tomorrow. I should sleep. I’m exhausted.”
He should get some rest. . .but he also should tell me more about this spy.
I could tell that the idea of my searching the spy out, stressed him just as much as it freaked me out.
His next words were low and rough. “You did well, Tora. Very fucking well.”
“You sound. . .angry about that. . .”
“Not angry. Worried. For you. . .it may be a gift and a curse. You may regret showing me what you can do.”
“Why?”
His chest rumbled under my cheek, low and volcanic. “Because, Tora. . .the thing you did tonight? It’s not just guessing games. It’s a gift.”
His hand slid down, heavy at my spine, pinning me to his body. “You strip men open without a blade. You see what they don’t want seen. You undress their lies, their pride, their shields.”
My breath tangled in my throat.
His voice dropped, rough as gravel, intimate as sin. “That makes you more dangerous than any Fang I own. And more vulnerable. A gift like that?”
His jaw pressed against the crown of my head. “It makes men like me worship you and keep you by my side every minute of the day—meetings, strategy, all things where a hard decision must be made. Yet. . .it makes my enemies hate and want to take you for themselves too. It makes them want to use your talent until you’re nothing but bone and breath. You are now more than the Dragon’s Heart. You just might be. . .the Dragon’s Brain. The Dragon’s Insight.”
I shivered.
His arms locked tighter, like he wished he could fuse me to him.
“This means that we have to make sure you can protect yourself. I want you sharp,” he growled. “Sharp enough to cut them before they cut you. But gods, Tora. . .”
He pulled back.
I looked up just enough so his eyes scorched mine, black fire gleaming in the dim room.
“The curse is that now I can’t let you out of my sight. Not ever. You’ll tempt death without even knowing it. And I’ll have to kill anyone who dares test you.”
The words hit like a vow and a sentence all at once. I opened my mouth, but nothing came. He was already tilting my face up, his breath hot on my lips and then his mouth crashed against mine, stealing air, stealing thought, until my knees went weak.
The kiss broke like a storm. Not sweet, not patient—hungry, devouring, the kind of kiss that bit down into marrow.
“Kenji—” I whispered against his lips, but his hand was already on the tie of my robe, yanking it loose with violent precision.
The silk fell apart, sliding from my shoulders like water fleeing heat.
“You proved yourself to me.” He yanked my robe down until it fell to the ground. “Now I’ll ruin you for every man but me. Teach you that you’re mine once again with my cock, just because I’m scared to lose you.”
Before I could answer, his arms swept under me, strong and certain.
The world spun as he lifted me off the ground.
I clung to his neck, gasping into his kiss, every step he took back toward the bed carried me deeper into the gravity of his obsession.
He laid me down and then stood over me, taking in my naked body. “Oh, Tora.”
I looked up. The Dragon’s mask had cracked and fell away. On his face was much more than approval, it was searing all-consuming hunger.