Page 34

Story: Feral Beauty

A little voice in the back of her conscience reared its foolish head, echoing the sentiment,You’re dismissing him?

Yes. Yes, she was. She tensed, withdrawing from his touch. “Bonne nuit. Good night, Liam.”

He released her as though burned. Good for him. He was catching on.

Though she didn’t turn to face him, his fury heated her back, eliciting a shiver. She held her breath as he dipped his mouth to her ear, grating, “Happy to have been of service.” With that, he stormed to the bathroom, returning seconds later with his pants hanging low on his hips and the rest of his clothes draped over his arm.

Rather than meet his furious expression, she locked her gaze on the door, ordering, “Take your suit straight to Gilbert before it’s ruined.”

He gave her a mocking salute. “Yes, Mistress.” The way he said those two little words sounded an awful lot like afuck you.

She was really beginning to hate Rule Number Three.

Nine

The next evening,Liam glared out the window of the sedan, dressed in yet another of Vivian’s monkey suits. Gilbert drove them along the winding driveway of Vivian’s former mansion, taking them to the groundbreaking ceremony. Both Armond and Dove had driven ahead to assist with the preparations.

Mistresssat silently beside him.

Never had he been so confounded by a woman. After the stunt she pulled with him last night, what with the shaving and the gonad-wrenching orgasm she gave him, he didn’t know what to think. She’d been shameless, blatantly using him to get off. Little vixen had ridden him like a rented mule.

He’d never felt so used.

Damn her, he’d loved every fucking minute. Right up to the point she’d kicked him out of her room, that is.

His cock twitched at the memory. Traitorous bastard.

Tired of being alone with his thoughts, he turned to the source of his turmoil. “Viv, this is reckless, and you know it. Alistair is out there somewhere, waiting to make his move. You’ll be an easy target out in the open. His time with Salvatore might have weakened him, but even a mortal could cause you harm with the right planning.”

Vivian peered up at Liam, legs crossed, hands folded on her knee. He’d been surprised when she walked down the steps, dressed in a pair of pants that fit like a second skin. The stretchy material cupped her rounded ass in a way that ought to be illegal. Boots with chrome stiletto heels covered her shapely calves. Under her black leather jacket, the buttons of her ruby-red blouse were unfastened just enough to drag his eyes into her cleavage.

“Do you know what day this is?” she asked.

He heaved a frustrated sigh. “Tell me. What day is it?”

“Today is the anniversary of my beloved’s death.”

Vivian’s Independence Day. Fuck me. He really wasn’t talking her out of this then.

“Alistair’s already taken so much from me,” she said. “I won’t allow him to dictate another second of my life. After all, this is a momentous day. One I’ve worked too hard for to allow anyone to ruin.”

“I understand where you’re coming from. Still, I’m betting that momentous day of yours isn’t one Alistair is likely to have forgotten, either. This is the perfect setup for an ambush. If I were a psychotic mage with a taste for vengeance, no way I’d pass up this opportunity.”

“Trust me when I say he won’t risk harming me,” she stated with far too much confidence. “Besides, Tiberius is here. With his men as backup, what could go wrong?”

Fucking everything.

Liam clenched his fist to keep from shaking some sense into her. “Feeling like my hands are still tied, Viv. You wanted me to play bodyguard, but you refuse to listen to a thing I say.”

She fluttered her lashes. “Why, Liam. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were genuinely worried about me.”

Hell yeah, he was worried about her. Sure, he might be a little rough around the edges, but he wasn’t a heartless prick. Just because he didn’t intend to keep her didn’t mean he wanted to see her hurt. Being around Vivian was digging up feelings he’d thought he’d walked away from years ago. Feelings he thought long dead. Right now, the strongest of those feelings was anger.

“Fine,” he snapped. “You want to get yourself killed, that’s on you. Problem is, you dying here is bad for my reputation. Think about how it will look if my last job ends in failure.”

She scanned his face, seeming to measure if he spoke true, then smirked. “You really should work on thattellof yours, darling.”

Tell? He fumed. He’d didn’t have any tells. Vivian was the one with the tells. The way her bosom heaved when she bluffed. The way she licked her crimson lips right before she offered up the sweetest of lies. Things only a male who’d spent a lot of hours staring at her would notice. Gods, he was a sap.