Page 54 of Forbidden Empire

After the ambush, he’d left in a rush, straight to the hospital to check on Ares.

He’d locked me in the penthouse, a guard keeping me from leaving, but that hadn’t stopped me from searching for answers.

If Aidon thought isolation would keep me from snooping, he was dead wrong.

Anticipation surged through me, making my fingers tremble as I tried another drawer on the credenza.

I held in a sigh of relief when it slid open.

I knelt, rifling through the files, but the thrill faded just as fast.

Just paperwork, dull and ordinary. Beverage receipts, food orders for Underworld. Typical for Aidon, locking up the good stuff and leaving the rest to rot.

Pushing to my feet, I faced the desk again, determination sharpening inside me. If I wanted real answers, I’d have to pick those locks.

My pulse spiked when footsteps sounded outside, each one closer, heavier, unmistakable.

Aidon.

He appeared in the doorway, rage sharpened the lines of his face.

His eyes locked on me, hard and unflinching, cold with accusation. “Looking for something, you little thief?”

That anger, I knew it well.

Aidon always seemed angry with me, always ready to catch me in the act.

And now he had.

There was no point denying I’d been snooping, so I wouldn’t bother.

I smirked, shrugged, and leaned my hip against his desk, forcing myself to look easy, careless, as if his presence wasn’t making my pulse stutter out of control every time he turned that furious gaze on me.

“Just wanted to see what the great Aidon kept hidden,” I tossed back.

He closed the distance, his presence becoming overwhelming, and he brought his face inches from mine. “You realize you’re playing with fire, Esme?”

He took a step closer, and I matched it, retreating backward, edging toward the windows, both of us locked in this old, dangerous dance.

I lifted my chin, refusing to give him the satisfaction of looking away, meeting that heat in his eyes head-on.

“Maybe,” I said. I wasn’t about to let him see how much he affected me.

He advanced again, closing the space, until my back hit the glass. Neon lights bled across the city below, but all I could feel was the heat of Aidon’s body crowding mine.

“Why do you keep testing me, Esme? Do you want to see what happens when you push me too far?”

A slow, twisted smile curled my lips right before I whispered, husky, taunting, seductive, “Maybe I do, Aidon.”

And he played right into my hands.

His hand cut through the space between us and gripped my hip, jerking me in, pressing me flush against the hard line of his erection.

His other hand tangled in my hair at the base of my skull, yanking my head back until I gasped. Then his mouth crasheddown on mine, hot and hungry, lips parting me open with a force that left no room for resistance.

This was my choice, my passion, my desire, and nobody else’s.

I whined into the kiss, overwhelmed by heat and desire, his tongue slipping deep and tangling with mine until I couldn’t distinguish where I ended and he started.