Page 89 of His Haunted Desire

Oh…andwe’re almost done with those Goliath pricks.

“Thank you,” Grandma says. “I know I’ve said it before, Raiden, but without you and your grandmother, we wouldn’t have been able to overcome these monsters. We would’ve been stuck. You changed that. You saved us.”

Raiden waves a hand. “It’s nothing, Margot, really. It’s the least we could do.”

“It’s not nothing,” she says fiercely. “We won’t forget this, will we, Aurora?”

My smile is wide as I look at Raiden, whom I’m swiftly starting to think of asmy man. Every time I look at him, there’s this sense of belonging. It’s not love-at-first-sight sharp, yet it’s realer and more significant than surface-level attraction.

“I think I’m going to call it a night,” Grandma says, standing from our dining room table.

“Do you need…”

She scowls at me, full of a fire that had been missing since the stroke. The doctors are optimistic she’s over the worst of it. “With all due respect, my sweet granddaughter, I believe I have graduated from invalid status.”

“Okay, prickly.”

She softens and squeezes my hand. “I’m sorry. I hated being reliant upon you and dear Ellie. I’m happy to be able to take care of myself again.”

I kiss her hand. “That makes sense. I can’t blame you for that.”

“Iamgrateful, however,” she says. “To both of you.”

“You’re welcome, Margot,” Raiden says.

She walks into her bedroom and closes the door. Raiden washes his pasta down with some water and then sits back, and lets out a contented sigh. When he sees me looking at him with my eyebrows raised, he smirks.

“What?” he says.

“What?” I counter.

“You’re… looking at me.”

Something about his delivery makes me laugh so hard my stomach aches. “Is that a problem?”

Another smirk. I’ll never get tired of looking at his face lighting up for me. “A problem? No, it normally means you’re hatching some scheme, or you’re going to use the S-word, which might be a mistake with your grandmother next door.”

The S-word.Sir. He doesn’t even like to say it unless we’re ready to consume each other because neither of us can hold ourselves back.

“I was just wondering what masks we’re wearing now,” I murmur, as a soft wind rustles against the window.

“I’m wearing the mask of a man who feels damn lucky to have you in his life.”

Warmth flows through me. “I was thinking… well, what does that mean?”

“Calm down, Miss Casual, or you’ll make me ruin everything.” His tone is sarcastic and warm; it’s clear he wants to have this conversation.

I take his hand in mine, and look meaningfully into his eyes. “Maybe it wouldn’t mean ruining everything though.”

“If you’re saying what I think you are,” he says. “There’s nothing stopping me. I was ready from day one to make this official.”

“So–what masks are we wearing?”

He stands, walks around the table, and pulls me to my feet. When he lifts me up, I wrap my legs around him instinctively. I’llnever grow tired of how easily he carries me. He sits me down on the back of the couch and crushes my lips with his.

The kiss sends pleasure surging through my body.

“Don’t get carried away… sir.”