Sparks
," Kyle repeated, hi
ngs for me. I'll deal with Donovan.
raw with pain. "No, Kyle. It's
the muddy c
dn't bear to reopen-a truth
novan's furious face and Kyle'
was looking forward to
an impromptu staff dinner tonight at the R
embers-only establishment known for it
on, a cold dread, s
ushed my luck with Donovan; I coul
the Royal Club, the opulent decor a st
maze of dimly lit corridors, finally st
I stepped into a lavi
knocked out
miliar faces-but none of th
s-the same people who had c
long table, regal and c
r me briefly before returning to the conversatio
otelier and one of Donovan's clo
... unfortunate incident with Ms. Cabrera's earrings. You
s thin, edge
on strings, forced to d
n my cheeks, but I c
le existence, hu
ured for
chair was right
ainst my ribs, a fra
ced myself to move,
f champagne, my han
r any inconvenience, Mr. Gordon, Ms. Cabre
glass. "I'll
bly liquid in one gulp, the
thrown me out of the hospital room y
llion dollars. One glass doesn't cut it, Hazel. We're talki
ssion unreadable, a slight tw
usement seemed to f
a hand, stopp
, "let's make it thirty glasses of something stronger. Thirty
a chilling triu
of bitter liquor and
ry liquid searing a hole in my che
room tilting preca
ng into a hazy abyss
a voice, thick and muffled
with her some more, Donovan? Send her up to one
gh was cold a
s," he drawled, his voice slurred wi
her upstairs. The room
o take your anger ou
consume
how long I s
s, floating back to a time when his
apartment, his arms wr
ache in my side-a lingering
y face. "Still hurting?" he ask
a traditional Chinese doctor, fu
tter-a vile concoction tha
pressing a sweet candied plum into my mouth,
complained, my tongue stil
ft, tender smile th
ips finding mine in
his kiss, bloomed on my tongue, mingling with
intox
htly, his eyes spar
voice a low, seductive whisper
how you sweeten up all your girlfriend
ound that vibrated in his ches
e bed beneat
red, replaced by
er tender-they were fie
ungry, savage assault that th
d struggling to piece to
him.
he sweet, loving
m-wild, untamed
t instinctively, a small
a subconscious plea-a desperat
flutte
, our faces inches apar
d with raw, des
he alcohol, but one undeniable
hispered, the words escapi
d, a guttural so
emotion. "Then why, Hazel? Wh
burning into mine, d
nfession hovering on
ost broke years of silen
insistent ring p
n the beds
looked
ed in the darkness
Bec
t me like a buc
duced haze cle
Here
ted lies, all my sacrific
the suffocating closeness of Donovan, the
arms, shoving me back
ed, his voice ragged with fury. "You'
eyes bored into mine
d away, unable
l out, but the fear-the years of gu
whispered, the lie leaving
n, desolate sound, tear
that desperate for him? That
ling disbelief, a fresh wave
that bastard have that I don't? Wha
aw plea-a desperate
ut, "to think there was ever an
/1/110271/coverbig.jpg?v=8bb6586574ba9f7f49d020d04918bb27&imageMogr2/format/webp)