Whoa. Adryan was quite possibly the most arrogant man I’d ever come in contact with. It was infuriating… but strangely arousing too.
And then there was nothing but silence, and I knew he’d disconnected the call. I sensed—felt—him come closer, my body tightening, the scent of him becoming stronger, more concentrated.
“You’ve got to be hungry.” His voice, although it could never be construed as soft or kind, was a different pitch and tone—gentle, if I were going to put a name to it.
I didn’t move as I let his words filter in one ear and out the other, didn’t blink as I stared at the flames. I felt this strange detachment to the world in that moment, to hunger and thirst, fear and being cold. To pain.
Well, the latter wasn't exactly true. I remembered the feeling of that pain when he bit me, when he wrapped his hand around my throat, and the threat of my oxygen getting cut off was very real.
That kind of pain… turned me on.
That kind of discomfort was what I craved.
When I didn’t respond, the sound of him moving around the couch and coming to stop in front of me, his big body casting a looming shadow across everything it touched, had me looking at him.
There was so much I wanted to say, but I didn’t know where to start, how to form the words. Although I was confused, frightened at what had happened at my house, the men who wanted to hurt me—because of Adryan apparently—I wanted to understand. Even if it was gritty and violent and dangerous. I wanted—needed—to understand.
What I was feeling here, with him, I couldn’t wrap my head around at all. It was just too much. Too soon. Too fast. Yet it felt too right.
So I said nothing at all. Maybe he understood my conflict. Maybe he felt it too. Although I had a feeling the man standing before me wasn’t normal, and not in the sense that he wasn’t human. Which I decided made the most sense out of all the crazy things that had happened.
No, when I looked into his eyes, I could see this man was dangerous, a monster in his own right, in the only world I’d ever known. Even if there wasn’t a supernatural aspect thrown in, he was something else altogether.
He threw off the same vibe I could picture a CEO would, a man in organized crime, someone who knew they could do what they wanted when they wanted, because they were just that powerful.
I could see that he probably felt nothing for anyone, for anything, in his whole life. But when he looked at me, there was something undeniably vulnerable in his gaze. The heat flared between us with just a look. And when he touched me, spoke to me, I felt a protectiveness around him, like he’d level anything and anyone who got too close to me.
So when he held his hand out to me, not speaking either, I found myself slipping my palm against his big, warm one. I felt him curl his fingers around mine, allowing him to help me up off the couch.
And then I let him lead me to wherever it was he wanted to take me. And it might’ve been hell itself. Yet here I was, going without hesitation.
18
Kayla
Adryan hadn’t taken me to hell. Instead, after taking me to the bedroom to grab me a pair of sweats, he led me into a grand dining room, a long and ornate polished table sitting in the center of the room, fine china and candelabras in its center, and a huge crystal chandelier hanging above the middle of the large wooden structure.
I was thankful for the sweats; otherwise, I would’ve been naked from the waist down. And although my libido had no problem with that—and neither did Adryan, judging by the heated look he’d given me—we had more important things to worry and talk about than getting off.
The dog he called Bear stayed right beside me the entire time, his body damn near bigger than mine and setting my teeth on edge. But Adryan didn’t seem the least bit worried that Cujo would rip my throat out, so I tried to let that set me at ease.
It didn’t, but whatever.
There was a fire roaring within the mantle. I stood there a moment just staring at those flames, feeling Adryan right beside me, his gaze on me. We hadn’t said a word to each other since he led me into this room. But in that moment, no words needed to be said, and I was grateful.
So when I turned my attention back to the table and noticed two place settings, one at the head and the other just to the right of it, I knew that was where I was supposed to go. That’s where he wants me.