Page 78 of Strictly Forbidden

The fairytale.

Yep, I did.

With an ex-con? With a confirmed killer?

Now I’d consumed too much of the Kool-Aid readers did when falling into one of my brutal stories.

I was trying to pen the perfect happily ever after, when there was no such thing. I quickly stripped off my clothes, taking a deep breath before stepping into the tub. At least the master bath had a wonderful claw-foot bathtub, which made me wonder how many layers Kage’s grandfather had.

Likely as many as Kage did.

Thankfully, the last two days had allowed me to produce some wicked pages on a new book. Granted, it was even more bloody and violent than any I’d written before, including a woman being stalked but lo and behold, she was the mastermind killer. Cold and calculated, enjoying every creative kill. It was completely different than my original outline but had bestseller written all over it.

If I could stomach the bloodshed.

Maybe my heroine was based on the inside girl, the one I’d tried to turn into a killer myself. Oops. Little did Kage know how many times I’d thought about the one hundred most painful ways of killing James Jones.

It was that dirty little secret I’d take to my grave.

I took a sip of wine before settling into position. The flickering candles were nice but added shadows I wasn’t certain I liked. A silly laugh bubbled to the surface. Here I was telling the larger-than-life man to buck and suck it up, yet a few little shadows created from warming candlelight were making me antsy?

I was better than that.

Determined to set an example, or simply just being tired of playing the victim myself, I plastered a smile on my face and before I closed my eyes, I noticed Max had experienced enough of my lamenting over something I could never have, trotting out the still open bathroom door to sights unseen. The truth was I couldn’t blame him. I was a sorry sack to be around.

As I eased deeper into the water, I couldn’t help but wish I had some music. But alas, this girl would be disappointed again. At least the water did feel good but the sound of windows rattling from the wind, something scratching at the one in the bathroom created all kinds of morbid thoughts.

They’re coming to get you, Noel.

The little voice inside my head was the perfect representation of a movie or radio announcer specializing in horror or slasher flicks. At least I could laugh at myself, my imagination not dead yet.

Another sound caught my attention a couple of seconds later, and I jerked up my head, trying to figure out what I was hearing. It took me a full minute as the music got a little louder, as if the source was being brought closer.

I jerked up, narrowing my eyes. “What the hell?”

Seconds later, I couldn’t help but giggle, even kicking my feet in the water. Metal music. My favorite band too. How in God’s name had Kage figured out I adored Disturbed? Just when I wanted to hate him, Kage pulled out all the stops, or least those that mattered to me, to provide a snippet of the fabulous man I believed him to be.

For a few seconds, I thought for certain he was going to slip inside the room. When it was apparent I was wrong, another wave of disappointment hit me but at least he’d tried to do something nice. The smile remained on my face as I closed my eyes all over again. Within seconds, I felt a bit more relaxed, the sound of the wind drowned out altogether.

But what had the man done? Made me think about him. Hunger for him. Need him.

Damn the man.

Without opening my eyes, I carefully reached for my wine, pulling the glass to my lips as one of my absolute favorite songs started to play. I couldn’t help but move under the water, even splashing some over the edge of the tub. Oh, who cared? I’d clean up the mess. I started to hum then was unable to keep from singing the part I knew.

I was shifting the wineglass back and forth, my eyes still closed, enjoying being able to listen and get into the music for the first time in what seemed like forever. A little bit of normalcy. But thoughts of him continued to creep into my mind. Ignoring the way I felt about him and the attraction that was hot and heavy seemed like an impossible feat.

Especially since there wasn’t an ugly part on his body. Even the odd scars I’d seen on his back and chest didn’t take away from his stunning good looks.

God help me, I had to find a way to get him off my mind. I returned the wine, purposely pushing every lurid thought away.

Seconds later, they crept back in and suddenly, I found myself swirling the tip of my index finger around one nipple, both breasts poking out of the water. The hot water wasn’t helping the fact I was on fire, the need a constant issue. I shifted my hand to my other nipple, even pinching the already tender bud until a moan slipped from my lips.

And there it was, the huge crackle of electricity I wasn’t certain I’d be lucky enough to feel again. I felt more embarrassed than I had any time before, first sliding my hand into the water before daring to open one eye as little as possible. A part of me was thinking maybe I was wrong and he wasn’t staring down at me.

Worse.

He was sitting on the edge of the tub studying me as if I’d just been a very bad girl. Even the wry expression he wore added to the tingling sensations.

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