Page 60 of Ruthless Savage

She forces her back straighter and picks up her drink, swallowing a few big sips.

My eyes bounce to the corner of the restaurant, where Devlin sits watching me, and every hair on my body stands up.

It only takes a single look to feel this pull between us. This energy we create drowns the air from my lungs, penetrating my pores until all I feel and know is this man I crave more than I’ve ever craved anything in my life.

“Would you stop looking at him?” Karen tsks. “I don’t think that’s going to help you get out of your upcoming marriage.”

My gaze jumps to her. Blowing an exacerbated exhale, I think about the club and everything else and my head spins from these overwhelming thoughts.

I need to get out of here. I need to think.

“I’ll consider it.” I raise a finger to call over our waitress, who arrives immediately.

“Anything else I can do for you girls?”

“Just the check, please.” I reach into my handbag to retrieve my wallet.

“Oh, that’s already been taken care of,” she informs us.

My brow furrows. “What? By whom?”

“That gentleman.”

She points to Devlin, who nods once, and she scurries off, leaving me dumbfounded.

Why would he pay? He doesn’t typically. Why now? What does it mean? Is he just being nice?

I can’t stop these thoughts from flying.

Karen laughs as I rise to my feet, unable to stop looking at him.

She leans into my ear as she gets out of her chair. “Well, well, maybe someone is finally starting to show his feelings.”

Is that what this is? Devlin is a puzzle that isn’t easy to solve.

He throws some money on the table and gets off his chair. His face is tight as he stalks over. I swallow the bundle of nerves climbing up my throat, my body heating up the nearer he gets.

“Are you ready to go?” He reaches a hand for my elbow.

That simple touch has me gasping for air.

“Mm-hmm, all done.”

He allows us to go first, and I register his body heat behind me. The closer he gets, the harder it becomes to breathe.

His hand is suddenly across my right hip. I try not to collapse to the ground from the weight of his touch, from the way my nipples bead and my thighs quiver. I love it when he touches me, even while everything in me wishes that nothing about this was innocent.

But Devlin has always been a hard shell to crack, and I’m not sure anything I do will be enough to break him.

CHAPTER 15

ERIU

FOUR DAYS LATER

I’m seriously doing this.

I told myself I wouldn’t go back to the club, but here I am, staring at myself in the mirror in Karen’s dorm room, pretending I’m studying again.

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