Page 34 of Falcon's Prey

Ember didn’t even bat an eyelash. She stood in the entrance of my room in a thick black robe, fuzzy slippers on her feet, her hair still dripping with water, but the thing that got to me was the purple bruising around her lower lip.I did that.

“I need you to set up the fire pit for me.”

“Don’t you have staff for that?”

She shook her head. “It’s their day off.”

“Can’t you do that?”

“Most people don’t want me near fire since the whole college incident.”

“Out. Now.”

I needed her to get out before she noticed she was getting my cock hard. It would be so easy to pull her into my room, push her against the wall, and fuck her so hard and deep she’d never forget me.

Ember gave me a carefree smile, and fuck me if that didn’t do something to me.

“Drop the towel, bodyguard.”

I smiled back at her, a real one this time. “Darling, you couldn’t handle me.”

“Drop the towel, and we can find out,” she teased.

Without a word, I closed the door in her face.

She screamed, and fuck my life that sounded like a fucking challenge. One thing was for sure: something was wrong with that woman. One second, she was fire; the next, she was ice. Shaking my head, I got ready, and instead of trying to figure things out, I decided I would use her mood change to my advantage.

Ember was outside, sitting on a chaise, a bottle of water in one hand and her bong in another. While she broke her weed, I got to work on her fire. Everything was neatly set up; I knew she’d have no problem doing this on her own. She was humming a song while her head nodded from side to side. It hit me then that she was lonely.

“Is that all?” I asked once the fire was blazing.

“Aren’t you going to sit down? Make sure my body is protected and all that bullshit?”

Letting her think it was her idea for me to stay, I sat on the opposite side of her. I let her take two hits before I began to ask questions. Mellow Ember was better than the bitch one.

“When was the first time they cut you off?” There were probably a few questions I should have asked instead of this one.

“I was nineteen. They wanted me to endorse a partnership we had with a fashion line, but the fashion house was big on furs, so I told the director of said house to fuck off there for disgracing my family. It was close to the holidays, so I was stuck at school.”

“What did you do?” My voice was low. Controlled.

“Diamonds are an easy trade.” She shrugged it off. “My turn.” I should have expected this. Even high, she was sharp. “Why haven’t you quit?”

“You don’t scare me, princess.” I leaned back and gauged her. “Why are you not being a bitch?”

Her shoulders sagged. “I’m tired, okay? Silas, Mattias, the board, you—I don’t have to the energy to fight the whole world today.”

“Any word on your father?” I pretended to look at the fence when I was observing her, trying to figure out why she wasn’t at his side every day.

“Nope. His body is still recovering. Who knows how long that will take. Maybe by the time he wakes it will be too late… When’s your day off?”

Jackpot.

“It was the day after the accident—”

Ember’s eyes locked with mine, and I had the urge to pull away. “You stayed home with me.”

My chest rose and fell. Hell if I know why I stayed home that day. She didn’t bring her bloody lip, and neither did I.

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