Page 76 of Greed: The Savage
He held her stare. Most threats rolled off him; this one didn’t. Not because he feared her, but because he believed her. And damn him, he was grateful—Addien had a guard dog of her own.
His nod was slow, measured. She returned it, a silent pact between enemies with the same cause—the woman sleeping behind him.
He pushed the door.
Delilah blocked his attempt with a sharp snap of her knee.
“Just so we’re clear,” she said, “I didn’t bring those for you. You spent the night in her bed. She’s not wanting anyone to know her business.”
No, she wouldn’t. “You’re worrying needlessly,” he felt inclined to say. For Addien’s friend, or him? He couldn’t be sure. “Addien can’t be hurt. Not by me.”
Something in her gaze shifted, softened, but it was gone in a blink.
“If you believe that, my lord, then you already have.” This time, the warning in her voice was colder than the gesture had been. “Remember what I said. I will kill you.”
And with that stark warning, she left.
Turning, Thornwick carried the neatly laundered garments over. He stopped short.
Addien, her eyes heavy from sleep, her hair hanging loose about her shoulders, veiling her breasts, watched him guardedly.
God, she was magnificent. He wanted to push back those lustrous strands and bare her body and ready her for his worship. And…he intended to do just that.
“Awake at last,” he murmured.
Addien nudged her chin at where he stood in the entrance. “What’s that about?” Addien asked.
Bloody hell. She’d heard him.
Before he could answer, she added, “That smug grin of yours, Malric.” Her voice was husky from sleep, smoky with the aftertaste of sex and deep slumber.
His cock stirred on instinct.
And she hadn’t heard his exchange with Delilah.
“Oh, I think you do know,” he purred, prowling closer. One knee sank into the edge of the mattress as he began a slow crawl toward her.
Addien didn’t bother to deny her want. Just as she had all through the night, she let her legs fall open for him.
His breath caught. My God—she was perfect. How had he not thought of it before this morn? Addien was his match in every way. No noble lady could compare to her; no woman alive would.
He’d been toiling over the perfect bride to send the duke into an apoplexy when she’d been here all along. Right under Thornwick’s nose.
He flashed a feral smile.
And she was about to be under him—again.
She’d belong to him in every way.
Chapter 20
She’d been cursed by the gods with an insatiable appetite, and blessed at the same time in the deliverance of Malric, a man who’d never be sated.
At long last, she understood, the heady awareness of her own beauty and power as a woman—the lure that made women willingly give themselves over to mistrustful, untrustworthy men. It was why Delilah and the other girls happily tossed up their petticoats.
With one notable difference.
Addien could not imagine herself with any man but Malric Mauley, the Marquess of Thornwick—and it terrified her to her bones.
