Page 144 of The Dragon 2
I narrowed my eyes. “Did you bribe your guards?”
“Me?” She touched her chest. “I would never think to do such a thing. I’m a proper lady.”
Yet a wicked chuckle followed.
I narrowed my eyes at her but the corner of my mouth twitched with reluctant awe.
She’s a fucking nosy writer.
I needed to remember that.
Not just a woman in red leather who made my cock ache and my pulse misbehave. Not just a brilliant, sensual force who cooked like she wanted to seduce my soul.
She was a nonfiction writer—a professional infiltrator of closed doors and locked hearts.
Writers—especially journalists—were notorious for getting into places they didn’t belong. For bribing their way into courtrooms, corporations, and underground lairs with a smile, a lie, or a strategically placed compliment. They cleverly collected information the way assassins collected kills.
Nyomi was no different.
If anything, she was more dangerous.
Because she’d done it with honey and cast iron. With bourbon and spice. She’d turned a dinner into seduction and I’d walked in willingly, blind and smiling.
Note to self: Never underestimate a woman who writes for a living.
I stared at her across the table. “Howdidyou bribe your guards?”
She smirked. “I would never.”
I turned back to the trays, inhaling deep. The scents hit me square in the chest.
A groan escaped before I could stop it, and then I looked back at her. “You bribed them with food, didn’t you?”
“Can you stop being so nosy so that I can begin our first course?”
I quirked my brows. “Firstcourse? There’s more than one?”
“Yes, Kenji.”
I couldn’t help it—I grinned. Big. Unrepentant. “Youreallycooked for me.”
She blushed, roseish brown blooming high on her cheeks. “Yes. . .I did.”
“How many courses?”
“Four.” Her gaze flicked to the tray. “Now stop asking so many questions and just enjoy the moment. . .Dragon.”
Four.
I was taking her back to the mansion tonight.
No discussion.
No polite offers.
No room for protest.
She would walk through my doors and be unable to walk back out.
