Page 73 of Sinister Games

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“You look good enough to eat.”

Said the wolf.

“Thank you,” I replied demurely as Richard placed the beautiful cape on my shoulders.

“I almost want to forget about this party tonight and take you straight home,” he whispered huskily, before giving the sensitive underside of my ear a kiss.

“That would be a shame after I got all dressed up in your gift,” I responded coyly.

I was such a fucking coward. Under normal circumstances an evening alone with Richard would be precisely what I would want, knowing it would be spent naked in his massive bed, but not tonight. Tonight, I wanted to be surrounded by people and noise. Safety in numbers.

“You do look beautiful, but there is something missing.”

Pulling open the cape, I examined the feathered dress and Swarovski-studded heels I found in the box with it. Seeing nothing amiss, I looked up again to see him holding a jewelry box.

Cocking my head to one side, I put my hands on my hips. “Richard, we talked about this.”

Nodding sagely, he said, “Yes, we definitely did.”

“We agreed no more jewelry. You’ve already given me way more pieces than I could possibly wear.”

“You agreed. I simply didn’t openly disagree with you.”

I wasn’t going to back down. For all the intensity and ups and downs of our relationship, there was one thing I never wanted him to doubt, and that was that I was with him for him… not his money or the jewels. Something told me that even without his billions Richard would still be just as enigmatic, intense, and charming.

In fact, I might love him even more. Without all this money, he would seem less, I didn’t know… ruthless… unstoppable? Scary?

Richard opened the box. Inside, there were a pair of stunning diamond drop earrings with a massive pearl dangling from a delicate gold thread. Each pearl was almost the size of my thumb.

“Richard!”

Leaning over, he placed one earring in. I could feel the weight of the pearl pull on my lobe. When he tried to put in the second one, he missed the mark slightly. I felt a sharp stab of pain. Raising my fingers to my ear, I saw a drop of blood on my fingertips.

“My dress!” I exclaimed, worried about the white feathers.

Richard’s head swooped down, his mouth closing over my injured earlobe. My head lolled to the side, and I couldn’t stifle a groan as he sucked. Lifting his head, he ran his tongue over the center of his bottom lip as if he enjoyed the taste of my blood. The taste of my pain.

“All better,” he said as he ran his knuckles over my cheek.

His deep blue eyes were warm with affection. He hadn’t said he loved me yet, it was way too soon, but he definitely treated me like he did.

Taking my arm, he escorted me out of the building. As we waited for his driver to open the doors of his Rolls Royce Phantom, Richard looked down at me. “I missed having you curled up on your cushion in my office today.”

“I missed you too,” I said as I rested my head against his upper arm.

“I’m looking forward to hearing all about your day away from me.”

Attentive words any woman would rejoice at hearing from the man she loved… yet they turned me cold with fear.

Fuck. He knows.

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