Chapter 27
TWENTY-SEVEN
EMMA
I’d crashed the second I dropped into my room.
Didn’t even bother wiping off the makeup. Barely managed to kick off my boots without face-planting. Still wearing the shortest dress known to humankind, I was sprawled across the bed, eyes wide open and brain refusing to shut up.
The whole night kept looping in my head. Every word, every look, every stupid spark of want I swore I didn’t feel.
That man challenged every ounce of my sanity.
Why did I walk away from him? I could’ve stayed. Stayed and mounted him like a sane, functional adult who doesn’t run from the best idea she’s ever had.
But no. I’d decided to be noble. Rational. Whatever the hell that was.
“Idiot,” I muttered, pressing a hand over my face.
Maybe I should nex him. Tell him to make good on his threat.
Stop it, you hussy. My rational voice snapped. You really want to risk the Chiefs catching wind of you breaking your precious deal?
Maybe I should just take my chances with the Chiefs.
Yes, brilliant plan. Because watching everyone you love getting killed is completely worth you getting laid.
That man looks like he might be worth it.
Even if it is, the voice pressed, you really want to make this worse? You’re already half-feral if he so much as looks at you. What do you think sleeping with him is going to do? Fix it?
I groaned and rolled onto my stomach, burying my face in the pillow to muffle the sound.
Maybe—
Before I could finish that thought, I heard a laugh. High, loud, familiar.
Rachel.
Then another laugh followed, rougher this time, carrying a lazy confidence which belonged to one person only.
Caden.
Every muscle in my body went taut the instant I heard him.
He was here. He’d portaled back.
My breath stuttered, and every muscle was now wide awake.
Ever since we’d fought the humans, Rachel had been growing increasingly anxious over trying to keep the peace between species and leaning harder than ever on Caden.
And Caden, because he was Caden, had been more than accommodating to help.
Which was just terrific.
You know. Like appendicitis is terrific.
The knot in my stomach pulled tighter, and I finally realized what this feeling was.
Jealousy.
I was jealous.
I heard her laugh again—softer this time—followed by Caden’s deep voice, low and amused.
Okay. That’s it. Fuck this.
I jumped out the bed before I even realized what I was doing. The floor was cold under my bare feet, and my dress was halfway twisted, but I didn’t give a rat’s ass.
I stalked toward the door, heart hammering, not even sure what I planned to say when I saw him, only that I needed to.
After yanking the door open, I stepped into the hallway like a godsdamn hurricane in bare legs and bad decisions.
Watching Rachel tilt her head back, laughing at something he said, watching the way Caden smirked…
I wanted to kill her. Strangle her with that gorgeous hair of hers. “Rachel, hi. So nice to see you.”
Wow. Even I was impressed by my own fake-ass pleasantness.
Rachel turned to me, her expression nothing but open warmth. “Hi, Emma. What are you doing up?”
I shrugged, trying for casual. “Couldn’t sleep.”
Clearly.
She nodded. “Did you hear about those Radicals clashing weapons with Collabs in South Africa? Apparently, they’ve been fighting over some territory.”
The amount of interest I had in that topic was so far below zero it practically froze my ass off.
I shook my head. “No, I haven’t.”
My gaze shifted to Caden.
He looked…indifferent.
Not tense. Not flustered. Simply unbothered.
“Caden, could I talk to you in private for a second?” I kept my tone light, but there was an edge beneath it. One I knew he would catch.
His brow furrowed slightly, eyes flicking between me and Rachel. Then, finally, he gave a single nod. “Sure.”
I turned and led the way into my room, the fake smile nowhere to be seen.
“The hell was that?”
Caden’s coldness sliced through my bedroom the moment the door closed behind us.
I turned around, trying for innocent. “What was what?”
“Don’t play dumb with me,” he warned, stepping closer. “The fuck was with you acting jealous of Rachel?”
I crossed my arms, forcing myself to look indifferent, even as my pulse spiked. “Nothing.”
“Nothing?” He raised a brow, disbelief dripping from every word. “Didn’t look like nothing from where I was standing.”
My heart pounded in my chest, but I wasn’t about to let him see me crack. “Well then, you should’ve moved,” I snapped, sounding harsher than I intended.
His expression shifted, confusion flickering across his face. “What?”
Yeah. No idea what that was.
I cleared my throat, my head held high. “If your point of view generated any misinformation, you should’ve moved to another location,” I said, sticking to my absurd little argument.
He stared at me, incredulously. “You were trained as a lawyer, and that’s the best defense you can come up with?”
I gave a sheepish smile. “It’s been a while.”
His expression didn’t soften; if anything, it hardened, though his voice remained controlled in a way that made it even more unsettling.
“You were jealous, Emma,” he said, each word precise enough to cut. “Tell me why.”
“I wasn’t!” The easy denial spilled out before I could stop it.
His dark eyes narrowed, the irritation in them unmistakable. When he spoke again, his tone was quieter, every syllable measured like a threat.
“Don’t lie to me.” He took a step closer, his presence a solid wall of tension and restraint. “Don’t. Fucking. Lie to me.”
He wasn’t shouting, but the lethal control in his tone was far worse than anger.
“Fine!” I yelled, throwing my hands in the air. “I was jealous! Happy now?”
He stilled, his whole body going tense as his eyes locked onto mine. Neither of us moved, the admission hanging heavy in the air.
“You were jealous,” he repeated, this time softer, more like a statement than a question.
I crossed my arms tighter, looking anywhere but at him. “So?”
“Why?” he asked, voice low and edged.
I froze, pulse skittering. “Why what?”
“No. Fuck that!” he bit out, clearly starting to lose his patience. “Don’t use those bullshit evasion tactics on me, Emma.” His chest was heaving as he took the last step forward. “Why were you jealous?”
My heart slammed against my ribs, so loud he could probably hear it. I hated how vulnerable this made me, how cornered. How exposed.
“Why does it matter?” I muttered, trying to duck behind the question.
Deflect. Defend.
“Because you have no reason to!” He roared like thunder, the kind of furious sound that left the walls ringing in its wake.
For a heartbeat, he looked almost shocked by his own volume, but then he dragged in a breath, reining himself back with visible effort.
When he spoke again, his voice was a low growl. “Last time I’m asking nicely, Emma.” His eyes were burning into mine. “Why. Were. You. Jealous?”
“I don’t know, all right?” I exploded, the words a lot louder than I meant them to be. “I don’t know!”
My hands flew to my face, trying to block him out, block everything out. “It’s driving me insane. Being this close to you every single day and not being able to just—”
Caden caught both my wrists, pulling my hands away.
“To just what?” he growled, a threat wrapped in velvet.
My hands fell still. I met his gaze, and gods… It was blazing.
He leaned in—close, way too close—his body a furnace, his eyes black fire. “You think you’re the only one losing it? You think I can breathe with you in the room? You walk around like you don’t feel it, like you don’t want it, like we’re just friends—”
He laughed without humor. Dark. Hollow. “It’s fucking torture.”
My heart pounded in my ears. I could smell him: smoke and sin and want. I could feel his need for me barely caged beneath his skin.
“I’m the one in hell, Emma,” he snarled. “You’re the one holding the reins here.”
Still holding both my wrists, he slammed them above my head, pinning me against the wall.
His grip was iron.
“So if you want something,” he growled again, “if you want me…”
His breath was hot against my ear, sending a full-body shiver through me.
“Then fucking say it.”
His mouth hovered right below my jaw. One shift—just one—and his lips would be on my neck, claiming, ruining, worshipping. But he held still. Torturously still.
His body caged mine without mercy, all muscle and heat, and his grip on my wrists tightened like he knew I’d fall apart if he let go. But it was his stare that shattered me. Dark, hungry, possessive. As if he already owned me.
Every inch of me was tuned to him, trembling on the edge of unraveling.
I should’ve stopped it, but a godsdamn hurricane couldn’t have dragged me away.
Still, my idiot brain refused to be anything less than defiant.
I lifted my chin, forcing steel into my spine, as I met his gaze head-on.
“You think you’re such a gift to women. You might have every single one of them in this Collective begging for your attention, but trust me, Colt, I am not one of them. ”
His mouth curved, but there was nothing kind about it. His eyes narrowed, the fire in them turning predatory. “Is that so?”
I swallowed hard and gave a sharp nod.
Caden leaned in closer, like a wolf testing distance. “Then maybe,” he murmured, voice low enough to scrape against my skin, “we should test that theory.”
“Let’s see…” His breath brushed my ear, “…if I can make you beg.”
I didn’t answer, mostly because I didn’t trust a single word that might come out of my mouth. My tongue felt thick, my thoughts fractured. Every instinct screamed to run, but I stayed rooted, burning to find out what the hell he’d do next.
His nose skimmed the curve of my throat, drawing a shiver from a place I didn’t know was still alive. He inhaled, lips ghosting over my skin.
“Do you have any idea,” he murmured, “how insane that scent of yours drives me?”
My breath hitched. His didn’t.
“Do you have any idea,” he went on still as rough, “what you wearing a dress like this does to me?”