The Watcher’s Shadow
Indie closed the door to her suite and leaned against it, the silk of the wrap dress still damp from the sudden rain and clinging to her bare skin in all the places that mattered.
Her lips tingled from the almost-kiss on the terrace. Her body throbbed with unmet need. Kael’s final words echoed in her head like a command she couldn’t escape.
Think about what it will feel like when I don’t stop.
She kicked off her shoes and walked straight to the bathroom, stripping the dress off as she went. It landed in a wet heap on the black marble floor. Naked, she stepped under the hot spray of the shower and let the water pound against her shoulders.
Her hands slid down her body without conscious thought—over her breasts, across her stomach, between her legs.
She was still slick from the terrace, from the press of his body, from the single slow rub of his fingers earlier in his office.
She came fast and hard against the tile, forehead pressed to the cool surface, biting her lip to keep from moaning his name out loud.
It still wasn’t enough.
She dried off, pulled on a soft black sleep shirt that barely reached the tops of her thighs, and climbed into the massive bed. The sheets were cool against her heated skin. She stared at the ceiling for a long time, listening to the rain return outside.
Her phone sat on the nightstand. She didn’t want to check it again. She checked anyway.
The latest message from the unknown number still glowed on the screen.
He almost kissed you tonight. Next time he won’t stop. And that’s when he’ll destroy you the way he destroyed her.
Indie turned the phone face down. She didn’t delete it this time. The words had already burrowed under her skin.
Sleep didn’t come easily. Every time she closed her eyes she saw Kael’s face in the rain—raindrops on his lashes, hunger in his eyes, the way he had pulled back at the last second like it cost him something.
She rolled onto her side and stared at the dark windows.
The storm had turned the glass into a mirror.
For a moment she thought she saw movement outside.
A shadow near the tree line. Then it was gone.
She sat up.
The estate was supposed to be secure. Kael had doubled security after the earlier perimeter breach. But the feeling of being watched wouldn’t leave her. It wasn’t the same as the threatening messages. This felt… different. Closer. More intimate.
Indie slipped out of bed and padded barefoot to the window.
She pulled the curtain aside just enough to peer out. The rain streaked down in silver lines. The grounds below were lit by subtle landscape lights that turned the wet grass into something almost beautiful. She scanned the tree line again.
Nothing.
Then a small red light blinked once on the windowsill.
She frowned and leaned closer. It was a tiny sensor. Part of the security system. She hadn’t noticed it before. Her gaze followed the line of the window frame and found another one higher up. And another.
Cameras.
Not obvious ones. Sleek, modern, almost invisible unless you were looking. One pointed outward toward the grounds.
Another angled slightly inward.
Toward the bed.
Indie’s breath caught. Heat flooded her face—and lower. The idea that Kael could be watching her right now, that he might have seen her in the shower, that he might be seeing her standing here in nothing but a thin sleep shirt, sent a confusing rush of arousal and unease straight through her.
She stepped back from the window, heart hammering.
Her phone buzzed on the nightstand.
She picked it up.
Not another threat from the unknown number. A message from Kael.
You’re awake.
Indie stared at the screen. Three dots appeared, then disappeared, then appeared again.
Go back to bed, Indie. You’re safe.
She typed before she could stop herself.
Are you watching me?
The reply came almost instantly.
Yes.
Her thighs pressed together. She should have been angry. She should have felt violated. Instead the knowledge that his eyes were on her—even through a screen—made her nipples tighten against the soft fabric of her shirt.
Another message appeared.
The cameras are for your protection. Not for anything else.
But if you keep standing there looking like that, I might forget the difference.
Indie’s breath hitched. She glanced at the window again, at the tiny red light. Slowly, deliberately, she walked back to the bed and sat on the edge. The shirt rode up her thighs. She didn’t pull it down.
She typed again.
What are you going to do about it?
The reply took longer this time.
Nothing tonight. Tomorrow we discuss terms. Tonight you rest. Lock the door. And Indie?
She waited.
If you touch yourself again while thinking about me, leave the lights on.
Indie dropped the phone like it had burned her. Heat flooded her entire body. She lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling, the sleep shirt twisted around her hips. Her hand slid down her stomach before she could stop it. She was wet again. Soaked.
She circled her clit slowly, eyes on the dark ceiling, imagining him watching through whatever screen he was using.
She came with her other hand over her mouth, trying to stay quiet, but a soft moan escaped anyway.
When she finally caught her breath, she reached for the phone again.
One new message.
Good girl.
Indie closed her eyes, equal parts mortified and more turned on than she had ever been in her life.
She must have drifted off eventually, because the next thing she knew the room was still dark and her phone was ringing.
Unknown number.
She answered without thinking, voice rough with sleep.
“Hello?”
A man’s voice she didn’t recognize. Smooth. Cold. “You should have run when you had the chance, little artist.”
Indie sat up fast, heart slamming against her ribs. “Who is this?”
“Someone who knows what Kael Thorne really is. He didn’t just lose his wife. He let her die to protect his empire. He’ll do the same to you.”
The line went dead.
Indie stared at the phone, blood roaring in her ears. She swung her legs out of bed and stood on shaky legs. The sleep shirt barely covered her. She grabbed the robe from the chair and pulled it on, then headed for the door.
She needed to find Kael. Now.
The hallway was quiet. Dim lights glowed along the baseboards.
She walked fast toward the stairs, the robe fluttering around her bare legs. Halfway down she heard it—a soft sound from the main floor. A door closing. Footsteps.
She froze on the stairs.
Then Kael appeared at the bottom, coming from the direction of the west wing. He was still in the same dark shirt from earlier, but it was unbuttoned at the throat now. His eyes found her immediately.
“Indie.” His voice was sharp. “What are you doing out of bed?”
She hurried down the last steps. “I got another call. Not a text this time. A man. He said—”
Kael was already moving. He closed the distance between them in two strides and pulled her against his chest. One arm wrapped around her waist. The other hand cupped the back of her head, pressing her face into his shoulder.
“You’re safe,” he said against her hair. His voice was low but fierce. “I’ve got you.”
Indie clung to him for a second, breathing in his scent, feeling the solid strength of his body. Then she pulled back just enough to look up at him.
“He knew about Elena. He said you let her die to protect your empire.”
Kael’s jaw tightened. His hand slid from her hair to her jaw, tilting her face up. “Crowe is escalating. He’s trying to turn you against me before we even have a chance to begin.”
Indie searched his eyes. “Did you?”
“No.” The word was absolute. “I loved her. I would have died in that car if it had been me driving. Crowe knows that. He’s using it to get to you.”
She believed him. The certainty in his voice, the way his thumb stroked her cheek—it settled something deep in her chest even as fear still coiled in her stomach.
Kael glanced down at the thin robe she wore, at the way it had fallen open slightly at the top. His eyes darkened.
“You came down here in nothing but this?”
“I was scared.”
His hand tightened on her waist. “Next time you’re scared, you call me. You don’t wander the house alone.”
“I wanted to find you.”
“You found me.” His gaze dropped to her mouth, then lower, to the bare skin the robe revealed. “And now you’re going to go back upstairs. With me.”
He didn’t wait for her answer. He took her hand and led her up the stairs, his grip firm but not painful. When they reached her suite he opened the door and guided her inside, then closed it behind them.
Indie turned to face him in the dim light of her room. The robe had loosened during the walk. It gaped at the front, revealing the curve of her breast and the fact that she wore nothing underneath.
Kael’s eyes tracked the movement. His control was fraying. She could see it in the set of his shoulders, in the way his breathing had changed.
“Lock the door behind me when I leave,” he said, voice rough.
But he didn’t leave.
Instead he stepped closer, until her back met the wall beside the door. His hand came up to rest beside her head. The other settled on her waist, fingers splaying over the thin fabric of the robe.
“I told myself I would wait until tomorrow,” he murmured.
“Until we had the conversation about terms. But then you came down those stairs looking like this, and Crowe called you, and all I can think about is making sure you know exactly who you belong to.”
Indie’s heart hammered. She could feel the heat of his body, the hard line of him pressing against her hip. “Then don’t wait.”
Kael’s eyes met hers. For a long moment neither of them moved.
Then his phone vibrated in his pocket.
He exhaled sharply, forehead dropping to rest against hers for one frustrated second. He pulled the phone out and answered without stepping away from her.
“Thorne.” A pause. His body went rigid. “Where?” Another pause. “I’m on my way. Double the men on the perimeter. No one gets close to her.”
He ended the call and looked at her, eyes dark with something that was no longer just desire.
“Another breach. They’re testing the new security. I have to go.”
Indie’s stomach dropped. “Kael—”
He kissed her.
Not the almost-kiss from the terrace. This was harder, deeper, a claiming that stole her breath and left her clinging to his shirt.
His tongue swept into her mouth. His hand slid into her hair, gripping tight. She moaned against him, body arching into his.
When he pulled back they were both breathing hard.
“Lock the door,” he said again. “Stay inside. I’ll be back before morning.”
He turned and was gone before she could answer, the door clicking shut behind him.
Indie slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor, robe fallen open, lips swollen, body on fire.
Her phone buzzed from the bed.
She didn’t need to look to know what it would say.
But she looked anyway.
He left you alone again. How long before he leaves you for good?
Indie stared at the message until her vision blurred.
Outside, somewhere on the dark estate grounds, Kael Thorne was hunting the men who wanted to take her from him.
And inside her suite, with the door locked and the cameras watching, Indie Vale sat on the floor in nothing but an open robe and wondered how much longer she could pretend she didn’t already belong to the man who had almost ruined her twice in one night.