More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
The second I laid eyes on that damn grim reaper, I bee-lined through the party, pretending my final destination wouldn’t be right by his side.
And the way he looked at me. Jesus, take the wheel. No. Jesus, look away.
Goddess have mercy! Gareth in his usual broody, austere state was disturbingly attractive. But when he laughed? Damnation and hellfire. He was like a dark angel showering us lowly humans with a glimpse of heaven.
Outwardly, I was cool as ice. Dressed in black slacks and a gray dress shirt, I rotated my wrist, feeling the comforting weight of the Smart watch I custom designed. Everything was in its place. But inwardly, I was a fucking inferno of emotions. Today, I’d finally see Lavinia again.
Her gaze snapped to mine, sapphire eyes sparking with fire. God, she was so fucking beautiful.
“Let me help.” Richard reached across the table and flipped her to the right page then patted her hand. “Right there.” He was lucky he withdrew and sat back down, because I was about to break off that fucking hand. I could do it with little effort. But then there would be an inquiry.
I fucking hated this guy.
The fact that she could brush his behavior off and return to our task so easily told me two things. First, men who treated women this way were pigs and should be taken to slaughter. And second, she was more bewitching than I ever realized.
FEMINIST KING
“Got a hot date tonight?” Gareth’s smile was entirely too lascivious if he actually thought I had a date, his gaze tracking my phone as I set it on the coffee table. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” “That’s why I asked.”
Not much caught my interest. But Lavinia most definitely had.
But in truth, I just needed to see her, to drink in the luscious dark beauty of her a little while longer. The fact that I’d been with her for eight hours today should’ve satisfied my senses. But it hadn’t. I needed more. So much more.
“Just look at her.” Henry started flicking his Zippo lighter again. “She’s a goddamn angel. Why would she want to be a part of my fucked-up mess?”
Im gonna start crying cool
Her pulse tripped faster at that, and she simply stared at me. I stared back. I liked this game. Where she tried to figure out if I was lying to her or not. I always told her the truth. Except that one time. But it was necessary. I lied to her when I accused her of using her Influencer magic to warp the judges at the semi-finals. That was a ruse to distract her from the fact that I wanted to tear her clothes off and fuck her on the lobby floor. Still did, actually.
“What can I do for you, Mr. Blackwater?” Fucking hell. What couldn’t she do for me?
I wanted to add, if you do, call me immediately. But she wasn’t mine to protect. Not yet, a voice whispered. Where the hell did that thought come from?
“Tell me, can someone really desire their enemy? Enough to want to have sex with them?” “Of course,” said Clara. “The Viscount Who Loved Me.” “Excuse me?” I moved the book to another position and took a few more shots at different angles. “That was our book last month. Anthony and Kate hated each other. Still, they wanted to tear each other’s clothes off every time they were in the same room together. Sometimes, animosity and anger is the perfect aphrodisiac.”
Clara i hope you loved season 2 of bridgerton
dropped the camera from in front of my face. “Who says I’m talking about me and Gareth?” Clara grinned, transforming her expression into a naughty impish look. “For one, your aura is red and pulsing and giving me all the sex vibes. And second,” she rolled her eyes, “I mean, please.”
“You’ve been angry at him from the first time you met him in this contest. You won’t shut up about how much you loathe Gareth Blackwater.” Her grin returned. “He also happens to be extremely smart, which I know is a big turn-on for you. And now that I’ve met him, I know that he’s alarmingly attractive.” “Alarmingly?” I snapped two more shots then put my lens cap back on, setting it on the coffee table and then picking up a tart. “Yes. As in, five-alarm fire. And he’s got that dark and broody thing going that you’re so obsessed with.”
SHE GETS ME
I’d be intensely drawn to them then, inevitably, the fire would slowly die. I’d lose interest because I’d discovered everything new I possibly could about them then the attraction would fade before disappearing altogether.
Livvy dont read me for filth like this
“So have sex with him then.” “Clara, I can’t. I’m competing against him in the contest. It would be a conflict of interest. And distracting from the campaign.” “Are there rules in the contest guidelines that say contestants can’t have sex with each other?” I snorted. “I do believe they left that rule out.” “Good. Then you should totally fuck him.”
“Oh! So my blog doesn’t have a big following right now, but I do have this one blogger, RavenOne, who comments on every single blog. Always something interesting and intellectual. We’ve chatted not just about romance but about history and travel and even baking. A real reader, not just a random nice-post commenter, you know?”
HENRY I KNOW THATS YOU KING
“Don’t be coy. You flirt with him every chance you get.” “I talk to him, yes. I’m not sure that counts as flirting.” “And you always stare at him whenever he’s around.” “He’s very pleasant to look at,”
I opened the wine fridge and uncorked a bottle of Jules’s Merlot then poured a glass to the rim. I needed a long, hot bath and lots of time to ruminate. Clara had dealt me a heavy dose of truth. Maybe I did need to change my dating course. I hadn’t found Mr. or Ms. Right yet by following my instincts. But was I truly following my instincts? Or simply who I thought I should be falling for?
Her sweet scent hit me before I’d rounded the corner into our office. But that wasn’t what had my mouth fighting a smile. It was her choice of music this morning. She was an eighties lover I’d discovered. When I’d seen her at The Brat Pack with her sisters and cousins last month, I thought it a strange anomaly. But no, her playlists proved otherwise.
QUEEN ALSO I LOVE YOU TOO GARETH
Yesterday, she’d asked Willard if he minded if she played music while we worked. She asked me much less politely, which only stoked my deep yearning for the woman. Every time she tossed me a defiant look or a snarky word, my dick got harder for her.
Ugh wheres my man like this
There was nothing overtly seductive about her clothes, but fucking hell… the woman knew how to dress her body.
Depeche Mode’s “People Are People” filled the workspace with that eighties mantra for equality. Interesting
THE TASTE THIS WOMN HAS I LOVE HER
Apparently, Lavinia had gotten a head start on the planning. This wasn’t surprising. The woman was a workaholic. Yet another similarity we shared.
Hes so down bad crying at the gym and i love it
Her head came up, brows arched, as if surprised I knew the lead vocalist’s name. Then she fell back quickly into the warrior queen veneer that made my pulse quicken.
“Music for the Masses was the best album of new wave alternative in the eighties,” she added, shuffling a few papers around, “no matter what your opinion is.” “Again, disagree.” I kept my hands in my pockets and held her gaze. “Pumped Full of Drugs by New Order was far superior. However, they would’ve been even greater if their original vocalist hadn’t killed himself when they were Joy Division. Ian Curtis was a genius.” I fought a smile as her expression softened in wonder before she blinked it away. “You know your eighties music.” She frowned, seeming to admit that despite herself.
She rolled her eyes, and again, I found myself fighting a smile. She was so easy to rile. And her lovely features only heightened with color and hardened with a goddess-like façade whenever she was annoyed. To have a proud, intelligent beauty like her submit to me would probably scramble my brains, not to mention other parts of my anatomy.
When I read Boss Ass Bitch above her number, I let out a bark of laughter. Willard jumped. Lavinia’s smile spread wide as she stared at me. “Don’t change the name,” she ordered when I looked back down at my phone screen. “Don’t plan to.”
Such a smart girl, Lavinia. I smiled.
I was emailing the copy to Willard when I felt her staring at me. Such a lovely feeling to know she might be transfixed like me.
“I think it’s a fair assessment that you have a need to dominate in all facets of life.” Her eyes rounded, almost as if surprised by something I said. Those full lips compressed together as she seemed to refrain from saying whatever she wanted to say. I mimicked her stance, crossing my arms and leaning back in my chair. “The next thing you’ll be saying,” she said with a little bite, “is that my needs are too masculine or that I have penis envy or some other kind of toxic crap.” “Not at all. Women should be on top just as much as men. I can certainly enjoy that fact.” Especially if she were on
...more
Thank heaven grims didn’t have vampire or werewolf senses. My heartrate was going ninety miles an hour and the needy throbbing between my thighs told me he’d know exactly what I was feeling if he possessed those traits.
Oh princess peach do i have news for you LMAOOO
“It’s the ouroboros. The ancient symbol of the cycle of life. Life, death, eternal renewal.”
This is giving hemlock grove core with ouroboros
“Isn’t the renewal of the soul a rather optimistic belief for a broody cynic such as yourself?” His irises, warmer brown in this light, flushed black, lending an ethereal fathomless quality to them. For a second, I was caught by them, feeling as if I was slipping into an abyss. “A man can dream, can’t he?”
Feeling his gaze on me, I looked up. “Aren’t you going to order something to eat?” “I already know what I want.” He took a sip of beer, his eyes never leaving me.
And those eyes. I’d once called them soulless. In reality, they were dark, endless pools that sparked with inner fire. All of him along with his somber yet watchful demeanor gave the impression of a cold, distant but very alert predator. Yet, I had seen vulnerability crack his cool veneer before. It was fleeting and gone, but I’d seen it.
“I’ll take the Cajun Philly Cheese Steak and some cheese fries. Can you add jalapeños to those?”
NOMNOMNOMNOM
“No cheese fries? They’re so good here.” He shook his head to the waitress and handed over his menu. “Never tried them actually.” “What?” I laughed. “Blackwater, you don’t know what you’re missing. I’ll let you taste mine.” As I sipped my iced tea from the straw, I glanced over the rim to find the tiniest smirk quirking his lips. Then I realized what I’d said. “My fries, dipweed.” He settled back into the booth. “I’ll taste anything of yours that you’ll let me.”
DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
“What is this?” “What do you mean?” “This heavy flirting thing you’ve got going on.” “I apologize. I wasn’t aware that you weren’t aware of what flirting means.”
“Also, loquacious?” I arched a brow. “Trying to impress me with your big vocabulary?” “Since you’re unwilling to check out my big cock, I thought it second best.”
Yes, I had a stupid ass infatuation with this annoying, fine as fuck, grim reaper.
“So you can see,” he added, reaching across the table and pinching off three fries covered in melted cheese and jalapeños, “no supernatural should be fostered by humans. The dangers are endless.” He took a bite of the fries then his mouth quirked up into a lopsided smile. “Mmm. Good. You were right.”
“Oh, Lavinia,” he purred, smoothing the lapels of my collar after finishing the last button, dark eyes glinting. Then with a lascivious smile, he opened an intimate link and messaged me mind to mind. There will most definitely be a next time.
I’d not once considered taking a woman for more than a month at a time. There simply wasn’t any need beyond pleasuring each other in the bedroom. That’s what had always worked for me. But now... Lavinia. It wasn’t just her body that I desired. I wanted her mind, her heart, and her soul as well. What was this obsession about, and how could I get rid of it?
Edit to add I added this to my book boyfriend PowerPoint
“She’s pretty to look at.” Now, he was pacing and grumbling. “I know she’s fucking pretty.” He rubbed his palms along the sides of his jeans, like they were sweaty. “Are you okay? What’s with chewing your gum like it’s an Olympic sport?” “It’s nicotine gum. I’m trying to quit smoking, okay?” he snapped angrily. “That seems to be going well.”
Something twisted in my chest, a yearning that felt different than the ravenous lust I typically associated with her. Frowning, I tucked that away for now and focused on my work. Or as best I could with a beautiful, black-haired witch haunting my every waking—and sleeping—moment.
