Page 39 of Silk and Sirens

“Selling out my route to a rival? You’ve really fucked up, Tempest.”

“Tempest?” I echoed, trying to swallow past the slight threat that vibrated the air between us. Tension pulled tight, the room fading until it was just him and me. “What happened to sweetheart?”

The bass dulled, the crowd blurring as everything else slipped out of focus.

“You don’t seem very sweet.” His smile was cruel. “No, you’re more like a storm. Beautiful, destructive, and seemingly impossible to stop once you fucking start.”

“Ah, so you think I’m beautiful?” I laughed, unable to hold it back. “Even so, we both know I’m far more valuable alive than dead.” It was the only reason he hadn’t already killed me. But there was going to be a limit, and I had to walk the edge without stepping over. Just close enough to steer him in the direction I needed, but never close enough to make him pull the trigger.

“Is that why you did it? Because you think you’re untouchable?”

“You weren’t taking me seriously.”

His brows raised with an actual emotion. “You want to be taken seriously?”

“I want an audience with the Beast.”

His gaze locked onto mine, blue so pale they didn’t look real. “Why?”

“That’s a conversation for him,” I replied cooly. “Not his dog.”

I knew I was provoking him, but for some reason I just couldn’t help myself. Any rational person would be terrified, especially with a man with a reputation such as Caden’s. But, for some reason, I wasn’t.

I wanted to push him, to see the muscle in his jaw tick when he fought for control, to catch that brief, unguarded dimple when he almost smiled. It was reckless … and yet his reactions made me feel something other than the fucking void where my soul should have been. Most days I felt detached from my own pulse, moving through life like a voiceless puppet.

But with him, I felt alive. Even if that was because he could easily take my life.

Sometimes I wondered if I wanted him to try.

Caden dipped his head closer, face hovering close to mine. “We don’t work with snakes.”

I ignored the way my stomach dropped, but if he thought this was over, he was about to be in for a surprise. “Do you really think you have a choice?”

Something dark flickered across his expression, and then his gaze shifted over my shoulder. I started to turn, to see what had caught his attention when his hands locked on my waist, twisting me easily until my back pressed against his chest.

Renley stood across the room, mismatched eyes watching us.

Shit. I didn’t want this to happen, to give Selene more of an excuse to use me this way.

“Caden …” I began, only for one hand to fist my hair at the scalp, keeping me in place while the other pressed against my thigh.

“Keep pushing, Tempest,” he growled, taking back the control I’d lost the moment I saw Renley. That tension between us coiled tight as a wire, winding higher and higher until it felt like it encircled my throat. But for once, it didn’t suffocate me.

My heart was racing, but I couldn’t back down.

“Or what?”

Chapter 18

Caden

From the way she stiffened, I’d have put money on her not knowing the bouncer was here, watching her the entire time. He’d moved from his corner the moment she sat on my lap, now openly leaning against the wall opposite, watching.

I met his gaze briefly, catching the anger and the unmistakable edge of jealousy tightening his features.

Tugging on her hair, I angled her head so I could easily press my lips to her ear. “Didn’t know he was there, did you?”

“What do you think you’re doing?” she whispered, her breath coming in short, uneven bursts.