Page 84 of Coveted

I snort. “That cat has you whipped.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way, friend.” He peers at the red-carpeted entrance of the museum hall. “Speaking of devotion. The object of yours has arrived.”

I follow his gaze to where Sadie walks in with her friends. My pulse kicks up, like her arrival injects me with fresh life.

“See you later,” I say to Madox. “Give Pudding my best.”

He salutes. “Enjoy terrorizing the woman of your dreams.”

I ghost through the crowd to observe Sadie before she spots me.

Shimmering burgundy dress, hair swept up. Candlelight glows on her bare neck and shoulders. Glossy rose-red lips.

Fuck, she’s gorgeous.

Her fingers brush her gown like she’s grounding herself. I keep moving, hungry for every angle. She glances back at the door, as if already considering leaving.

Though Sadie tries staying in her friends’ shadows, she still stands out.

Men notice her. Conversations stall while every guy nearby finds a reason to gawk in her direction, as if they have any right to assess her and imagine.

I should go and say hello to her. It’s only polite.

Juliette clocks me first, nudging Clara as I close in. Without exchanging a word, they move in front of Sadie to form a protective barrier.

I’d be pleased, if they were doing it to anyone but me.

“Good evening, Clara, Juliette.” I look past them. “Sadie.”

She fixes me with a sullen stare. “Hi.”

Her soft voice is barely audible over the chatter and string music. Yet the single syllable shoots straight down my spine like a bolt of lightning.

“May I have a minute?” I say to her friends.

Clara raises her brows at Sadie. “Can he?”

After contemplating me for several moments, Sadie nods like it costs her something.

“We’ll be right over here,” says Juliette to Sadie, pointing at the champagne fountain.

Clara holds up a finger to me. “One minute, Hale. And no running off with her this time.”

We’ll see.

I shrug. “Whatever you say.”

Once they’ve left, I step toward Sadie. Already pressed to the wall, she has nowhere to go to escape me. I’m so close I can smell her intoxicating honey scent. Blood rushes to my cock and my heart in equal, stirring measure.

Her lively gray eyes glare up at me. I lean in further, just for the pleasure of seeing her chest rise and fall more rapidly.

She’s rattled from me fucking her throat the other night.

I understand, I do. It was a lot.

But I’m not going to leave her alone, because I can’t. If her friends hadn’t interrupted us on the tower, I would’ve eaten and claimed her sweet cunt under the sky and stars.

“How nice to see you here,” I say.