Descent (Black Heart Romance)

“Can I ask you something?” I ask softly, knowing there’s a good chance I’ll piss him off if I do.

“Of course.”

I lick my dry lips, then take a drink of the wine that remains in my glass. That’s not what I needed, so I quickly take a sip of water, then bring my focus back to Calvin, patiently awaiting my question. “You seem angry at your father for… stealing your mother’s life, essentially. For imprisoning her—that’s the word you used.”

He nods, following me so far.

My heart beats a little faster. I know I’m walking a potentially dangerous line. “But aren’t you willing to do the same thing to me?” His whole face freezes. His eyes widen slightly as if he can’t quite believe my gall, then go cold in a way that sends a chill straight down my spine. Scrambling for purchase on this increasingly slippery slope, I stammer, “I—I mean, you said that you would kidnap me and lock me up in your bedroom until you’re finished with me. You said you’d destroy me if I didn’t give you what you wanted—”

His chair scrapes the floor as he stands and shoves it back.

I suck in a breath and push back in mine, instinctively trying to put distance between us when I don’t have time to stand and run.

Calvin stops and glowers down at me. A glower should be hot, but his is ice cold.

I try to look away from him.

I gasp as he roughly grabs my jaw and forces me to look up at him.

I’ve never felt so breakable in all my life. I can feel fear glistening in my eyes as I look up into his cold ones.

“Never compare me to my father, Hallie.”

I want to pry his steel grip off my face, but I don’t want to fight him. I don’t want to engage in a battle I know I’ll lose.

Instead, I swallow down my just defense and nod my head ever so slightly.

At my submission, his grip eases but doesn’t leave my face. The brute forcefulness melts away to leave room for something closer to tenderness. He cups my jaw in his hand, then strokes my skin with his fingers. A reward, perhaps. A bit of gentleness and wordless praise for being such a good girl after I flirted with being such a bad one.

Some kind of sickness must be rooted deep inside me because it feels like heaven, especially moments after he felt so cold and angry. The warmth of his approval washes over me and spreads through me. I close my eyes and, for just a second, let myself lean into his strong touch.

He only lets me have my reward for a second, then he withdraws his hand and leaves me feeling a bit bereft.

He doesn’t leave me that way for long, though.

He offers his hand. “We’re finished with dessert.”

I’m not. I still have a bit left, and it’s so good I hate to leave it unfinished, but he knows that. He wants to see if I’ll argue.

I take his hand, but regard him uncertainly as I push up from my seat and stand in front of him.

“Are we leaving?” I ask.

He shakes his head, then glances at the illuminated temple. “Might as well explore the inside while we have it to ourselves.”

I can’t argue with that. Like the tomb we walked through on the way here, I’ve only seen the temple with a group of strangers crowded around me. It will be nice to be the only two, so I won’t feel rushed. If I want to spend a few extra minutes looking, I won’t feel the guilt of making other people wait, or being in anybody’s way.

Calvin is the only person I can get in the way of, and something tells me he is less interested in the actual temple than I am.

Something else whispers that perhaps I should be wary of his interest to get me alone, but that’s ridiculous. We aren’t in the dungeon of some New York sex club. We’re at the Temple of Dendur in The Metropolitan Museum of Art for God’s sake. It’s not like he can pounce on me here.

Meeting his gaze, I could swear he can read my thoughts and his dark eyes gleam with the promise of trouble.

Are you sure about that?

But of course I’m sure.

He may be an absolute rogue, but he must know there are some rules that simply can’t be broken.

Chapter Nineteen

Hallie

The temple isn’t enormous, but it is impressive. It was built thousands of years ago on the banks of the Nile River in Egypt and now it’s here, in this beautiful, custom built exhibit in New York City.

And for tonight, it’s all ours.

Calvin’s hand startles me when it touches the small of my back, but I’ve stopped in front of the temple and he’s only urging me forward.