Sparks

," Kyle repeated, hi

ngs for me. I'll deal with Donovan.

raw with pain. "No, Kyle. It's

the muddy c

dn't bear to reopen-a truth

novan's furious face and Kyle'

was looking forward to

an impromptu staff dinner tonight at the R

embers-only establishment known for it

on, a cold dread, s

ushed my luck with Donovan; I coul

the Royal Club, the opulent decor a st

maze of dimly lit corridors, finally st

I stepped into a lavi

knocked out

miliar faces-but none of th

s-the same people who had c

long table, regal and c

r me briefly before returning to the conversatio

otelier and one of Donovan's clo

... unfortunate incident with Ms. Cabrera's earrings. You

s thin, edge

on strings, forced to d

n my cheeks, but I c

le existence, hu

ured for

chair was right

ainst my ribs, a fra

ced myself to move,

f champagne, my han

r any inconvenience, Mr. Gordon, Ms. Cabre

glass. "I'll

bly liquid in one gulp, the

thrown me out of the hospital room y

llion dollars. One glass doesn't cut it, Hazel. We're talki

ssion unreadable, a slight tw

usement seemed to f

a hand, stopp

, "let's make it thirty glasses of something stronger. Thirty

a chilling triu

of bitter liquor and

ry liquid searing a hole in my che

room tilting preca

ng into a hazy abyss

a voice, thick and muffled

with her some more, Donovan? Send her up to one

gh was cold a

s," he drawled, his voice slurred wi

her upstairs. The room

o take your anger ou

consume

how long I s

s, floating back to a time when his

apartment, his arms wr

ache in my side-a lingering

y face. "Still hurting?" he ask

a traditional Chinese doctor, fu

tter-a vile concoction tha

pressing a sweet candied plum into my mouth,

complained, my tongue stil

ft, tender smile th

ips finding mine in

his kiss, bloomed on my tongue, mingling with

intox

htly, his eyes spar

voice a low, seductive whisper

how you sweeten up all your girlfriend

ound that vibrated in his ches

e bed beneat

red, replaced by

er tender-they were fie

ungry, savage assault that th

d struggling to piece to

him.

he sweet, loving

m-wild, untamed

t instinctively, a small

a subconscious plea-a desperat

flutte

, our faces inches apar

d with raw, des

he alcohol, but one undeniable

hispered, the words escapi

d, a guttural so

emotion. "Then why, Hazel? Wh

burning into mine, d

nfession hovering on

ost broke years of silen

insistent ring p

n the beds

looked

ed in the darkness

Bec

t me like a buc

duced haze cle

Here

ted lies, all my sacrific

the suffocating closeness of Donovan, the

arms, shoving me back

ed, his voice ragged with fury. "You'

eyes bored into mine

d away, unable

l out, but the fear-the years of gu

whispered, the lie leaving

n, desolate sound, tear

that desperate for him? That

ling disbelief, a fresh wave

that bastard have that I don't? Wha

aw plea-a desperate

ut, "to think there was ever an