with a soft, expensive friction

sliced into the dim, shadowy interior of the priv

ils contract

ng embrace. Cooper had her pinned against the backrest, his hand firm

e door handle b

uptly. She scrambled backward, puttin

ng the collar of her silk blouse and smo

nd, tears pooled in her large eyes, making them

trembling with a perfectly executed sob

r flushed cheek. She grabbed her Birkin bag from the floor,

ing woman's expression shifted. Where Cooper couldn't se

leaving the door wi

gernails digging so deeply into her palms that the skin threatened to brea

oad shoulders blocking the dim light. He reached up, his long

at Claire, his dark eyes were d

g legs closed the distance bet

s on the carpet sounded like a pen

rom his body and the smell of Kendall's expensive perfume on hi

fingers gripped Claire's chin firmly

her jaw, but sh

streaked face. Pure, unadulterate

low, vibrating hum of malice in his chest. "Fo

t she refused to meet his eyes. Instead,

the steady, powerful rise and fall of his chest c

t was beating perfectl

slipped past Claire's lips. The tension in

sion of relief triggered

pulled a crisp white linen handkerchief from his pocket

s marriage is nothing but a transaction my grandfather forced down my thr

taste of blood in her mouth. S

" she said, her voice completely flat, devo

rous shade of purple. The mention of his medical condition-

rchief he had just used

Claire's face. The linen hit h

ning," Cooper said, his voice dropping to a dead

oulder hitting hers hard e

room. Through the open door, the faint sounds of Co