Page 136 of Monstrous Urges

“I think you should be the one to hand deliver this to the Crown and Black offices.”

She tenses as she realizes what I’m saying.

“Is that…?”

I nod. “The full amount to get you out from the debt your acquisition owes Roger Fairchild.”

“Drazen—”

“You have my permission to go back to New York,” I growl quietly.

The veranda goes pin-drop silent except for the soft crashing of the waves down below.

Taylor’s brow knits. Slowly, her eyes lift to mine, looking slightly pained.

“Oh.”

“Taylor—”

“It’s…so soon,” she says, her voice empty. “I thought our arrangement was for three months.” Her throat bobs as she swallows. “It’s only been two and a half.”

I smile. “I’m releasing you early.”

She nods, her face paling a little as she looks down. Her hand extends, plucking the check from my fingers as she swallows again.

“I, um…” She keeps her eyes downcast. “I could, uh…I could also?—”

She whimpers as I grab her jaw and slam my mouth to hers in a brutal, possessive kiss.

“I think you should,” I growl.

“Stay?” she whimpers, kissing me fiercely.

“Yes,” I groan, kissing her harder before I pull back, our eyes locked. “That doesn’t have to mean physically here. You have a career and an empire in New York. But I’d like it if you stayed with me,” I hiss. “I want you to stay with me.”

“I want to stay with you, too,” she whispers quietly. Her lips curl as her damp eyes stay on mine. “So you’re not ‘releasing me early’?”

“That was a joke.”

She giggles. “Oh, you joke now?”

“It was worth a shot. Don’t expect it to happen again, ever.”

She laughs as she collapses into my arms, our lips searing together in another kiss as the waves crash against the rocks down below.

32

TAYLOR

Coming back to New York is wild. I’ve called this city home for years, but after two and a half months at Drazen’s island paradise, I feel like a tourist when I step out of the car in midtown. Then I look up at the building that houses Crown and Black.

I grin to myself. Okay. Now I’m home.

“Bitch!!”

I laugh as Fumi sprints across the main floor of the offices toward me. She squeals as she plows into me, hugging me tight as we both almost go crashing to the floor in fits of laughter.

“What the fuck!” she blurts. “You said you were coming back tomorrow!”