Chapter 23\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 23\u00a0<\/p>\n
DYLAN\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u0e1c\u0e25\u00a0<\/p>\n
94\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t manage to respond. Before I could even gather my thoughts, he closed the distance and claimed my lips with his.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His mouth moved against mine with a hunger that stole the air from my lungs. One of his hands cupped the back of my head, threading into my hair as he deepened the kiss. The other arm wrapped tightly around my waist, pulling me flush against his body until there was no space left between us\u2013only heat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I gasped against his mouth, and he used that moment to explore deeper, tasting me like he was memorizing every curve of my lips. My hands, once frozen in shock, now clung to his shirt, fisting the soft fabric as if it was the only thing keeping me upright.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Everything else disappeared\u2013the news, the world, Beckett, even the breath of reason that had tried to keep me grounded. All that existed was him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hunter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This man I barely knew\u2026 and yet, in this moment, it felt like he\u2019d known every piece of me all along.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A soft moan escaped me before I could stop it, and I felt him tense\u2013like he was fighting some invisible restraint. He broke the kiss for just a second, resting his forehead against mine, his breathing ragged.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t going to do that,\u201d he murmured, his voice low and rough with emotion. \u201cBut you make it impossible to stay away.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was speechless, my lips still tingling from the taste of him, from the hunger buried just beneath his calm exterior.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHunter\u2026\u201d I whispered, unsure of what I was asking for. Space? More? I didn\u2019t know. My heart and mind were at war, and I was losing on both fronts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His thumb gently grazed my lower lip, his touch softer this time, almost reverent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me to stop,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I couldn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because stopping felt far more dangerous than letting myself fall just a little bit deeper into whatever this was.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I remained silent, he took my silence as permission. And before I could even catch my breath, he leaned in again, his lips barely a breath away from mine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But then, the phone rang.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It pierced the air like a cold splash of water\u2013but Hunter didn\u2019t even flinch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His eyes, locked onto mine, burned with something far deeper than desire. And with a soft growl of\u00a0<\/p>\n
10:30 Thu, Dec 25 M\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 23\u00a0<\/p>\n
:\u00a0<\/p>\n
94\u00a0<\/p>\n
frustration, he closed the distance, crashing his lips onto mine in a kiss that felt like a storm finally breaking loose.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This time, there was nothing soft or questioning about it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His mouth moved over mine with heated urgency, and I responded in kind, completely powerless against the tidal wave of emotion rolling between us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The ringing of the phone faded into the background, replaced by the pounding of my heartbeat and the fire building low in my belly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite the fire, the burning desire wrapping around us like a blanket, I couldn\u2019t help but be bothered by the phone ringing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cW\u2013Wait\u2026\u201d I said as I tried to move my lips away from him as he wouldn\u2019t stop kissing me. \u201cIt must be important,\u201d I insisted while gently pressing my hands on his chest to stop him from kissing me again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhoever that is\u2026\u201d he growled low, his voice edged with heat and frustration, \u201cI\u2019m going to kill him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I let out a shaky laugh, my hands still clutching the fabric of his shirt. \u201cYou don\u2019t mean that, do you?\u201d I asked, trying to catch my breath.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But he remained silent as he looked at me intensely. The smile on my face slowly vanished. He\u2019s not capable of killing anyone\u2026or is he?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to check what it is all about,\u201d he replied, completely avoiding my question.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hunter reached for the phone on the table, his eyes never leaving mine. He pressed a button, and the call connected through the speaker.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is it?\u201d he said, his voice steady and composed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSir,\u201d a voice responded from the other end\u2013it was the receptionist from the lobby. \u201cThe man from earlier, the one security escorted out? He\u2019s back. He\u2019s demanding to see Miss Dylan. He\u2019s refusing to leave.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I froze. My fingers tightened around his shirt, my chest rising and falling with sharp breaths.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Beckett.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hunter\u2019s jaw clenched, and the calm in his expression shifted like ice beginning to crack. \u201cIs security handling\u00a0<\/p>\n
it?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying, sir. But he\u2019s\u2026 insistent. And loud.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hunter let out a slow breath, the kind that sounded like he was trying very hard to stay calm. He closed his eyes for a beat, and when he opened them again, the softness in them had vanished.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was all steel and fire now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTell him she\u2019s not coming down,\u201d he said coldly. \u201cAnd if he doesn\u2019t leave in the <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Alchemist of Broken Dreams by Sienna Rose Blackwell 23 Chapter 23\u00a0 Chapter 23\u00a0 DYLAN\u00a0 \u0e1c\u0e25\u00a0 94\u00a0 I didn\u2019t manage […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-alphas-golden-cage-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24374\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}