\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nice to meet you, beautiful\u00a0<\/p>\n
Violet\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGood evening, and welcome to the Imperial Sierra.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sales associates bowed their heads in perfect unison as they spoke in chorus.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I froze on the spot, taking in the two straight rows of women standing before us. They were dressed in matching uniforms, their heads slightly lowered, each of them smiling politely.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My stomach dropped. \u201cWhat the hell\u2026\u201d I muttered under my breath.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I blinked, half\u2013convinced I was dreaming. But no, the scene didn\u2019t change. We were standing in the biggest mall in the country, and there wasn\u2019t a single customer in sight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What on earth was going on?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I slowly turned my head to the side. Hades stood there with his hands in his pockets, expression bored, and indifferent like this was just another normal evening for him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
How the hell was this fucking normal?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I leaned closer, lowering my voice so only he could hear. \u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
One eyebrow lifted, lazy, as if he genuinely didn\u2019t know what I was talking about. \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My jaw dropped. \u201cWhat do I mean? You know exactly what mean. What are we doing at the most expensive shopping mall in the country? Why are we the only ones here? And why are they-\u201d I gestured toward the staff still bowing their heads, \u201cacting like that?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He tilted his head, studying me as if I were the one behaving strangely. \u201cAre these not to your satisfaction?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
S\u2013satisfaction?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I opened my mouth, then closed it. My brain rebooted. Did he just say satisfaction? Like this was some hotel review?\u00a0<\/p>\n
No way.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My eyes widened, and I turned to stare at him, my voice coming out barely above a whisper. \u201cYou didn\u2019t\u2026book the whole mall, did you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The corner of his lips curved into that smug smirk I was quickly learning to hate. I hate even more for the way my stomach twisted every time I saw it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wouldn\u2019t\u2026\u201d I stopped myself, remembering exactly who I was talking to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Right. Hades. How could I forget just how utterly insane this man was?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I pressed a hand to my temple. What have I gotten myself into?\u00a0<\/p>\n
How could he book an entire shopping mall? Just how rich was he? Did he even realize how much they made in a single day? Even renting it for one night would cost million. She would know, she had once applied to work here, only to be turned down because they only hired full\u2013time staff, and she was still in school.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sales associates here often bragged about the kind of money they earned. Just knowing how much people spent in this place was shocking enough. So why was he doing all this for a one\u2013night stand? And why, against all logic, was I letting him?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even in the car, I wasn\u2019t thinking. My body was moving ones own, clinging to him like I had no control. I couldn\u2019t\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
ace to ineet you her\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
believe I\u2019d agreed to this madness, worse, that I was on his ap, pressed against him like I needed it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What terrified me most wasn\u2019t him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was changing, and that was the surprising part. He wasn\u2019ny type. Well, in appearance, he was everyone\u2019s type. But I\u2019d always gone for sweet, gentle men.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So why the hell did my body react the way it did whenever ades said things no sane, normal man would ever say?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018You have no idea how much you turn me on when you\u2019re mad at me, Princess.\u2018\u00a0<\/p>\n
I should have hit him, no, I should hit him. But instead, my skin prickled at the memory. A chill raced down my spine, coiling low in my stomach until I wanted to squirm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fuck.\u00a0<\/p>\n
How could someone be this insane, and this impossibly hot at the same time?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I shook my head firmly, trying to push back the ridiculousness of it all. I wasn\u2019t Cinderella. This wasn\u2019t some fairytale, and I sure as hell wasn\u2019t about to let some overbearing rich man spoil me like I was the lead in one of those romance movies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned to him, forcing my voice to stay calm. \u201cThis is too much. There are other stores we can go to. There\u2019s a small one across the street, let\u2019s go there instead.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hades didn\u2019t even glance at the mall around us. Instead, his blue eyes dropped to me. Before I could react, he moved, his hands catching my waist and turning me so I was facing him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I blinked up at him, caught completely off guard. What the hell is he doing, and in public, no less?\u00a0<\/p>\n
He leaned down, his mouth dangerously close to my ear, his voice low enough that only I could hear. \u201cWhat happened? Did something or someone offend you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I frowned. \u201cWhat-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His eyes darkened, his fingers tightening just slightly at my waist. \u201cWant me to get rid of them?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sales associates, standing in their perfect little line, visibly flinched at his words, as if they were the targets of his threat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I just stared at him, baffled. How the hell did he come to that conclusion?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I opened my mouth to say something when a voice echoed through the mall.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re still as strong\u2013headed as before, Hades.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My head snapped toward the sound.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Walking toward us with the confidence of someone who knew exactly how much attention she drew was a woman. A very attractive woman.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her outfit was simple, a crisp white shirt tucked into a shop black skirt, but the way she wore it made it look like it belonged on a runway. Her hair was short, styled in that zy kind of way that only made her look more stunning. And her amused smile made the whole damn roo pause.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My eyes widened before I could stop myself. \u201cWoah\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was beautiful, tall, and sexy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nice to meet you beatitud\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
Beside me, Hades chuckled, that deep, unbothered sound that always seemed to carry smugness in it. He turned slowly, tilting his head at her, a grin tugging at his lips. \u201cHow long has it been? You haven\u2019t changed much either.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The woman laughed lightly, shaking her head. Her eyes, however, shifted to me almost immediately, curious, and assessing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She smiled.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the first time you\u2019ve ever brought a woman here,\u201d she said, sounding delighted, as if she\u2019d just stumbled across something amusingly rare.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before I could answer, she closed the space between us in a few easy strides. My pulse quickened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She reached for my hand, lifted it to her lips, and pressed a soft kiss against the back, her eyes never leaving mine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNice to meet you, beautiful,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m Sierra.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
D\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nights Burn With Regret \u2014 by Nathan Perez 47 \u00a0 Nice to meet you, beautiful\u00a0 Violet\u00a0 \u201cGood evening, and welcome […]<\/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":[83],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-craving-the-guardian-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27963","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=27963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27963\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}