for him was much more than desire.
It was hard for her to keep back the three words that wanted to slip free, to watch him smile down at her with the same look that she knew was mirrored in her own face. Every smile and kiss had her heart fluttering and her body humming, and he seemed to know it.
When she slept, she had the weirdest, most surreal dreams. It was of her and Talon, in many different places. In stables, in a castle, in a pasture, living out their days and making love each time. But in each dream, something happened. Either he would die before her eyes, or she would wake up screaming with the image of his agonized face haunting her.
She assumed it was because she died.
And even though she was so sure that he was dead, or he had left her, she always woke to him kissing the tears from her face, wrapping her in his arms, and telling her that everything will be alright.
Jamie had managed to convince him to take them out, and while he was talking to Vladimir outside in the hall, she was getting dressed in her best outfit. She’d blow-dried her hair and curled it with a curling iron that Jessica had let her. All too happy to help with what she thought was a date, Jessica had even brought in new clothes for her, along with make-up. Everything had been left at the hotel, and she wasn’t missing any of it.
Smiling, she looked at herself in the mirror. It wasn’t hard to gauge whether Talon would like how she looked. Lately, he’s seen her in everything...and nothing. Her cheeks heated.
Because of her dark hair and pale eyes, Jamie had given her a smoke eyeliner color and dark mascara. Besides some eye shadow, she didn’t need much besides that. Her legs were covered in black skinny jeans, gray heels, and a white flowing shirt that reached midway to her butt. It was a decidedly elegant and classy look for her, and with her hair around her shoulders and down her back, Jamie even though she looked good.
As weird as it was, she was nervous. Talon and Lucian had been talking in the hall for a long time, and she had no clue about what. With her heart in her throat, she looked at Jessica who gave a little grin. Despite how much the woman talked, she had become a.... friend of sorts. Much like she had with Jessica, she was warming up to Vladimir.
He gave off a snotty, absorbed attitude and loved to flaunt how gay he was, but she knew that he wasn’t as bad as he seemed. And now that Devlin was gone, he was much more happier.
Vladimir had been explaining important people in the building and who to watch out for, and despite the immense hate he held for her, he had explained who Devlin was. By the time he was done, they had rounded the corner and there she was.
Crying.
And cursing.
Vladimir, instead of feeling pity for her, had straight-up laughed in her face. Jamie had been horrified, but had looked the other way when the redhead stormed past them, jostling her shoulder and calling her a “bitch” under her breath.
Any sympathy that Jamie might have felt for the woman fled in an instant. Talon, coming back to her later that night, had looked tense and it had only taken a couple of soft touches to soothe him. She smiled as she remembered the way he had practically worshipped her body afterwards.
Now, though, as she fixed a wayward strand of hair and stood before the large mirror in the bathroom, her nerves were about to burst.
“Don’t worry! You look so pretty, I’m sure he won’t think of anything except getting you out of those clothes –“
Jamie groaned, reaching up to smudge the eyeliner better. “That’s not what I want, though.”
“Well, either way, you look amazing! And the clothes are on the company, so don’t worry about them getting shredded and torn up,” Jessica said casually, acting like her comment was completely normal. Jamie’s face heated.
“They won’t get torn up,” she said defensively, not completely truthful.
“Yeah, right. My cousin Jamil said the same thing when she met her boyfriend? And you want to know what happened to those clothes?” Even though Jamie was shaking her head, Jessica still talked. “They found them outside of their windows. Torn up. Like an animal had ripped them from her body. But it