Chapter 4

Eden’s POV

What the fuck just happened?

I stood in the master cabin of my yacht, chest rising and falling hard, wearing nothing but my shorts, the taste of Asia still lingering on my lips like something addictive I hadn’t gotten enough of.

The room still felt charged.

The sheets were twisted beneath me, the faint imprint of her body still there,small, soft, anything but fragile. 

Fire wrapped in silk that’s what she was.

Her fingers had been tangled in my hair moments ago, pulling,urging me closer,her body had arched into mine like she needed this just as much as I did.

One more minute.

That’s all it would have taken.

One more minute and I would’ve been buried deep inside her, consequences be damned.

Then her phone rang.

The third interruption tonight.

I cursed under my breath and pulled away, dragging a hand through my hair as I reached for my phone. I barely even registered the call, my mind still half on her, on the way she had looked beneath me.

When I dropped my phone, the silence hit me first.

It was too quiet.

Too still.

The kind of silence that didn’t belong in a room that had just been filled with heat and breath and tension.

My brows pulled together.

“Asia?”

No answer.

I exhaled sharply,irritation creeping in. “Don’t start playing games now.”

Still nothing.

That uneasy feeling settled low in my gut, sharp and immediate.

I pushed off the bed and strode toward the bathroom across the room, each step heavier than the last.

I knocked once.

“Little kitten?”

Silence.

My jaw tightened.

I tried the handle.

Locked.

Something cold slid down my spine.

I didn’t hesitate.

I slammed my shoulder into the door.

The wood cracked under the force,the lock giving way as the door burst open.

Empty.

For a second, my brain refused to process it.

Empty.

“No,”I muttered under my breath,stepping inside.

The air was cooler in here, the faint scent of her still lingering,but fading.The sink was slightly wet,a few droplets scattered like she’d been in a hurry.

Then I saw it.

The window above the sink.

Wide open.

Curtains shifting slightly as the night air poured in.

A torn piece of fabric clung to the frame, fluttering weakly in the breeze.

Her blouse.

Something in my chest snapped.

I stepped forward quickly and grabbed it, the soft material tearing free into my hand.

“She didn’t…” I leaned out the window, scanning the dock below.

Nothing.

Just moonlight stretching across the water and shadows that gave nothing away.

My grip tightened around the fabric.

She jumped.

A raw,disbelieving laugh ripped out of me, low and edged with something far darker than amusement.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

From this height.

That small body.

And she still chose to jump, just to get away from?

My temper snapped like a live wire.

No woman had ever run from me.

Not like this.

Not after that.

Not after the way she had kissed me,like she was starving,like she wanted more, like she couldn’t get enough.

Not after the way she melted under my hands.

And yet,she was gone.

Vanished into the Paris night like she’d never been here at all.

“Fuck.”

I turned sharply,already moving, adrenaline kicking in.

I yanked on my shirt,not even bothering to button it properly,then my pants,my movements was rough and impatient.

I stormed out onto the deck,the cool air hitting my skin,doing nothing to calm the heat still burning through me.

The captain and two crew members looked up immediately,startled by the force of my presence.

“Search the marina,”My voice low,sharp, leaving no room for hesitation.

They froze for half a second too long.

My gaze snapped to them.

“Now.”

That did it.

They scrambled into motion.

“Small woman,”I continued,already pacing. “Around five feet,dark hair,dark cat eyes, black dress torn at the side.”

My jaw clenched.

“She couldn’t have gone far.”

But even as I said it, I knew better.

She was fast.

I’d seen it earlier,when she slipped through the hotel lobby crowd like she belonged nowhere and everywhere at the same time.

And she was desperate.

People did reckless things when they were desperate.

Like jumping out of a damn window.

I ran a hand down my face,exhaling sharply as I tried to steady the storm building inside me.

The piece of her blouse was still in my hand.

I hadn’t even realized I brought it with me.

My fingers tightened around it unconsciously.

Her scent lingered.

Faint,fading.

Mocking me.

Who the hell was she?

Asia.

Just Asia

Just a sharp tongue,a body that fit mine like it was made for it,and eyes that carried too much weight for someone who looked that small.

She kissed a stranger in public just to escape humiliation.

Played my fiancée so convincingly,Monroe almost lost his mind.

She let me touch her.

Let me taste her.

Let me get this close,and then ran like I was the worst thing that could happen to her.

My molars grind hard against each one.

Part of me, the more impulsive part wanted to hunt her down, drag her back here,and finish exactly what we started.

But the other part…

The colder part.

The one that built empires and crushed men twice my size without blinking,that part wanted answers.

Why run?

What scared her that badly?

Because it wasn’t me.

It couldn’t be.

I stared out at the water,the city lights flickering in the distance.

“I was about to give you everything,” I muttered under my breath.

Two days.

That’s all I asked for.

Anything she wanted.

And she chose to jump out of a window instead.

A slow, dangerous smile pulled at my lips.

Interesting.

Very interesting.

She had no idea who she just walked away from.

I was Eden Gregory.

Men bent under pressure I applied without effort.

Women didn’t run from me,they chased me.

And this girl…

This reckless, stubborn, infuriating girl…

Had just turned her back on me like I was nothing.

I crushed the fabric in my fist.

“You ran once, little kitten,” I said quietly, my voice carried off by the wind.

A promise.

“But I always find what’s mine.”

My phone buzzed in my hand.

I glanced down at the screen, irritation still simmering under my skin.

A message from one of my men.

I opened it.

“Boss, she’s already at the airport.”

My expression went still.

Completely still.

Then my nostrils flared slightly as something sharper, more focused settled in.

“She wants to leave Paris?”