Hallway, and it seared my skin. When you get to the end of the hallway, take a left. There's a really long hallway. Walk until you can't go anymore, take another left, and you'll be there." He knocked on his door. "Resident rooms have purple, guest doors are green. Those directions were so much easier to follow than the ones Amber had given me. "Thank you." I slid past Callum into the bedroom and collected the cleaning materials, but when I turned he was standing squarely in the doorframe. His teasing smirk had found its way back to his face. "You never told me your name. "Briala," I shot out, embarrassed that I hadn't started there. The fire in Callum's eyes came back full force. "Briala. I'm gonna remember that." ****** The following hours were uneventful. I'd managed to get a handle on the house thanks
stronger than his cologne, was the temperature. He wasn't just hot in the figurative sense, he was literally hot. He tilted his head to one side, a stray black curl falling in front of those piercing eyes. "Are you sure that's the reason you're here?" He placed an arm on the doorframe above me and leaned down until he was inches away from me. "Sure you didn't come here for something more, beautiful?" A shock of heat spread through my center as I tried to get my brain to form some kind of intelligent response. My gut reaction was to tell him I did want something more. It was a thought that didn't feel like my own. I wasn't that kind of girl, but no one as beautiful as the man in front of me had so much as held a door open for me let alone backed me against a door and asked me if I wanted more. I bit down on my tongue to keep myself from getting swept up in the moment. "Um, it's my first time in a castle. I think I mixed up my stairs." Somehow, the heat diminished from a raging storm, to smoldering embers. The pointed, hungry gaze washed from his dark eyes, leaving only confusion in its wake. He closed them for a moment and started to laugh. "Shit. You really are lost." His voice had a deep, gravelly tone to it that sent more excitement pulsing downwards. His eyes opened again as he backed away from me and I tried to ignore the pang of disappointment. He held out a hand and put on a tilted smirk. "Better properly introduce myself then. I'm Callum Bane." I wanted to crawl inside a hole and die. I'd acted like an idiot in front of the Callum Bane. Tabloid famous playboy and heir to the Bane empire. Callum Bane.
Bane's cool glare cast downwards. She looked to my feet and then back up to the top of my head. No one said a word as she did a full circle around me, including Christine, who was thumbing through her phone, looking bored. Finally, Madam Bane came to rest in front of me, and the pensive purse to her lips curved into a smile. "Darling, you are a work of art." I was certain I'd heard wrong. "What?" "That bone structure, your hips, your curvature, those legs. You're a designer's dream!" "Oh, Uh.... I-I don't think.." She snapped her fingers in the air and the assistant rushed to Madam Bane's side. "Miss Maddox will wear our featured costume. The assistant bowed his head. "Yes ma'am." Featured costume?! "Oh, no, you don't-" "Oh don't be modest. It is, after all, your first gala with us." She looked at her assistant. "Please take Miss Maddox to get ready. I didn't know how to react to the gesture, but I didn't have time as the assistant herded me towards the staircase. I dared a look back over
around mid-thigh, but it did seem to fit me much better. "You can turn around now." I said shyly, blushing already in anticipation of him opening his eyes. If I thought his eyes had a fire before, the torrent of flames that erupted inside me when he looked at me was otherworldly. It had to be the dress. He certainly wasn't looking at me that way. That would be wishful thinking. He took a few steps toward me with a satisfied grin on his face. "Much better. He circled around me. He was just checking the dress, but it felt more primal, like a predator circling its prey. I took in a breath and held it as his hands brushed against my skin, sliding the fabric down my shoulders and setting it exactly where he wanted it. His fingers curled under and started to smooth the gown just barely skating past my breasts as he flattened the dress against my chest and waistline. I let my breath out, but took it in again quickly when he crouched. His breath
