Entangled in the Night: Unable to Escape Him-Chapter 196: So Naughty, You Deserve Punishment
Lucy Rhodes had never realized just how shameless Caden Sinclair could be; if she’d known, she would never have messed with him.
Fuming, she shoved all the vegetables in her hands at Caden: "You can do it yourself! This queen doesn’t have time to babysit you."
With that, she spun on her heel and walked out of the kitchen.
She just happened to hear someone knocking at the door, so she hurried over to open it.
At a glance, she saw Nathaniel Thorne standing at the doorway.
The man was tall, broad-shouldered and lean-waisted; muscles beneath his black T-shirt practically screaming testosterone.
His work pants wrapped around two long, powerful legs.
Harsh, chiseled features were slick with beads of sweat rolling down.
Seeing Nathaniel like this, Lucy Rhodes was absolutely dazed.
This was literally the spitting image of the male lead she’d just designed for her new comic novel!
Couldn’t get any more spot-on.
Both were ex-military, both stood at six feet three.
And ridiculously handsome, to boot.
She’d originally thought about asking her brother to introduce her to some army guys, you know, source some character inspiration.
But now—it’s all right here!
Lucy Rhodes lit up, beaming from ear to ear: "Captain Thorne, can I ask you out on a date?"
Caden Sinclair nearly choked with rage when he heard that.
He tossed aside the veggies in his hands and stormed over to Lucy, yanking her straight into his arms.
Gritting his teeth, he asked, "Lucy Rhodes, do you have any idea what you’re doing?"
"None of your business! Move—I’ve got real business with Captain Thorne."
"Don’t even think about ditching me to chase some other guy."
Then, he stuck his hand out toward Nathaniel for a self-introduction: "Captain Thorne, right? I’m Caden Sinclair, Lucy Rhodes’s boyfriend."
Lucy’s jaw dropped, eyes wide: "What the hell are you talking about? Since when did you become my boyfriend?"
"If not now, then soon. I’m just exercising my rights a little early."
"Caden Sinclair, you—!"
She hadn’t finished when Caden clapped a hand over her mouth.
Leaning near her ear, the man murmured low, "Lucy Rhodes, if you keep playing the field, I’ll kiss you until you cry—right now."
"Who’s playing the field, I—"
When she kept struggling, Caden got desperate and, with Nathaniel watching, kissed Lucy Rhodes right on the lips.
Her mouth was suddenly sealed, and his tongue tangled with hers—Lucy froze, completely caught off guard.
Several seconds passed before she came back to herself.
She started pounding furiously against Caden Sinclair’s chest. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦
Finally, he let her go, his thumb brushing across her now-flushed lips, teasing: "So naughty... guess you deserve a little punishment!"
Lucy Rhodes was about to explode.
Caden freaking kissed her right in front of her dream guy.
How was she supposed to save face?
Seething, she stomped hard on Caden’s foot, gritting her teeth. "Caden Sinclair, I finally managed to get some inspiration, and you just ruined all of it!"
Caden frowned. "What inspiration?"
"Captain Thorne looks just like the main character in my next comic. I wanted to ask him out, get a feel for his personality, eyeball his muscles—but you had to come and mess things up!"
"So you actually want him to take off his shirt for you? Lucy Rhodes, you must’ve been really drunk last night. My body is way better and you didn’t even notice, but it’s cool. Tonight, when you’re sober, I’ll strip for you nice and slow, let you touch, until you’re inspired to the max."
Watching the two of them flirt, Nathaniel Thorne nodded politely at Lucy: "Sorry, it’s a rule in our team—no interviews of any kind. Miss Rhodes, you’d better stick with your boyfriend for some inspiration."
With that, he walked into the kitchen.
Lucy Rhodes stomped her foot in frustration: "Caden Sinclair, you wrecked all my precious inspiration! If I can’t launch a new comic next month, I’m coming for you!"
Caden gave a smug, crooked grin: "Military themes are touchy—could get censored any day. Don’t torture yourself. Why not try us doctors? I’ve got more stories than you can handle, plus I’ve done humanitarian work in war zones. That’ll make your plot super juicy."
Lucy Rhodes shot him a scornful look: "Want to be my main character’s model? You don’t measure up!"
"We’ll see who measures up—and we’ll know by tonight."
After dinner, Lucy Rhodes drove home. When she saw Caden Sinclair’s car following her, she floored the gas.
She was driving a million-dollar sports car, while Caden was stuck with his local hybrid—there was no way he could catch up.
Humming a little tune, she unlocked her front door, only to be grabbed from behind in a tight embrace.
She was just about to grab her baseball bat and swing, but a deep, raspy voice drifted into her ear.
"Lucy Rhodes, didn’t you want to feel abs? I’ll let you have a feel."
As he spoke, Caden took her hand and slid it right under his dress shirt.
That scorching-hot skin, the sculpted ridges of his muscles—it stunned Lucy, who’d meant to push him away.
She’d been too drunk last night, only focused on getting Caden into bed. She hadn’t noticed he was actually ripped like that.
Unable to resist, Lucy Rhodes let her hand travel down Caden Sinclair’s chest, fingers skimming heated skin, stopping only when she hit a spot too blazing to handle.
She tried to yank her hand back but Caden just gripped her wrist tighter.
The man bent his head, mouth grazing her blushing ear, voice husky: "Why run? Last night you didn’t want to let go even when you were biting me."
Only then did Lucy Rhodes snap out of it—she’d almost fallen for his tricks again.
She gave his abs a hard pinch. "You trying to seduce me?"
Caden nodded without shame: "Professional skills are a must for a qualified friends-with-benefits gig. So—tell me what kind of inspiration you want, I’ll play along. You want to touch first or kiss first, or finish and then keep touching? Whatever you say, boss."
He kept talking while undoing his shirt buttons, baring those pride-and-joy eight-pack abs.
Across those abs was a scar.
Somehow, the scar made his already sexy body even more dangerous.
Lucy Rhodes couldn’t resist, gently running her fingers over the mark, curiosity lacing her words: "Did you get this in a war zone?"
Caden gazed down at her. "Yeah. Sienna and Chloe saved my ass. Otherwise, I’d be a ghost in your bed last night."
Lucy punched him lightly: "So when you say you three share a ’life-and-death bond,’ you mean this?"
"That—and more. I’ve fought with knives for Sienna, killed plenty for Chloe. Us three spent every day cheating death out of King of Hell’s hands. That’s a kind of friendship your little pea brain can’t even imagine."
"So you don’t like Sienna, and you don’t like Chloe either?"
Caden flicked Lucy on the forehead: "Bit late to figure that out now, huh?"
Lucy pouted, nibbling her lip in regret: "Caden Sinclair, can we just pretend nothing happened?"
"Nope. You stole something from me—you gotta give it back."
"What’d I steal from you?"
Lucy stared, baffled.
All they did last night was kiss and hook up, when did she ever get a chance to steal his stuff?
Besides, she was a legit heiress—like she’d need to steal from him?
Caden flashed a naughty grin, leaned in and whispered in her ear, "You stole my tadpoles."
