Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 30428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 152(@200wpm)___ 122(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 152(@200wpm)___ 122(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
“Four. All younger.”
“Are your parents in the picture?”
Does she realize her heart is knocking faster and faster against my side? Why is this line of questioning bothering her so much? “My mother left, but my father is still there. That’s who is watching them right now.” Under her breath, she adds, “Hopefully.”
“This is why you work two jobs and a side hustle. You’re supporting your family.” My throat feels strange. “At just eighteen.”
“Mmm.”
“You’ve been doing it a lot longer than that, though, haven’t you?”
“I love them,” she says simply.
“What can I do, Meg? Would you like to bring them here?”
Those hazel eyes are astonished when she turns them on me. “What?”
“You heard me.”
“I…no. No, I wouldn’t bring that chaos to your doorstep. Plus, I think they would just be confused. After all…”
“After all, what?”
“Even I still don’t know very much about you.”
My shields are rising, but I fight to keep them down. Some of them, at least. I’m gratified that Meg wants to know more about me. Surely that’s normal. Two people entering a relationship with one another would exchange information, wouldn’t they? “Is there something specific you want to know?”
Her index finger starts drawing lazy circles in the valley between my pecs and my God, if she knew what that minor touch was doing to my cock, she’d run for the exit.
Or maybe not.
She loved having my tongue between her legs.
Nearly gave my whiplash when she came, her long, lithe thighs were so tight around my head, her pussy dripping everywhere. She wasn’t shy about spreading her legs for my mouth, maybe she’ll do the same for my dick.
Don’t be greedy. You’re lucky to simply be holding her. Speaking to her.
“Um.” Her tone is shy, and I must be sicker than I realized, because that only serves to make me hornier. “Do you have…family?”
Thankfully, the shield guarding my personal life is up. Saying these words out loud can’t hurt me. “No. I have no family. My parents owed a debt to a powerful woman when I was young. I was given to her as payment. She trained me to work for her.”
“Koen,” Meg chokes out. “I’m sorry.”
Her sympathy kicks at my shield, leaving a dent. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Meg,” I rasp, in desperation. “Can you…ask me about something else?”
My eyes slide closed when she begins those lazy finger circles again. “What sort of work did she train you to do?”
I shake my head. “This was a mistake.” She recoils as if I’ve slapped her, quickly drawing her hand away and I realize she misinterpreted my statement to mean she is the mistake. Being with her. As if that could ever be true. Panicked, I grab her wrist and bring her fingertips back to my body. “The questions, Meg. I meant allowing you to ask me questions was a mistake.” Possessiveness snaps in my blood, disturbed by even a hint of her withdrawal.” You assume my mind could change when it comes to you? I promise you, it won’t. I am murderously serious about you. Please don’t stop touching me.”
I don’t relax until she resumes the gentle circles.
But she doesn’t speak again.
I’ve shut her down and the longer the silence stretches, the emptier I feel.
“Meg.” Am I actually going to say this out loud? To the girl I want to stay with me forever of her own free will? “My job is unusual.”
“You’re talking to someone who makes paper airplanes for cash.”
An odd sound leaves me, almost like a strained laugh, but nothing about standing on this precipice is funny. “What I do is…Meg, I don’t know what to say.”
“Koen.” She raises her head to look at me, scared but brave. “I already kind of pieced together that what you do is, um…illegal.”
My lungs aren’t working. Is she going to run? “That’s putting it mildly.”
Visibly deep in thought, she wets her lips. “Drugs?”
“No, baby.”
“You don’t traffic people.”
“No, Meg. God, no.” I take the heaviest breath of my life and make sure my arm is around her as securely as possible, in case she bolts. This is the moment I realize…I wouldn’t let her leave, if she tried. Jesus, I’m in very deep. “But I’ve killed a few men who do.” My swallow is heavy. “I’ve killed a lot of men, Meg.”
Her back stiffens and she blinks several times, tears swimming in her eyes. “I think maybe I already knew,” she whispers, barely audible.
“I’ve stopped.” I remember the man’s neck I snapped last night. “Mostly.”
There’s a long pause. “Why did you stop?”
“I can’t talk about that,” I say quickly. I don’t have shield for this. I haven’t had time to develop one. There’s nothing but a gaping wound and thinking about what happened on my last assignment only pours more and more salt into the injury. “Okay?”
She’s disappointed, even though she’s nodding.