Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 81279 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81279 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Oh. I was so overwhelmed by tonight’s events that I didn’t even take that into account. I kind of… forgot about the whole revenge agreement.
I grab his hand and squeeze it, surprised to find it trembling. “It’s okay.”
Hazel eyes darken, and he shakes his head. “No, it’s not. We agreed I do it until the twenty-fifth, and if I fail, you can just walk away. I need to prove I can do this for you,” he chokes out in a voice that gets raspier and lower with each word. His hand squeezes mine to the point of pain, but I can’t make myself move as a sense of peace swells in my chest.
He’s worried? Afraid I will leave him? Unfathomable.
“Saint? Look at me,” I ask and shifting closer, annoyed that there’s so much space between us and that I can’t just push the stick aside. “Just because I can, doesn’t mean I will. I don’t want to. We can kill him whenever, or never. I’ll still be yours.” The words tighten my throat, because I mean them with every cell in my body.
It’s not that revenge doesn’t matter anymore, I still want to get Otto, but Saint’s affection, his need for me, has created a buffer around my heart. It soaks up the blood from the many cuts my soul has suffered and softens the jagged edges that pushed people away. He embraces me as I am, and I’m ready to always be that for him too.
He swallows, stiff as if a part of him was already dead and my touch is the only thing capable of bringing him back. Air trembles as he exhales, blinking rapidly when he looks away from me. “I just… it’s been so lonely without you. I can’t let go.”
I see all of him. Not just the powerful beast who plowed through four people to get to me, but also the man who’s been alone for twelve years, unable to connect with anyone.
Fuck it.
I scramble over the stick and hit my head on the roof, but I manage to straddle his lap. “We’ll get to Otto eventually, but you have a new job now,” I lean down to kiss him. “Making sure I’m safe, so you don’t lose me.”
It’s still quite dark, but in the glow of the lamps mounted at the front of the police station, I see the damp sheen in his eyes. He blinks it away, leans in to touch our foreheads. Then, after a moment of stillness, his arms are around me. “Really? You want me for good?” he rasps, teasing my neck with his breath.
“For good, for bad, forever.” I give him another kiss, wishing I could melt into him. “No one has ever empowered me like you. You make me feel like I matter, like I deserve revenge, like what I’ve been through wasn’t just a blip the world doesn’t care about. And not just that. You came for me after Otto took me, despite all the risk.”
Saint kisses my neck and pulls me against him even more tightly, so I can sense every tremor in his body. “I’ve never been so damn scared. Of course I came.”
I chuckle, feeling reassured by this show of vulnerability. It’s so difficult to discuss feelings without worrying about having them thrown in my face—even in therapy—but if he can tell me the truth then so can I.
“With you, I feel so cared for, so important, and I need you to know I feel the same about you. Not just because you’re stupidly handsome,” I kiss his soft lips again, “but because we’re bound in ways I could never experience with anyone else. You get me.”
Saint shivers, watching me with the softest gaze, as if he were about to get on his knees and worship me. “You get me too. You’re the only one. The One.”
The gear stick digging into my leg is nothing, because just being close to him soothes any and all discomfort. My heart is full, even though we’ve been through so much last night. Even though Otto Grass still breathes.
I’m not even a little bit sleepy anymore as I give Saint’s lips a teasing lick. It feels so good to be chosen by this amazing man. “And you’re my first and my only. My own, personal wolf.” I stroke the back of his neck, and as we lock eyes, I can’t help myself and… I grind against him.
His eyes widen, as does his smile when his hands slide down my body, to claim my butt with a firm squeeze. “I can be that and so much more. I’m offended you didn’t mention that I’m also your personal chef,” he muses as his hips move up, rubbing against my denim-clad ass.
The earlier stress and anguish are both gone from his gaze, replaced by a haze of lust.