Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
“Exactly. Someone hurt you. That is more than enough to kill them, Emelia. Plus, they had priors. It is what it is.”
“No! You didn’t just do that because it is what it is, Nico!” She starts to bring back up the fight from the other night, but this time, something in me goes along with it.
“And you didn’t come here just for nothing. You wanted attention, and you fucking got it! So what do you need, Emelia?” I yell back.
“Why am I such a burden to you, and why do you fucking hate me so much that you’d rather avoid me than ever come home and attempt to get to know me? Is it someone else? Are you sleeping with the women here? Are they who you think about when you’re with me at night?” Her words pour out one after the other with what feels like no breath between.
“Because you are getting under my fucking skin, Emelia!” It finally comes out, and we sit there quietly, nothing but our angered breathing filling the room.
“I what?” she finally prompts.
I turn and face the club, watching people come back in. Rubbing my lips together, I place my hands on my hips and debate what to say next, because even I don’t understand this softness that is forming around her for me.
“You make me want to know you, Emelia. Just like you said the other night. You make me want to have something here, and ever since that happened, I’ve been fucked in the head. My business dealings are getting all fucked up, and I blame you.”
“Why would you blame me?” She sounds wounded, and when I turn and look at her, I hate what I see. She’s so goddamn breathtaking, but she looks like she’s been hurt far past repairing.
“Because you’re making something in me… soft. You drive me mad, but you test me in a way I fucking crave.” I claw at my chest before punching my heart.
“No! Please don’t hurt yourself,” she cries, rushing to me.“Nico…” She caresses my face, and I lean into that feminine, caring touch only she can give me.
“You make me mad, Emelia. You make me want to do things—”
“You make me just as mad, Nico. You are so closed off, and cold, and I just want something from you. Even if it’s just your friendship.”
I stop and grab her wrists hard, bring them around my neck, and smash our bodies to one another. A gush of air leaves her mouth as we slam into a violent kiss, and I catch her hair in my hands, tugging her head back so I have her at the perfect angle.
“We could never be just fucking friends. You awaken too much in me. You make something warm spark through the coldness inside me.”
Her face softens.“You don’t know me. We don’t know each other.”
“I want to fucking start. That’s all that matters, baby.” I admit things I would never admit to any other person. But Emelia isn't just anyone else anymore, and I curse myself for this. She’s the closest I’ve ever let anyone other than my parents get to my darkness.
“Give me something then. Make me believe it.”
“What do you want? My fucking heart? I will rip it out my fucking chest and give it to you. I will give you ownership of me.”
“That’s a start. But I need more.” How long has she been craving this softness from me?
“You saw what I’m willing to do for you, Emelia. I would kill for you.”
“But could you love me?”
“I couldn’t love. Love isn’t enough. If I can't have something untouchable and unmatched, then I want nothing at all.”
Her breath hitches.
“Can you give me that?” I counter.
“We both have to try.”
I grasp her chin with my free hand and run my thumb across her plump red lips.
“You're a mess.”
“The mess that you want,” she responds, reaching up to try to take my lips in a kiss, but I stop her.
“You did something bad tonight, Emelia. You need to tell me what your plans were and why you misbehaved.”
“I wanted you to hurt.”
“Really?” I lean in and bite her lip, and she cries out.
“Yes, I thought you were cheating or trying to make me feel like you really didn’t want me around.”
“I didn’t,” I admit. “I didn’t want you around, because you were making me feel things I didn’t want to feel.”
“And the women?” Her eyes drop.
“Emelia,” I warn.
“Please,” she pleads.
“Stand against the window, legs apart, hands flat against the glass.”
Her eyes fly back to mine.“But I need—”
I put my thumb to her lips again to shush her.
“I will answer you. Show you. Now do what I said.”
Nodding, she steps back as I release her, and I watch her ass sway as she moves to the window.“Can they see me?”
“No.”
“Could they if I wanted them to?” She looks over her shoulder at me.