Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 27474 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 137(@200wpm)___ 110(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27474 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 137(@200wpm)___ 110(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
“If anything ever happened to you…” He dips his head, as if hiding the pain that uttering those words brings him. “I don’t know what I’d do.”
“Stop.” I squeeze his hand in reproach, despite a shiver going through me at the thought of the unknown tearing us apart. “We’re here, together. We can’t control what happens in the future, but we can hold on to what we have now.”
He lets out a long-awaited breath, as if the moment gave him permission to let go of the fear.
“God, you’re amazing.” He tugs me out of my seat and onto his lap. “You’ve been through hell,” he whispers, nuzzling my neck, “but you’ve still got so much compassion in your soul.”
“I thought you were punishing me.”
He scoffs. “As if I can keep my hands to myself when you’re wearing this poor excuse of a robe.” As he parts the material, exposing my bare breasts, one errant finger grazing a nipple, I let my eyes drift shut.
“Does this mean you’re not mad at me anymore?”
“I was never mad at you. I just don’t like being kept in the dark.”
“I don’t want to keep you in the dark, but I don’t have a choice.”
“At least tell me one thing, so I don’t go out of my fucking mind. Can you do that for me?”
“I can try.”
“This condition of his…” With a heavy pause, he studies my expression. “Is it going to hurt you?”
My breath hitches. “Not in the way you’re thinking.”
“What is he holding over you?”
“It doesn’t matter.” I inch away, my cheeks burning under his scrutiny. “I won’t change my mind. Losing you is not an option.”
“I don’t know how you expect me to take you back tonight with this secret between us.”
“Don’t let it get in the way.” I press a finger to his mouth. “If you do, you’re punishing us both.”
“We’ll shelve it…for today.” He stands and lifts me in his arms, urging my legs around his waist. “Breakfast can wait, too.”
Then his mouth is moving against mine, his kiss demanding everything I can give him as he strides toward the bedroom.
5
By the time Sebastian drives me back to our circular prison, the temperature is twenty degrees chillier than it was at the start of the weekend. It’s so cold, in fact, that my skin is still cool to the touch thirty minutes later.
“Are you looking forward to the trip?”
Tatum’s voice jolts me to awareness, and I look around the dinner table, realizing I’ve been lost in my head since the first course was served. But God, it’s surreal to be back here, seated among all twelve members of the Brotherhood.
The last time we all shared a meal in this room, I was under the command of Miles, grudgingly accepting the key to his chastity—the key that has since disappeared from my jewelry box.
“Novalee?” Tatum prompts upon my contemplative silence.
“Sorry,” I say, shaking the fog from my brain and trying to recall what he asked me just seconds ago. “Can you repeat the question?”
Tatum gives me a sympathetic smile. “Are you looking forward to the trip?”
“The trip?”
He arches a brow. “The fashion show in Los Angeles?”
“Oh!” A sheepish flush spreads over my cheeks. “Right, the trip. Yes, very much so.”
“I can’t wait to see you in your element. I’ve heard nothing but high praise for your designs.”
“She’s got a gift,” Landon cuts into the conversation, brotherly pride shining in his emerald eyes. He and Elise are sitting across from me, with the chancellor two paces to their right. Liam’s coming ever closer as I move among the houses…and Sebastian is moving further away, each month passing like somber notches on a clock.
The lion draws my gaze with a magnetism I can’t resist, and we communicate so much in the tangle of our stares.
Affection.
Longing.
Questions that can’t be answered right now.
Does he feel as disoriented as I do, sitting in this room for the first time since he returned from exile? More importantly, is he still upset about the secret I’m keeping from him?
His expression refuses to give me answers. A moment later, he breaks the connection and turns his focus on Liam, his eyes narrowing, lips forming a scowl. Liam notices, but instead of reacting, the chancellor lifts his chin in an air of superiority.
He’s downright smug.
Vance breaks through the tension by saying something to Sebastian, but I can’t hear a word above the roar in my ears. I’d give anything to return to the cottage, where we spent the day wrapped in each other as if the world didn’t exist.
But reality is a wrecker of dreams, and so is this messed up situation, trapping us in a loop that feels so…wrong.
So unreal.
I take a bite of whatever is on my plate, hoping to get one bite closer to the end of this unbearable meal.