Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 120475 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 602(@200wpm)___ 482(@250wpm)___ 402(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120475 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 602(@200wpm)___ 482(@250wpm)___ 402(@300wpm)
She watches me, her gaze searching as if trying to see past the man in front of her to the truth beneath.
“Why didn’t you come back?” she asks finally.
I exhale sharply. “I had to stay away. For both of us.”
A flicker of something crosses her face—anger? Disbelief? Pain?
She opens her mouth, but I shake my head, reaching for the towel beside the tub. “Feel free to stay in ’til you get all the way warmed up,” I say, quiet but firm. “I’ll leave you now.”
I stand, nodding toward the robe hanging by the door. “You can use that. I’ll find you something warmer to change into.”
Her nod is faint. Hesitant. Watching me even as I pull away.
I step to the door, pausing at the frame.
I glance back once.
“You’re safe here,” I murmur, voice low but resolute. “I promise you that.”
Then, before I can break further, I close the door behind me.
The silence that follows is heavy. Final.
I let out a slow breath, turning and resting my forehead against the door for just a moment before pushing off and walking away.
Because she sees me now. And for the first time in years, I don’t know if that means salvation—or damnation.
NINE
MOIRA
I drop my head back and stare at the ceiling.
Hot water. Ha. Back in hot water. When are you not, bitch?
I giggle, the sound bubbling up like a fizzy drink, and wiggle my toes beneath the surface of the bath. The world is soft. Shimmery. Everything has a little extra glow like the whole universe got hit with the prettiest Instagram filter.
Oh, right. The gummies.
But still. Still.
Father Blackwood is Bane!
My brain hiccups. Stumbles. Falls flat on its ass trying to put that puzzle together. The hot priest and the hot dom are the same fucking person.
I mean—holy shit.
A hiccup-y laugh spills out of me, and I slap my hand over my mouth to keep the crazy from escaping. Then I lift my head from the bath and squint around the room, blinking water from my lashes.
I’m in his house.
I’m in the sexy priest’s house.
The sexy priest who is also the hot dom!!
Wait. Is that the weed talking? I run a hand down my face. I didn’t eat that much. And I bought it at a store. They don’t just lace dispensary shit for funsies, right? Weed makes things extra, sure, but it doesn’t make you hallucinate. Unless…
Unless I ate, like, ten times what I thought was in my purse.
Nah. I’d remember that. Probably.
I sink back into the water, exhaling hard through my nose. Bubbles rise and pop in little bursts.
It was the club that got me like this. Not the weed. The weed just turned my usual chaos dial up to eleven. It was already going south the second I walked into the Carnal lounge. I was trying to be chill, easy-breezy Moira, but then I accidentally took my sunglasses off and—boom.
Domhn saw the bruise.
And then he got all, Jaysus, how could ya go play outside the club again, Moira? After what happened LAST TIME?
Boom.
Last time.
The thing I’m not supposed to think about. The thing I keep running from. The thing that got me exiled from his good graces forever.
The memory shoves its way in any way—Anna catching me with her father, the man who made her and Domhn’s lives the worst living hell anyone could possibly think of. Her face when she saw me. The way she shattered.
I press my hands over my eyes. Fuck.
Of course, Domhn got extra mad. Of course, Anna got upset. And, of course, I blew the one tiny, fragile, threadbare chance my brother had given me to make things right.
I slide under the water again and scream.
Only bubbles rise.
But then—
My scream dies. My thoughts stutter.
Because then there was Bane.
He arrived out of nowhere, this dark, impossible man, stepping out of the shadows like an avenging angel. Like he was built just for me.
And, miracle of miracles, he turned out to be both men who’ve made my heart race in recent memory.
My head spins, the water rippling softly around me.
Two men. All in one. My brain still refuses to compute.
I open my eyes and stare at the ceiling, my shoulders sinking under the warmth of the bath. My limbs feel light, but my chest feels heavy.
I think about the way he took care of me. Not like a man planning to fuck me. Just… took care of me. Like I was something precious. Like I wasn’t just a mess to be managed.
When was the last time someone was gentle with me?
Not my mother, that’s for damn sure.
The tears come so fast I don’t even feel them build. One second, I’m floating. The next, stupid, ugly sobs are bubbling up. I shove my arm into my mouth and bite down to muffle them.
After the day I’ve had—
I lift a shaking hand to my bruised eye and flinch with pain.