Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 67140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
My breath is frozen in my lungs. Terrible images flood my mind. My veins feel tight like they used to when I was craving a hit.
“What age?” I whisper.
“He took ownership of us after we hit puberty. We spent a year and a half in the rings.”
I run my hands over his shoulders and chest, finding the bumps and ragged edges of his scars under the ink. I knew his life had been brutal. I didn’t realize the violence had started when he was so young.
“What about Father Francis?”
“He searched for us. So did St. James and all the rest of the street children who would become Fraternitas. Maestro hid Kaiser and me away in a place where they could not find us. Until the day we broke free.”
My fingers find the scar over his heart. “What happened?”
“We killed him. After he made us fight each other, and Kaiser gave me this.” He covers my hand with his large one, molding my palm to his marred chest. Our hands rise and fall with his breath. “To save my life. To save both our lives. Maestro decreed that one of us would fall, and so I did. And as I lay bleeding out, Kaiser turned on Maestro and killed him.”
I close my eyes, but the scene Jaeger described plays out in my mind. Over and over, unending. Two identical blond-haired boys, wild and covered in blood, grappling in a shadowy circle.
Jaeger rubs the top of my hand, and my eyes snap open. I stare into the stormy seas of his irises, feeling like I’ve seen every part of him, inside and out. I’ve never been so close to anyone.
I’ve never let someone get so close to me. Our breath mingles and becomes one. “Why are you telling me this?”
“I know you want me, Elodie. But you’re also afraid.”
I roll away from him and curl into a ball. He rolls, too, surrounding me. His hard dick prods my backside, but he keeps his hand threaded with mine, clasped against my heart.
His lips find my ear. “Did you know the night we met was my birthday? You were St. James’ gift to me.” His tone is soft with wonder. “I’ve never had a birthday gift before. Maestro kept us in cages.”
I squeeze my eyes tighter.
He continues so softly I can’t be sure I haven’t imagined it. “I know you don’t want to know this about me. I know you want to run.” His breath stirs the curls at the back of my neck. “But you’re brave, braver than you know.” He’s so close his lips brush the back of my ear. “I’ve never told anyone these things, Elodie. Not even Father Francis or my Fraternitas brothers. Kaiser and I never speak of it. But if there’s a chance someone in this world will know everything about me, I want it to be you.”
11
Elodie
The next morning, Jaeger wakes me with his face between my legs. I come awake, my arousal shooting from zero to a million miles per hour. My body is primed from his late-night touching, and all the heaviness of last night’s confession and my intense dreams disappear.
I writhe, fighting his grip on my thighs as he eats me like he’s starving, and I’m the best thing he’s ever tasted. My climax spirals closer, coming within reach. My pussy squeezes around his single finger. I just need a little more—
He stops and sits up. My inner muscles clench on nothing, begging for stimulation.
“Wha—?” I stare at him. “What are you doing?”
“Making sure you miss me.” Jaeger rubs my belly. I wait for his hand to slide between my legs, but it doesn’t move any further. “Do you need the bathroom?”
I need to orgasm! But I nod. He carries me to the bathroom and lets me do my business.
When we get back to the bed, he leans in to kiss me. I slide a hand under the silky fall of his hair, cupping the back of his neck to keep him close.
He pushes forward, forcing me to lie back on the bed. His hands roam over my body, his lips never leaving mine.
This is more like it. His big body covers mine, and my core is heating up, ready for him to spread my legs and dominate me.
I’m shuddering under him when he breaks the kiss.
“Ah, ah.” He wags a finger.
“Jaeger—” My mouth falls open when he leaves the bed and walks naked to the closet, leaving me bereft.
What is he up to? I remember our conversation last night. All the intense things he told me in the pocket of midnight. His teenage years, the trauma, the scars. He said he wants to know me. Last night proves he wants me to know him, too.
And now I know enough to imagine as a little boy, growing up with no one to take care of him. How does he know how to take care of me so well?