Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 73963 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73963 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
“The spare house key. There has to be one around here somewhere. Shay forgets her keys way too often not to have one.”
Slade silently steps toward the door and raises his arm up above the frame. His fingers curl around a little metal key and within the next second, he’s dropping it into the palm of my hand, making all sorts of questions fly through my head.
I glance up at him with a raised brow and he sees the question instantly. Slade shrugs his shoulders. “How do you think I’m always getting in and out of here?”
“I figured you were going through my bedroom window.”
“Sometimes. I usually check that first but more times than not, it’s locked.”
“So, you just steal our spare key and welcome yourself in?” I question, already knowing the answer after he more than happily stole my keys out of my bag.
He shrugs again. “Hey, when something needs to be said, you can bet that sweet ass of yours that I’m not waiting till morning.”
I turn to the door and shove the key straight into the lock. “Don’t I know it,” I grumble to myself. The door is pushed open and I find myself stepping into it and then turning on Slade.
I glance up at him, hating how this makes me feel so sick. “What are you doing?” he questions, hovering out my front door with his brows drawn down in confusion.
“I don’t think this is a good idea,” I explain. “Maybe you should go back to school.”
“The hell I am,” he demands, trying to step forward only to be blocked by me. “Come on, what are you really doing?”
“No, Slade. What are you doing? You told me that we were done and you tore me to fucking pieces, but you won’t leave me alone. Do you have any idea how much it hurts just to see you every day, let alone having you demanding my attention every chance you get? What are we even doing? I tell you that I love you and I get told that I’m wrong, you told me-”
“You weren’t wrong.”
“What?” I demand.
“I was wrong,” he says slowly, stepping into me and forcing me back into the house. He follows me in and kicks the door closed. His eyes meet mine, heavy and intense as he repeats himself. “I. Was. Wrong.”
My breath catches.
Slade shakes his head ever so slightly as he presses into me, taking my face in his warm, calloused hand. “What kind of man tries to push away his girl when she tells him that she loves him?”
“Assholes,” I whisper.
“Exactly, but it was a rhetorical question.”
“It needed to be said.”
He’s silent for a moment as his eyes focus heavily on mine, making my heart race and my chest rise and fall with rapid movements. His hand on my face curls around to the back of my neck as his thumb stretches all the way to my chin and props it up. “I love you, Virago. I’m done pushing you away. No matter how fucking hard I try, I can’t keep away from you, and to be honest, that scares the absolute shit out of me because something tells me that you’re going to run.”
“Where would I run to?” I ask, watching him, desperately wishing he’d close the gap and kiss me. “I have nowhere to go. You are my home now.”
Slade moves in closer, so damn close that all I’d need to do is raise my chin to feel his lips on mine. “I’m sorry,” he murmurs. “I was angry and hurting and I couldn’t get past the fact that you didn’t tell me about my mom…about me, but I understand it now and fuck, Sky, I’m so fucking sorry.”
A beat.
Silence.
“Please, baby,” he murmurs, the agony shining brightly on his handsome features. “Tell me you’ll forgive me? I need you back by my side. I need you in my life more than I need to fucking breathe. You’re my girl, Virago. Don’t make me take no for an answer.”
I study his eyes, hardly able to believe what I’m hearing, but more than happy to let him sweat it. “You love me,” I state, feeling a strange kind of joy burning brightly within my chest. In fact, it burns so damn bright that it actually kind of hurts.
“Yeah, Skylah,” he says, brushing his knuckles over the side of my face. “I love you so fucking much.”
“Then maybe it’s time you stop calling me ‘Virago.’”
Slade groans and presses his body harder against me. “Would you shut up and let me kiss you?”
I don’t wait a damn second as I press up onto my tippy-toes and crush my lips against his. Slade’s hand tightens on the back of my neck as he holds me to him, taking complete control.
I sink into him.
Slade Cruz has completely captured me. I don’t know how it happened or when, but damn it, he did and he did it good.