Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 144908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
“How is that pertinent?” Absinthe asked.
Czar returned her look with his piercing silver eyes. She would have had a stare-down and won in order to have Master’s back, but a weird little frisson crept down her spine. Icy little fingers of eeriness, of warning, pulled her gaze to the deputy. He was watching her closely. She was supposed to be having anger issues, wasn’t she? Wasn’t that part of grief?
“I’d like the question answered,” Jonas persisted.
Absinthe bent his head toward Ambrie, giving her a reprieve from the deputy’s laser-beam stare. “You don’t have to answer him, Ambrielle. That’s not part of this discussion.”
Anger became rage. A wall of it. Hot and red and terrible. The emotion washed over her and through her like a tidal wave. She realized it wasn’t her emotion—it was Master’s. He held her, his body seemingly relaxed, but that fury moved through his body as surely as the blood moved through his veins. It was too violent to be contained. Far too enormous. The room grew hotter by increments, the walls pressing outward as if they might explode.
“What Jonas fucking means, Ambrielle, is you married a man he thinks committed murder once and was thrown in prison. He’s out now and may have married you for all that money you have. To clear the way, he murdered your parents, so you were sure to inherit everything before he put the fuckin’ ring on your finger.”
Master’s voice was lower than ever, the growl more pronounced. His fingers bit into her arms where he circled her biceps as if he might put her from him.
“Thanks for putting that in her head so she can wake up one morning and think maybe the man lying next to her put a bullet in her mother’s and father’s heads. Good to know what you really think of me, Jonas, when I thought you knew me better than that.”
Master wasn’t acting. What Jonas had implied hurt him. Struck deep. Ambrielle felt her heart breaking for him. She didn’t care if the room was filled with people, and the cops were right there watching. She turned in his arms, crawled from her chair onto his lap. Sliding her arms up his chest to link her fingers behind the nape of his neck, she tilted her head back until she was looking up at him.
“Kir, look at me.” She whispered the order. Low. Between them. Knowing the others at the table might hear but not caring. “Honey, look at me.”
He did. She knew he would. He always came through for her. His dark eyes, filled with so much anger and resentment, so much guilt and sorrow—so much hurt he didn’t even know was there—stared into hers. She slid one fist into the short spikes of his hair.
“No one could ever, under any circumstances, make me believe you murdered my parents. Never. My choice is you. Always. You’re my choice. I’m yours.” She framed his face with her hands. “I took those vows, and I meant every word. I know you. Inside, who you are. I see you. They don’t ever have to know that man because he’s mine. He belongs to me, only me.”
He stared into her eyes for several long minutes. The anger receded just enough that she could see he was with her, centered on her. His hand fisted in the back of her hair. Tight, hurting her scalp the way he did. Rough. She didn’t care. She didn’t so much as wince. He was hers, and she’d take him any way he was. Right now, he was hurt by the things the cop had implied. He’d thought the man was a friend. She got that. He hadn’t shown hurt. It wasn’t even in his voice, but she felt it. That was how connected they were.
His mouth came down on hers. Hard. An invasion. A takeover. She let him. She gave him everything. When she was losing her mind, he’d given her everything. He hadn’t held back, and she didn’t now, not when she felt he needed her. She surrendered to him. He was pure fire. Her rock.
The fingers in her hair slowly loosened, began to stroke soothing caresses over the places he’d been so rough right before he massaged the little points of pain from his rough handling. He lifted his mouth from hers, just barely, brushing little flames back and forth over her lower lip, his eyes looking down into hers as he spoke. “You’re as necessary as breathing.”
It was one of the most intense moments of her life. She’d never felt so connected to another human being. “That’s exactly the way I feel about you.”
“Are we finished, Absinthe?” Master asked, not looking at the sheriff.
“Just one or two more questions,” Jonas answered using the same gentle tone. “Your family lawyer, Charles Dobbs, seems to have disappeared. Do you know if there was a falling-out of any kind between your parents and this man?”