Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Beautiful and passionate, she’s fire and ice, and I want her. I need her.
Lydia is my prize. My spoils of war.
Only she doesn’t know that yet.
Forced into marriage with me to protect her from those that would destroy us, I vow to keep her secure at all costs… even when she fights me tooth and nail.
Can I protect Lydia without consuming her, or will our love story end in ashes? The stakes have never been higher, and for Lydia… I will burn the world.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
PROLOGUE
Ten years earlier
They would pay and pay dearly. Every last fucking one of them.
The purr of luxury cars and the rhythmic click of heels and polished shoes mingled with the swish of neatly pressed uniforms while Viktor maintained his distance.
Head down, dressed in nondescript, inexpensive clothing with his hands buried in his pockets, he looked like a nobody. Just like he’d planned. No one at Liberty Ridge Academy would give him a passing glance.
He looked at his watch. Though he’d come early before his session with his mentor, Kolya, time was ticking. Kolya detested tardiness, and it mattered to him to show up on time.
Where was she?
Sometimes, she'd be cloaked in a scarf and a knee-length sweater, concealing her figure as though shielding herself from the relentless, judgmental gaze of her peers. But today, she was conspicuously absent from the usual flurry of student arrivals.
His pace slowed, and he moved away from the throng, even though most students steered clear of him. He was a giant among them, a few years older and twice the size of the biggest varsity football player.
Fortunately, the lack of surveillance at the school was laughable. Anyone paying attention would have noticed the imposing young man who was always there. Always watching.
“Here she comes,” one of the boys announced in a snide whisper about ten feet ahead of Viktor. “The fat girl with big tits.”
Viktor clenched his fist in a surge of protective fury and made a pact: he’d deal with that fucker first.
He had only been training with Kolya for three months, but he had already begun to develop hard muscle under Kolya’s tutelage. It would come in handy when he cornered that asshole in the dark alley between school and home.
Viktor’s eyes narrowed as the familiar Lincoln purred to a stop at the curb. He held his breath. She was here, brought by her father. Viktor refocused his attention, his gaze icy and menacing as he contemplated knocking the boy's teeth out. He cracked his knuckles, tension rolling off him in waves.
One of the boys shot him a wary glance before nudging his friend as the car door swung open.
“Sit up straight,” her father commanded from the backseat. “You represent the Ivanov family with dignity.”
Viktor’s breathing became labored. Time stood still for a moment when he saw her.
His angel.
Lydia Ivanova. The most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. The girl who lived in his dreams. The object of his utter obsession. He stroked the gold earring in his pocket and pricked his finger with the post to keep him focused.
Each tiny pain was a tether, keeping his thoughts sharp and his desire in check.
Viktor’s mind was a constant whirlwind of thoughts about her: her scent, the way her eyes, a striking emerald flecked with hazel, flickered with a mix of defiance and vulnerability. He knew her every expression, every quirk. He had watched her for months, always from the shadows, always unseen.
He knew it was wrong, the way he tracked her movements, the way he collected items she had touched—like this earring, lost one summer night and now a permanent fixture in his pocket.
He was her shadow, her silent sentry, driven by a need he didn’t understand, a desire so deep, it bordered on madness.
“Back off, motherfucker,” he said softly under his breath when Sterling Eldridge took a step toward her. “Back the fuck off.”
Lydia was fire in more ways than one. He’d watched the way her eyes lit up when she set things ablaze, the joy and freedom she found in the flames. It was a part of her he loved, the dark side she showed no one.
His fingers tightened around the earring, the sharp sting grounding him.
She stood facing her classmates, a defiant spark igniting her emerald gaze as she swung one long leg out, then the other, her plaid uniform skirt grazing the top of her knees. Her glasses perched precariously on the edge of her nose. When she tossed her head, thick waves bobbing defiantly in the breeze, her chin lifted in silent challenge.
Fat girl with big tits.
Viktor's blood boiled at the thought. She was amazing.
Despite her father's harsh, dismissive tone—always scolding, always belittling—she stood proud and tall. He fucking loved that about her.
But today, from his vantage point under the shelter of a thick maple, he saw the sheen of tears in her eyes. A public scolding only added to the torment inflicted by her cruel classmates.
Fucking losers.
“Awww,” one of them said under his breath to the other. “Is she gonna cry?”
Viktor’s hand curled into a fist.
He would be victim number two.
He noted the golden Lincoln still purring at the curb and narrowed his eyes before he zeroed back in on the boy with the big mouth and imagined what he’d look like missing his two front teeth. Viktor cracked his knuckles and rolled his neck. It would feel so fucking good when his fist connected with flesh and bone.