Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 135378 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135378 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
I lean in and kiss the corner of her mouth. “Well, he broke your heart, so I think it’s only fair that I take his.” I release her throat and reach over into the side table drawer. I draw out a small jewelry box and open it. It’s a delicate gold chain with a gold key dangling from it. “I had this made for you.”
She looks at the necklace. “It’s beautiful.”
I crack a smile, then grab the gleaming wood box off the table. Inspired by Snow White’s evil queen and the Viking pumpkin from the last room of the escape room the night we met, I had it built so Sophie’s key has to be inserted into the heart to open the box.
I impale the heart with the key and twist. The box opens. There’s a bed of deep red velvet lining the interior. It’s sealed so nothing can seep out.
The perfect place for a worthless treasure.
Sophie’s breathless. Speechless.
Turned on.
I can see the fire in her pretty blue and brown eyes when she looks up into mine.
I see something I’ve never seen there before.
Devotion.
She’s mine now.
She wants to be.
I kiss her to make sure I’m not just seeing what I want to see, but her answering hunger tells me I’m not. My dirty soul dances with her much purer one. She needed to be dirtied up a little. She needed me.
She’s panting when she pulls away.
“I think I’ll wait for you at the main house.”
I nod. “Okay.”
Dylan does not find our bonding experience nearly as precious as I do. When I stand up to let Sophie off the couch, he’s watching us like we’re both monsters.
Fucking normie.
No wonder Sophie didn’t like his boring ass.
I text Dare to let him know Sophie needs a ride back to the house, then put her coat back on her so she doesn’t get cold. She gets on her hands and knees to collect the spilled items from her purse. Something rolled under the couch, so she pops her pretty little ass up and shoves her hand under the couch to reach it. Once she sees what it is, she sits back on her heels with a sigh, looking forlornly at the case of pills I gave her.
“Dammit, I forgot again.”
She takes one out and uncaps her water so she can take it.
As often as she forgets, I wonder if she really wants to be taking birth control at all, or if she just feels like it’s what she should want. I think if she really worried that much about getting pregnant, she might’ve gone with an IUD, something that would take effect immediately since she knew I wouldn’t use a condom.
At some point, I should probably tell her it’s not birth control.
Maybe later.
Right now, I have my hands full killing a pig so I can deliver its heart to my lovely queen.
Besides, she probably already knows. Sophie’s no idiot, and prenatal vitamins don’t look a damn thing like birth control pills.
She knew the risks when she let me fill her birth control prescription.
Headlights appear through the kitchen window, so I know Dare’s here.
I walk Sophie to the front door and kiss her before I open it.
Dare is standing on the other side, waiting.
Sophie slides her hands over my shoulder, then winds her arms around my neck for a hug. “You’ll be okay, right?”
“Baby, don’t insult me. I could take him blindfolded and armed with a fly swatter.”
She laughs and buries her face in my neck.
Christ, I love her.
She pulls back, and I let her go to follow Dare outside.
Before they step off the porch, I hear him say, “Thought there’d be more tears.”
“From me?” Sophie looks back over her shoulder, her eyes glinting with warmth when her gaze meets mine. “What have I got to cry about?”
Chapter Forty-one
Sophie
I remember what happiness feels like.
The curse feels broken.
That sense of freedom Silvan has brought me to in the bedroom doesn’t end when the orgasm fog fades tonight.
I thought the beast had to let me go to give me my freedom back, but I was wrong. My mind wasn’t open enough. I was thinking too small.
I was pretending Silvan was the only beast I’d ever been imprisoned by.
Now, I don’t have to pretend.
Only one beast remains, and it’s the one that loves me.
I’ve never been freer than I am right now, locked against Silvan’s naked body with his arm thrown around my waist.
His hand moves across my tummy, and I think he might be about to start things up again. He’s been ravenous since he came back from the cabin. I don’t know if he’s chasing demons or just as amped up as I was, but the result has been a marathon fucking session that reminds me I need to ask if he has some cranberry juice in the morning.