Total pages in book: 167
Estimated words: 164838 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164838 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 824(@200wpm)___ 659(@250wpm)___ 549(@300wpm)
Exhaling with a watery breath, she clutched my hand and tugged me. I understood her request and returned to squeezing the hell out of her.
With her trapped in my embrace, she spoke again, hitched and hesitantly. “I used your gift. It was hard at first. So hard to get past those memories. But then it got a little easier, and I thought…okay, maybe I’m not as broken as I feared. But the minute I got anywhere near potentially coming, I…I—” Her voice shattered into sobs.
Her grief tore me apart.
Rocking her, I pressed my forehead against her shoulder and held her while she broke.
I didn’t know how much time passed, but eventually, her sobs turned to hiccups and the doctor in me wanted to grab her a glass of water to rehydrate and perhaps some antacids for the churning in her stomach, but she hooked her foot around my ankle, ensuring I couldn’t go anywhere without some serious untangling.
“X…”
I sighed heavily. “Yeah?”
“Why are you here?”
I had no strength left to fake anything. “Because I hate that you’re hurting, and I can’t make it better.”
There’s no pill I can prescribe.
No surgery I can perform.
Only time and that made my skills as a healer utterly useless.
She went quiet, but not the quiet I’d grown used to. This one was prickly and poised with anticipation.
“What?” I whispered against her nape. “What is it?”
“You could, you know…at least try.”
“Try what?”
“To make me better.”
My eyes flashed wide. “Anything. Tell me what you need, and I’ll do it.”
The second I said it, I saw her trap.
Damn, I walked right into that one, didn’t I?
Her hips arched backward, rocking against me.
Immediately, I went to shift away, but she moved with me.
“I know this is super forward of me and wrong on so many levels,” she whispered. “I know I’m being manipulative and owe you a thousand apologies. We don’t know each other. I don’t know your real name. I don’t know where you live or what you do or why you truly approached me, but I do know I can’t do this on my own. And I can’t move on until I claim my body as mine again. You were kind enough to be there for me and I’m weak enough to ask for something you’re not willing to give. But only because I’m so sick of feeling him punch and kick me whenever I look at certain people. I hate feeling this lost, this broken. My bruises are fading, but the walls are only getting higher.”
I clung to her. “I’m so sorry.”
“Sorry enough to help?”
I groaned and buried my face in her hair. “You’re determined to kill me, Lori.”
Her hips rocked again, waking up the parts of me that were ready and very, very willing to serve.
“Do you find me attractive?” she asked on a shaky breath.
I laughed torturedly. “Do you really have to ask that question?”
“If you find me attractive and admit you have the same crush, then…why did you turn me down when I asked you to sleep with me?”
My teeth ground together. I didn’t have to fake my growl to cover my usual baritone—it was a thousand percent real. “Because I refuse to take advantage of you.”
“But isn’t it me taking advantage of you? Like I said in our messages, aren’t I the one asking you to do this? Aren’t I the one in the wrong? Do you…” She trembled; fresh tears wobbled her voice. “D-Do you think I’m a slut?”
I reacted before I could think.
Pushing her away from me, I grabbed her chin and pinned her on her back. I didn’t know where such a move came from. I hadn’t meant to do it. But she gasped as her eyes popped wide, then shuddered as I shifted on top of her. With my spare hand, I hitched her higher up the bed and slipped between her spread legs, trapping her beneath me.
For a heartbeat, I feared I’d gone too far. This wasn’t me. This wasn’t who she needed me to be. But then her eyes melted into molten, scorching blue.
I couldn’t stop staring at her.
With my free hand, I made sure my mask still covered my nose and mouth.
At least the room was dark. My hat had stayed low over my brow. She wouldn’t be able to tell my hair or eye colour.
Hopefully.
“If he was the one who called you a slut, he’s a motherfucking asshole. You aren’t. I’ve never thought that. Not for a single moment.”
She tried to nod, forcing my fingers harder against her cheeks.
Pulling my hand away, tingles sparked from touching her. “Sorry…I didn’t mean—”
“It’s fine.” She attempted a tragic smile. “I’m not afraid of you.”
“I’m glad.” My gaze fell to her mouth. To her perfect lips. Her perfect, kissable, delicious lips.
All the blood in my body arrowed between my legs, leaving me with the intelligence of a rock.