Total pages in book: 150
Estimated words: 142818 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142818 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
He smiled sadly, his hand moving down to my stomach.
The stomach that skipped at his featherlight touch, his reverent gaze.
“And if we have a girl, we’re gonna have one who isn’t afraid to go to battle with her father if he steps a foot out of line.” His eyes blazed with intensity. “I’m gonna do everything in my power to ensure I don’t step a foot out of line in our daughter’s eyes. And if I do, I’m gonna show her what a real man does, how they apologize. And, Violet, I’m gonna try really fucking hard to fix what your father broke.” His hand cradled my jaw. “For as long as I live, I never want you to look at me the way you did today.”
My breath hitched.
He wiped a tear that had escaped the corner of my eye. “I’m not good at this,” he admitted. “The second I became a free man, I swore that I would always be in control. So I’d never feel the way I did while locked up in there. But with you, I have no control. None. Don’t want to control you because you’re wild, beautiful, brave, infuriating and perfect the way you are. So I can’t promise I’m not gonna get pissed at things I shouldn’t get pissed at. Can’t promise I’m not gonna spend the rest of my life wanting to protect you. But I can promise you that I will never fucking hurt you. You are safe with me, Violet.”
He let the words sink in for a moment, or maybe he was waiting for me to say something.
I’d lost the ability to form words.
“I know it’s just words,” he continued. “But I’m gonna prove that to you, Violet. That you’re safe.”
“I know I am,” I whispered. My hand covered his on top of my stomach. “I know we both are.”
We lingered for a long time before Elden tore his gaze from me. His eyes landed first on the cookies then on the book I’d long abandoned.
He slipped his hand away to pick up the book and skim through it.
I watched his mouth and eyebrows twitch as he likely arrived at particularly spicy scenes in the book.
His cheeks were even flushed by the Time he set the book back down.
Elden’s cheeks were flushed.
“This is what you’ve been reading without me?” he asked in a low rumble.
I swallowed my smile, my own cheeks warm. “I enjoy magic, dragons and smut,” I shrugged. “Don’t try to shame me for that.”
“I would never shame you for that,” Elden replied, voice gravelly. “You read this for as long as you want. When you’re finished, I’ll fuck you better than any book hero can.”
I cocked my hip. “Is that a promise?”
“I’ll put it in my vows if you want,” he replied.
There it was. Cold water on the moment.
Elden must’ve seen my face fall, softly adding, “Not gonna rush you. I understand your thoughts on marriage. Respect them. But I hope one day I can convince you to be my wife. Can prove that marrying me doesn’t have to look like anything you’ve ever seen. Doesn’t have to be something that holds you back. But for now...” He scooped me up and out of the bed.
I let out a squeal, not expecting that.
“We need to get the fuck out of this house,” Elden groaned. “Because I need to fuck you. And that will not be happening under this roof.”
I agreed with him on all of that.
The topic of marriage was not revisited that night. Or the one after that. But it hovered like a shadow, following me around, making me feel cold no matter how bright the New Mexico sun shined.
Chapter Twenty-One
Elden and I did not have to wait long for another argument.
I had a shift at Oliver’s the next day.
Which was what I told him when I woke up, asking for a ride back to Mom and Swiss’s in order to get changed.
First, he’d pulled me back into bed and fucked me.
I hadn’t argued about that.
Then he’d said we needed to get my clothes, skincare and ‘smutty books’ from my mom and Swiss’s and move them in there.
I hadn’t argued about that either.
As much as I loved the atmosphere at Mom and Swiss’s, as much as I loved the space my mother had created, it didn’t fit me. Not now that Elden was a part of me. Which he was. There was no denying that. There was a lot to work out. A lot. But that was not something that would ever change.
The argument started at Oliver’s. We went there after we picked up something for me to wear for the day. I settled on tight black jeans—may as well enjoy them while I could—and a cropped black tee with the leather jacket Swiss got me for my birthday.