Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 127712 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127712 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
“There’s more to it? You said you’d tell me the rest after I marry you.”
“There’s more. But it won’t sweeten the deal, Nova. It’s just going to make it worse.”
I blink.
“Nova?” Travis is talking in my ear and I realize I’m still holding the phone.
Mercer is stuck in the drug.
And so is Locke.
But they are stuck in different ways.
Locke is lost.
Mercer was being reset every time I did a new trial. They didn’t give him a fantasy, they gave him instructions. Everything he did during my trials was programmed by whoever is really in control of all this.
I remember what happened after we got to the village marina that evening. Mercer went to the pharmacy and while he was gone a man appeared at the boat. He’s the guy who married us. Mercer had everything ready and some man filed the paperwork while we were heading back to the island.
I went back.
Because we had to do one more thing to change the course of things.
We had to get me pregnant.
Mercer shuts the boat engine off once we’re back inside the boathouse. He just sits there, in the captain’s chair, and thinks for a moment.
“What now?” I ask, looking down at the ring on my finger. I was surprised when he produced a ring from his pocket. It’s a pretty big diamond, too. He didn’t have to do that. It’s not like it’s a real marriage. But he did. And when he slid it onto my finger, I got a sudden chill over his touch.
He sighs and looks over at me. “Now…” He pauses, tries again. “Now we have to have sex.”
I smile at him, then laugh a little. “You don’t have to sound so depressed over it.”
“I don’t want to do this to you. And I have seen the scenario they’re planning for this last trial, so it makes it all very hard.”
I stand up, keenly interested in this. “What is the scenario?”
“Submission, Nova. You’re wild. To them, anyway. You’re loud, and bright, and they hate this about you. So they’re going to make you submit to me just to prove that they are fully in control.”
“Submit to you… how?”
“Sexually, of course.”
“Have I done that before?”
He shrugs. “I wouldn’t know. I’m reset every time, remember? Do you have any memory of doing that before?”
“No. I’m not into submission.”
“Really?” He chuckles. “I would never have guessed.”
“I dated a guy in the dorm a few months ago. We had sex, but it was kind of boring. There have been a few others over the years. But you?” I shake my head. “I think I would remember that.”
“Would you?”
“Sex with Silas Mercer? Are you kidding? That has to be epic.”
He grins again. That same grin that I first saw—or at least first noticed—just a few hours ago. “Do you think?”
“Come on, Mercer. Wouldn’t you want to fuck you? You’re all mercurial and petulant. It’s very intriguing now that I know you’re actually trying to save me. It’s like you’re this… dark hero, or something.”
Now he laughs. “Wow. You’re really starting to give me performance anxiety.”
I laugh too. “I have no doubt that you’ll be able to live up to my fantastical expectations.”
Our eyes meet and we share something for a moment. A shared fantasy? Maybe it’s just the fact that in a few minutes, we will be having sex. He’s been tracking my cycle for a long time, he said. And today, Monday, June second, is the best chance to get me pregnant.
So we will be doing this.
But getting from here to there is more than just a little bit awkward.
I’ve never even touched him before tonight. Hell, I didn’t even see him as an actual person before tonight. And now I’m married to this man and we are going to have sex for the sole purpose of producing a child.
It’s kind of mind-blowing.
And awkward.
I’ve never been afraid of men. Or sex, for that matter.
But having Silas Mercer look at me right now sends a chill up my spine.
Not the bad kind of chill, either. Everything I found creepy about him just a few hours ago is now intriguing. And I begin to imagine what his touch might feel like.
He offers me his hand and I take it without hesitation.
Then he leads me off his boat.
I don’t know what he has planned. Are we going to his bedroom?
But then I don’t need to wonder anymore. Because once we’re inside the tunnel hallway, he stops, turns, and presses me into the wall. His hands on my hips. His chest pushing against mine with just the right amount of pressure.
I bite my lip, nervous, as I look up and meet his gaze. His eyes are brown. I don’t think I’ve ever noticed that before. He’s looking at my lips. And then I’m looking at his. And then his hands come up to my face and he places them against my cheeks. Like he’s claiming me.