Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 25313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 127(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 127(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
“I’m not sure we were ever really together.” A flash of anger crosses his face. Yes, I can smack him, throw the coffee in his face, and get nothing. But my words get a reaction. “What if I already have someone?” I toss out there.
My ego is still pissed about the whole engagement thing. He still hasn’t even addressed it. If he didn’t find me, would he have brought her here? Given someone else my dreams? I push that thought to the back of my mind.
“You’re on thin ice, Melody.” I’m not used to him calling me by my real name, but I am enjoying seeing the anger in him. He keeps snapping back to calmness, and it’s pissing me off. I want more of the raw Easton. The darkness. That ruthless side that runs through the veins of all the Ledger men.
“I’m not on anything,” I hiss back at him. “Now open the damn door and let me the hell out of here.”
“I warned you.” Again his voice is so calm, but nothing else about him is.
“Warned me?” I laugh. When in life does anyone ever get a warning?
“You’re mine, and I’ll do with you as I want.”
Those are the last words I remember him saying before the world went black on me. Now with him standing a few feet from me and no one else around, it really has a whole new meaning.
“And I’m not that boy anymore, Melody. I don’t give a fuck about any lines you might have crossed with anyone else. The ones I wouldn’t cross back then. All I care about is that in the end, you’re mine. My ego or pride will never stop me from having you.”
14
EASTON
There is no holding back my anger. Her saying that we might not have ever really been together is bullshit. There will always be an us. There is no one that knows me better than her.
She wants me pissed off, and she’s figured out just how to do that. My Neverland is looking for a reason to push me away. Love scares her.
I knew that from the second I met her. I knew I had to lure her in to me. I never wanted her to see the dark parts of me that might send her running. But Melody wants you to show all of yourself to her.
It’s her nature to take care of the people she loves. I didn’t want that burden on her. It was hard enough to get her to open her heart to me. But the reality is Melody thrives on healing people. She wants to protect everyone around her. It’s a part of who she is.
I wanted to protect her. That was part of my downfall. If I’d given her more, she might not have run. Or even be so reluctant to me now.
I step into her. She retreats back but only to cage herself against the wall, making it easier for me to take up all the space around her. I hear her swallow, likely debating whether she’s gone too far. Maybe she has, since any sanity I had left is now gone. The rational part of me has been overtaken by the impatient part. I tried. I really did.
“Do you think I’ll let you leave here and go back to that life? Go on to marry someone else and have children that aren’t mine?” The words feel like acid on my tongue. The thought of her with anyone else is enough to bring me to my knees.
“We can’t have a life together. It’s not possible,” she whispers, sounding defeated for the first time since I got her back. “And I should let you go. It’s been long enough that I held on to a dream that can never be my reality.”
Should—but she can’t. We both know it.
“I won’t let any of them hurt you or your family.” Five men went to prison for what her father did. Two have died already, leaving three standing. I have my sources and keep a close eye on all of them.
What happened to those first two men isn’t something I’ll fret over. No one who is a threat to my Neverland will be allowed to live. I knew the first two wanted blood. They got it. I think it sent a very clear message to the other three. That is something to be handled if and when it’s needed.
That is the part of me she doesn’t know. The one that I didn’t even really understand until she was taken from me.
My sweet girl who can let herself fall into the fantasy, I will protect that. She'll never see the darkness I have inside of me. What I’m capable of. The things I’ve done to find her. She’d think it was a nightmare.
“Easton.” She rests her hands on my chest. I want to rip my shirt off so I can feel them against my bare skin.