Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
My hand reached for his chest, and I planted my palm over his heart. That was where I could feel it, feel the pain in my chest during our separation. I stared at it as I felt my vision tint black, as my world faded away.
Just when I closed my eyes, I drew breath.
Gasped it deep inside me.
My eyes popped back open, and I gasped again, inflating my lungs over and over.
He stayed above me, his hostility burning white-hot.
“I…didn’t…betray…you.” I should wait until the oxygen was fully restored to my body, but I couldn’t. He needed to know that my promise had been kept, that my loyalty hadn’t faded. “It’s not what you think.”
His blue eyes were as cold as ice.
“I came here for the books.” I reached for one beside me.
Like he thought I would smash it into his skull, he knocked it onto the floor.
“I’m telling you the truth.”
“You should have come to me first.”
“I was with Ryker, and it was safer to travel with him and Effie.”
His eyebrows furrowed as his eyes narrowed.
“It’s a long story, but the Teeth had Ryker too. They captured him when he went after Effie. The three of us escaped, and it just made more sense to travel with them here, get the books, and then go back.”
He didn’t believe me. It was in his eyes. “It looks like you went back to your old life pretty quickly.”
I moved to sit up.
He slammed me back down.
The way he looked at me, the way he distrusted me…hurt. “My father doesn’t know I’m here. Ryker snuck me in. The books are too heavy for me to sneak out, so it was easier to read them and make notes. Look at the books if you don’t believe me.”
“Who’s Effie?”
“She won the lottery.”
His eyes narrowed.
“She and Ryker are a thing…were a thing, so he went down to save her.”
His eyes shifted back and forth.
“I was going to come back. I promise.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I was worried about you—”
“Don’t believe that either.”
Now my patience waned, because I was telling the truth, but he was too stubborn to see it. “If I came back, your mother would have captured me and probably killed me, and you wouldn’t have even known I’d returned. At least by having this information, I had some leverage if that happened.”
“Then you know how to save the dragons?”
“Not yet, but I’m working on it.”
He gave an aggravated sigh.
“Why would I lie to you—”
“Because I’m so fucking close to killing you.” The last time we were together, it was morning, the sunshine coming through the window. Naked and wrapped up in each other, we were happy, the bond between us unbreakable. Now he was a different man, a man I hadn’t seen since he hijacked my carriage.
My hand returned to his chest, right over his heart, right where it hurt the most. “Did you feel this?”
His hard stare burned into my face.
“Because I did…” My hands slid up his chest to his shoulders, to his neck.
His features remained the same, unresponsive to my touch.
“I would never betray what we have.”
An eternity passed as he held my gaze, as he peered all the way down to my soul. One hand moved to his waist, and with expert fingers, he popped the buttons of his trousers and got his bottoms down.
My heart raced in a way it hadn’t in a long time. Not in the way it did when I was chained to the bed about to be devoured. Not in the way it did when I ran for my life. It was a different excitement, one that I only experienced with him.
I was already just in a loose shirt and my underwear, so he pulled those down with his big fingers and got me naked from the waist down. He yanked me down to the foot of the bed and squeezed his narrow hips between my thighs. With eyes locked on mine, he guided himself inside me, pushed past my tightness…and sank.
I gasped when I felt him, gasped as if I’d forgotten how this felt.
How good he felt.
Even when his fingers were around my throat, I was wet. When he looked at me like he might kill me, I wanted him. It was my body’s natural reaction to him, regardless of the context.
He sank until he was balls deep then gave a quiet groan that sounded almost like a growl. He rolled his hips slightly, his body getting reacquainted with mine. His eyes dropped to my lips as he remained still, absorbing my wetness through his skin.
That was when I felt it, that throb in my chest. It was beautiful like music from a harp, soft like a fresh pillow on the bed. It felt warm, like sunshine on a winter day. Like nothing had transpired in the last few weeks, we were back in his bed, waking up after a passionate night together.