Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 103124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Once we’re dry, she lies on the bed, and I protectively lie behind her, wrapping my arms around her and holding her close.
“No one will ever hurt you again,” I say, knowing without a doubt that I will do whatever it takes to keep her safe. I’m already going to hell, so if it means burning down the world, I will.
She relaxes against me, and I press a kiss into her hair.
“I love you,” I whisper.
But she doesn’t respond, and in minutes, she is asleep.
42
Bella
The next hour is going to be hell for you, the monster says.
I can’t see him, but I can feel him, smell his sweat and rotten breath. My hands are tied, my body aching. I can’t move, and I’m afraid. Then she appears, the witch in the red dress, her long nails curled around Nico’s thick bicep as her bloodred lips pull back maniacally with laughter.
“Men lie, Bella,” she says, followed by another bellowing laugh. “You’ll never know what it’s like to feel safe again.”
Nico tilts his head. His face marred by evil. “If it wasn’t me, Bella, it was going to be someone else.”
Gasping for breath, I wake up drenched in sweat and gripping the bed sheet beneath me. I sit up abruptly and gulp in the cool air, waiting for the nightmare to recede. Darkness and shadows fill the bedroom, but enough moonlight streams in through the parted curtains for me to see where I am.
The apartment is still. The red blinking light of the alarm across the room tells me no one unwanted is in our home.
I exhale heavily and push my hair out of my face. Beside me, Nico is lost in heavy sleep.
I want to sleep but I can’t because I’ve been woken by demons, so I reach for my own monster to chase them away.
I slide my thighs on either side of him and lean down to kiss him. He stirs, his big hands reaching for me in the silvery light.
My kiss becomes needy, my tongue exploring his mouth as my hands reach for his cock.
He hesitates, his voice thick with sleep. “Bella—”
But I kiss him to shut him up. “I need you.”
I don’t need his concern or judgment. I just need him to fuck the past twenty-four hours out of my mind.
“Please,” I beg against his lips. “Fuck me and make me forget.”
He responds with a growl and flips me onto my back so he is on top and in control.
Sleepily, he pushes my arms above my head and threads his fingers through mine as he slowly but strongly slides into me. I moan and arch my neck as his cock surges deep and hard, stretching and filling me, bringing to life the pleasure unfurling at my core.
I wrap my legs around his hips, pulling him deeper, and he groans into my shoulder.
“Nothing feels as good as this,” he moans, his breath ragged and hoarse. “And nothing in this world tastes as good as my queen.”
He takes my mouth again with a strong, restless kiss, his body flexing and his hips rolling with expert precision as he plunges deeper and deeper.
Pleasure sweeps through me, a building tension I start to chase. I rock underneath him, raising my hips to meet every stroke of his cock, desperate to feel something other than the fear nipping at my heels.
“Nico.” I barely breathe his name.
“You’re so perfect… so fucking perfect,” he rasps.
His pace quickens.
“I love you,” he mutters desperately. “I goddamn love you so much.”
His words send me over the edge, and my orgasm hits with the power of a nuclear bomb going off in the room.
His follows quickly with a ferocious force, a primal cry stealing past his lips and roaring into the room.
My emotions get away from me, and tears slide down my cheeks as I come in waves of unchecked pleasure. I hate this life. I hate the fear and the unease that shadows me because of it. I hate that Luca Bamcorda thought he could hurt me. I hate that Nico had to save me. I hate that I crave this man so much but can’t stand his world.
But worst of all, I hate that I love him just as he loves me, but I can’t say it because then it will be real, and when something is real, there is too much to lose.
His world isn’t made for love.
It is only made for pain.
Lying in his arms, I pray I will wake up the next day and not feel this way.
Because if I do, I know I’ll have to leave.
In the morning, I still feel the same.
I wake up with the weight of what I have to do sitting on my heart.
Beside me, Nico sleeps soundly, his beautiful, golden body relaxed among the white sheets. I take a moment to study him. The long lashes fanned against his cheek. The sharp contours of his face. The scruff of hair along his jaw. Lips I could live a hundred lives over and never get tired of kissing.