Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 126(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 126(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
I walk back to the bed in my boxers and unloop the rope, pushing her down onto the white comforter.
“And keeping me is part of your orders?” She stares up at me through her long lashes, looking particularly vulnerable. My heart squeezes. This one small woman is going to be the end of me. I can see the dark hand extending its grip over my territory. Before, I never feared death. It is because of that that I am so formidable, but now…now I want nothing more than to live.
“No, keeping you is against the orders, against the Church, against the High Power. To keep you, I will have to abandon my vows, fight the Church, bring down the High Power.”
CHAPTER 18
ANGEL
“Bjornsson.” All the anger I’d been building up inside quickly washes away. “You mean that?” My nose burns as I fight back the tears.
I don’t want him to have to give up anything for me. To have to fight for us to be together and cause more scars and pain than he already has. No one has ever given up anything for me.
“I don’t lie, Angel.”
“You used to not do a lot of things.” To my surprise, a slowly sexy grin slides across his lip. I’m not sure why it’s a surprise. When it comes to this man, I never know what I might get.
“For you, I’d do anything,” he agrees.
I have to stop myself from outwardly letting out a dreamy sigh. Never has anyone said something so sweet to me. I mean, the man may have kidnapped me, twice, but how can I stay angry when he says such sweet things?
“I’m sorry I ran. I was—”
“Scared?” I nod. “You're not scared of me hurting you.” He leans down and sinks his teeth into my neck, making me gasp. My nipples harden even more. Then he sucks, soothing the spot. “I think you enjoy a bit of pain.” He’s not wrong. I’ve noticed that I actually do but only with him. The small instances of pain he unleashes on me come with a possessiveness to them. Even when he tied me up. I’d been so pissed but so turned on too. I was helpless under his control. And for some unknown reason, I like that feeling when it comes to him. “Is that what you made yourself believe? That I’d harm you?” Bjornsson lifts his head so his eyes can meet mine. “Throw you out?”
“I, ah–” He cups my cheek with his hand, his thumbs caressing me. Bjornsson can be sweet and rough too. I’ve noticed I’m the only one that truly gets the sweet side of him. “Yes,” I admit. I was looking for any reason to run. I’ve never experienced the emotions that he makes me feel. I don’t know how to process them. The more I want him, the more I’m scared to lose him.
“You don’t want me to hurt you here.” Bjornsson suddenly rips my shirt open like it’s a sheet of paper. He kisses me in the center of my chest.
“Are you saying I don’t want you to hurt my heart or are you making up a reason to bury your face in my tits?” I laugh.
“I don’t need to make up a reason for that.” He pulls my bra off next.
“You do scare me but not for the same reason everyone else fears you.”
“I wish I could make you understand that I’m not going to disappear or be done with you.” His words comfort me in a way that I didn’t even know I needed. Him leaving affected me more than I’m willing to admit.
“You did disappear,” I whisper. That had burned.
“I did,” he agrees. “I knew I had to handle what was to come. To protect you. If I got close to you, I’d never do what needed to be done. We would have been locked in this room for days.”
“But you did come. I swore I could smell you when I woke up that first week but then–”
“I lay beside you while you slept. I couldn’t stay away. But my control over myself was slowly stripping away each night.”
“You barely know me, but you’re going to give up so much for me?” I cut right to the chase because I need to know if his feelings for me are as deep as mine are for him.
“I knew the second you entered this church. There are things you simply know without question. I could have let you go. Santino did try and get you back. I wouldn’t let him have you. No one can but me.” Bjornsson goes for my pants, pulling them down along with my panties, leaving me naked in his bed with him looming over me.
“And don’t tell me you didn’t know either. You haven’t feared me from the start. If anything, you tried to provoke me.” I lick my lips. Oh, I had.