Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 90114 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90114 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
His eyes meet mine. He stares down at me like he's madly in love with me. Then he brings his palm to my skin. He cups my cheek as he leans down to kiss me.
For a second, the rest of the world fades away. I forget my family is behind me. I forget Shep's colleagues are in front of me.
I forget our deal, the timeline, everything that makes this complicated.
For a moment, I'm in a perfect kiss. Like something out of a fairy tale. The moment where the prince claims the princess. Where the couple declares happily ever after.
True love.
Forever.
My lips part.
His tongue slides into my mouth.
It's not like before. He's still claiming me, but it's not just my body. It's my heart, my soul, my everything.
My fingers curl into his skin. Then his short hair.
His hands go to my lower back.
He holds my body against his as he kisses me a little deeper, a little longer.
Then he pulls back with a smile. One that screams I love you.
My knees knock. My head spins. It feels so real. So true. So pure.
My aunts cheer. My dad shakes his head.
Shep's gaze shifts to the door. To two men standing near the entrance, watching us carefully.
Two older men. One in a simple grey suit. The kind of guy who blends into the background. Or who would, if he wasn't rich enough to make people notice.
And a man I never thought I'd see again.
Shep's stepfather, Lucien.
What the hell is he doing here?
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Shepard
The room gets hot. Stuffy.
Jasmine looks up at me, confusion in her dark eyes. She doesn't know why that bastard is here. She doesn't think he has anything to do with this.
She never liked him. She couldn't explain why. It was a bad feeling. An intuition.
I tried to convince her it was nothing. That she was imagining things.
I tried to convince myself.
Failure on both counts.
She knows something is off. She shouldn't have a fucking clue—most people invite their parents to their weddings. The bastard never adopted me officially, but he is the man who married my mother.
Most people would call him my father.
She should expect him.
But, somehow, she knows this is wrong.
Nick's words echo through my head. She's a smart woman. She'll find out sooner or later. Better if she hears it from you.
No doubt, the last part is true. But he's wrong about the former.
She won't put the pieces together.
She won't find out.
Not sooner. And not later.
Not as long as I'm drawing breath.
I shrug my shoulders, trying to loosen the tension in my back.
It doesn't help.
I try to soften my expression. To stare into her eyes like I love her.
But that's not enough either.
It's still there. In my head. He's here. He's watching. He's probably getting off on it.
I close my eyes. Let my thoughts drift to better places. Dragging Jasmine to the coat check, pinning her to the wall, tearing off her dress.
Licking her until she's come so many times she begs me to stop.
Ordering her to get on her knees and—
I pull her into a deep kiss. It's not like before. Not the sweet, patient kiss of a groom.
I'm not a loving fiancé, right now.
I'm a fucking beast. And she's my prey. And I'm going to have her any way I can.
Her lips part for my tongue.
She groans against my mouth, melting into me as I claim her body. She likes me rough. She likes me aggressive. She likes me completely out of touch with my limits.
She shouldn't. It should scare her. She should realize that some things are beyond her control.
Some things are destiny.
And I—
Maybe my brother can find happiness. Maybe he can shake off this curse. But I know better. I know what happens to men like me when women trust them.
She pulls back with a heady sigh. Her entire body is tuned to me, like I'm the only thing in the universe.
It soothes something inside me. Something raw and primal.
Nick is right. She deserves better. She deserves someone who will truly love her.
But I'm selfish. I want her anyway. I'm taking her anyway.
"Save something for the honeymoon." Jasmine's Aunt Mai giggles. She says something in Vietnamese, no doubt something about me.
Everyone laughs. Even Jasmine.
I don't mind being out of the know. It doesn't matter what language they're speaking. I won't understand them either way.
The happy family brimming with love—
That's far beyond my comprehension.
"I'm afraid I need to borrow my fiancée." My fingers curl around her wrist. It's tighter than it should be. Too obviously possessive.
But no one seems to mind. If anything, Jasmine's aunts approve. They whisper something else. I don't have a clue what they're saying. Only that their tone is positive.
Jasmine says a goodbye to her family then she follows me across the room. Her eyes flit from her family to mine—first that bastard, then Nick and Lizzy, who are in the corner of the room.