Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 38835 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38835 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
Evelyn shushed me gently. “You’re not responsible,” my angel repeated, a firm promise. “The boy who shot them is the only one to be blamed for their deaths. You tried to defend your family, just like you defended me.”
I looked at her with awe. “You’re not afraid of me after what you saw me do to those men?”
A light shiver raced over her skin, but her peridot gaze was steady and earnest on mine. “No, I’m not afraid of you, Massimo. I never want to see anything like that again, but you protected me. You saved me.”
As long as she was with me, I couldn’t promise that she’d never witness violence.
But I couldn’t let her go, not even now that I realized the depth of my sins. She was looking at me like I was a good man. I would do anything to keep her, to make her mine again.
Evelyn belonged to me, body and soul. In time, she would surrender her heart willingly. I would settle for nothing less.
Chapter 12
Evelyn
Massimo didn’t take his hands off me for the entire trip back to Mexico City. Stefano gave us privacy during the flight, and as soon as we returned to the safety of his high rise, Massimo whisked me back to our suite.
Ever since he’d confessed his feelings of guilt this morning, he’d been quiet but intense, his full focus on me. Being the center of Massimo’s universe was addictive, and I found that I didn’t want his shining silver eyes to waver from my face.
The trauma I’d endured last night might’ve contributed to my neediness today, but I couldn’t bring myself to care that I was just as fixated on him as he was on me. I needed his strength, his grounding touch, to keep me from tumbling into the darkness of what I’d suffered.
I’d been a fool to try to run away from him. At the time, it’d seemed like my only option.
But what was waiting for me back in Albuquerque?
A shell of a life, the remnants of a painful past and the lost future that I’d thought I would spend with George.
I wasn’t sure of the right path to take. Committing myself to Massimo meant accepting a place in his criminal underworld. I’d seen a glimpse of his awful reality in Colombia, and it’d been horrific enough to drive me away from him.
I didn’t want to leave him. He looked at me like he needed me more than his next breath, and he’d promised to be better for me. He’d sworn to be more communicative and to treat me with respect.
I still needed to see more proof of that through his actions, but I suspected he would prove it to me soon enough. Massimo always kept his promises, and he was a man of action. He didn’t offer me empty words; he showed me who he was.
Even if he was capable of unspeakable violence, he was still Massimo, my dark protector.
I leaned into him as we entered the bedroom, going up onto my toes to claim a deep, desperate kiss. It was the first one we’d shared since his difficult confessions this morning, and now that we were in private, I would soothe him in every way that I could.
And I needed to feel him too. I needed to join with him, to reassure myself that we were both alive and safe in each other’s arms.
My fingers fumbled at his shirt, roughly tugging the soft cotton up his muscular torso to reveal his powerful body. He stripped it off and resumed our kiss, tearing at my clothes in his desperation to touch me. Within seconds, we were both naked. I sighed into his mouth, calm settling over me as his bare skin caressed mine.
“I need you,” he murmured against my mouth, neither of us wanting to break the kiss.
“Yes,” I panted. “I want you, Massimo.”
“I don’t think I can be gentle,” he confessed, nipping at my lower lip. I gasped at the small flare of pain and tipped my head back, welcoming more of his savage claim.
His low growl vibrated against my tongue, and whatever restraint he’d possessed snapped. He stepped into me, backing me up toward the bed. When the backs of my thighs hit the mattress, he tossed me down on it and settled his weight over me. His big hand cupped my cheek, his thumb hooking below my jaw to capture my face. He stared down at me, his shining wolf’s eyes glinting with a feral light.
My lips parted, and I tipped my chin back in silent invitation, craving more of his fierce kisses.
Instead, his hand trailed lower. His calloused fingertips brushed the side of my neck, testing my racing pulse. His palm settled over my throat, and I went utterly still. He didn’t apply any pressure, but the primal dominance of his hand around my neck brought out my base instincts. My body softened, surrendering to his claim. Heat pooled low in my belly, and my sex pulsed with need.