Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 38738 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38738 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
“Why are you helping me?”
“Because it's beneficial for both of us.”
“I don’t see how. You said I wasn’t supposed to be here, but everything that happened says otherwise.”
He stopped without warning and let go of my hand. Right there in the middle of the staircase, he turned and slipped his arms around my waist. His hands gripped my hips like a lover would.
“I knew the second you walked through Sainte’s front door. It wasn’t hard to swap a few names out with you and your friends. There were always going to be eight people in that barn tonight. It just so happened you got to be one of them.”
“I could have died.” As the words left my mouth, it was the first time this dawned on me. The thought of dying hadn’t once crossed my mind. I’d been wholly focused on surviving.
“You’re standing here in my arms, alive.”
The simplicity of his reply and the way he delivered it pissed me off all over again. I pushed against him, hoping he’d let me go and fall down the damn stairs.
He held me tighter. “You have a lot of reasons to be upset, but this wasn’t done to hurt you. I promise.”
“That’s exactly what it did,” I retorted, immediately wishing I hadn’t. It was an omission that revealed vulnerability, something he hadn’t earned the right to see from me.
He studied my face before leaning closer, placing his mouth beside my ear, he began speaking softly.
“Beneath the spare tire in your trunk is a burner phone. Text me when you’re ready to talk.”
I slightly leaned away, turning my head so that I could look into his eyes. “What makes you so sure I’ll keep my mouth shut or even want to speak to you again?”
He released my hips and brought his hands to my face. Fingers tangled in my hair as he pulled my mouth to his and kissed me. It wasn’t soft or gentle. It was bold and borderline possessive. He didn’t seek my consent or shyly wait for my submission, he demanded both.
His tongue swept between my parted lips and entwined with mine. As if possessed, I kissed him back, not submitting but giving in to what he wanted. I gripped the hem of his shirt, warming with need like I never had before. Maybe it was the way his hands held me or how his body felt pressed against mine.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer, swallowing back a moan when one of his hands dropped to my ass. I wasn’t sure who broke away first. When we finally parted, he stared at my lips, his confliction evident.
Both his hands slowly returned to my waist as he leaned down and whispered victoriously. “That’s how I know you’ll call me, Puppet.”
I swallowed as our gazes collided. The look in his eyes was intensely covetous, threatening to drown me in their brilliant blue depths. I rolled my lips together and breathed him in.
“There were a lot of other ways for you to prove your point.”
“I was proving something to both of us. Do you know how long we’ve waited for this?”
I went completely still, my brain zeroing in on his confession. No matter what kind of fantasies I’d had involving him, I never expected a single one of them to become a reality. I didn’t trust him enough to respond honestly, choosing to plead the fifth.
“This shouldn’t be happening.”
“This was inevitable,” he swore with a touch of anger.
I forced myself to look away, suddenly remembering where we were. Sure enough, we’d garnered a fair amount of attention, which was to be expected. I didn’t let anyone put their hands on me. Not even my ex could get away with kissing me like this. Allowing Ciaran to do so was downright scandalous.
“Do you know how many people are watching us right now?”
“Of course, I do.” Clasping my jaw, he gently turned my face back towards him. “That’s exactly why I did it.”
He showed no signs of remorse or regret. Without having to say a word he’d unapologetically told everyone here that I was his.
CHAPTER SIX
You’re not supposed to let where you come from define you or shape your future, but it's where I came from that made me who I was and paved the path I was expected to walk. It was the expectancy that made me so determined to be my own person.
A few weeks ago, I graduated early at the top of my class. I suppose that’s something I should’ve been happy about. I’d worked my ass off to achieve honors, but it wasn’t done for any kind of self-gratification or for my future.
A diploma meant nothing when you had a golden ticket that guaranteed you’d be riding shotgun straight to hell.
I’d been trying my best not to think about this, but wasn’t that how life was supposed to go?