Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 128061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
“Why would she call you off? What’s in it for her?”
“Her dignity? Her sense of right and wrong? I don’t know; I’m not her. She rationalized that whatever creatures make you up, it clearly hasn’t stopped you from holding a job and securing a cairn. Jessie doesn’t want to steal your future from you, Tristan. You tell me, is that something a person like me could make up?”
He pushed back a little, his eyes darting from side to side. Then his gaze traveled her face, reading her expression, and settled on her lips.
“Why does she care about my future? Why do you think so poorly of yourself?”
“To answer the first, I’ll tell you what she told me. That just because we have animosity between us, I shouldn’t want to ruin your chance at happiness. You hadn’t done anything to deserve that.”
“We have animosity?”
“Now? Yes. Before now? No. She didn’t know that. She humbled me with the assumption.”
He paused for a moment before bringing up his other hand slowly, using his thumb to wipe away her tears. “And the other?”
“You have no idea what kind of monster you’ve caught,” she whispered. “I look at Jessie and know that I never could’ve turned out like that. I would never have even thought about the possibility that I was ruining an adversary for no good reason. It wouldn’t have bothered me. Still doesn’t, most of the time. I don’t know what it would be like to live in peace. To have the illusion of safety.”
“Survival isn’t pretty, little one,” he whispered. “Being forced to survive doesn’t make you a monster.”
“Said the big monster to the little one.” She smiled up at him as another tear fell. “I’ve never cried this much in anyone’s presence. Not since I was a girl, at least.”
“Why?” He wiped another of her tears away. “Why allow me to see your vulnerability?”
She shrugged. “Maybe because you keep putting me in situations where I’m utterly vulnerable. Or maybe because I don’t have to stay strong for you. You don’t rely on me staying upbeat.”
“I don’t trust anyone who is happy all the time. It tells me they’re hiding something.”
She laughed at that.
“I couldn’t understand why your mistress pushed herself against my wound in our battle,” he said, his confusion still evident. “I thought she made the gash that deep because she wanted to expose me. Only certain parts of my body bleed in a way that expose…what I am.”
She breathed out, leaning her head back against the tree. “I don’t think you can possibly know how curious I am about your secrets. They are so intriguing. I have so many questions.”
“I feel the same sense of intrigue about you, my little deathwatch angel. Or should I call you my little monster?”
“They’re both equally true. And no, she didn’t mean to expose you. She’s incredibly new to magic. I hear she was an absolute terror in the beginning. She has an incredible amount of power and not a lot of control. She messed up, went a little too hard, and then fixed it. It’s not all about you, you know.”
He dragged his thumb across her jugular, making her shiver, before pulling his hand away. His body remained close, though, dousing her in his heat.
“Why do you…smell like blood?”
Suddenly his hands were everywhere, pulling her shirt so that he could place his hand on her chest, feeling along her stomach and around to her back. Good Lord, why did that touch feel so good? Bad sign.
“Hey, what— Stop. No touching.” She swatted his hands away.
“This isn’t your blood.” He pulled her away from the tree and slid his hands along her back, checking her for signs of damage. “Whose blood is this?”
“It’s— You’re still touching.”
He grabbed the hem of her shirt and ripped it over her head, exposing her lacy bra. She didn’t get a chance to berate him. He’d already stepped back, pulled his flannel from his wide shoulders, revealing a tight white vest and a whole lot of defined muscle, and then draped it around hers, covering her up again. He helped her put her arms through the sleeves and then tied the bottom ends together so that it cinched at her waist.
“I’m not sure what just happened,” she said, looking down at the flannel she was now swimming in. She breathed in his scent, which was all around her now. God, he smelled good.
“Your shirt was ruined. I gave you another.” He motioned for her to get walking. “I’ll escort you home.”
“You were literally just threatening my life, and now we’re swapping shirts and you want to escort me home? You are bonkers, bro.”
“We seem to start off on the wrong foot whenever we meet.”
“Is that what you call grabbing my throat and threatening to kill me?”
“Obviously.”
“Great. Well…” She bent down and scooped her shirt up off the ground from where he’d discarded it. “This is evidence I can’t just leave lying around.”