Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Tonight had been a revelation, although I thought, deep down, I’d already known. I thought about her all the time. When I wasn’t with her, I felt empty, unsettled. My reaction to anything even slightly upsetting her put me on edge and had me ready to go slay whatever had stolen her smile.
Bane was right. I’d handed over my fucking soul to this woman.
I loved her.
She was feeling something for me too. My chest had felt like it was going to explode with fucking joy when I got here tonight and she lit up like the sun at the sight of me. She saw me as this man. The one that would move heaven and earth for her. Not the one that I had been when we first met.
I dropped my chin, tilting my head so I could look down at her face. For two months, I’d stood over her at night, watching her sleep, wanting to be exactly where I was right now. In this bed, with her on my chest instead of a pillow. Her coconut-honey scent and soft skin were like a balm, fixing any damage from the day. Making it insignificant.
It was where we went from here that scared the shit out of me. If I could just freeze time, keep it like we were, then it would be perfect. My own little heaven.
Because the reality of us was something she wasn’t truly ready for, and I knew it. I’d have to tell her things she wasn’t going to like and might not forgive. That was what currently felt like a vise around my throat, choking me. I wasn’t sure what she was going to hate more—my being in her house at night, watching her sleep, or the camera I had in her living room, or the scars I’d left on her brother’s body.
I had my defense ready to go, and God help if she tried to shut me out. Abduction round two was not out of the question. Except this time, I’d lock her in my bedroom and stay in there with her. Naked. Until she fell in love with me and wouldn’t leave me. Might take some time, but I wouldn’t let her shut me out.
I could always toss her birth control and replace it with some vitamin or sugar pill. Get her pregnant with my baby. I blew out a hard breath. That was probably considered psycho behavior though. I might need to scratch that one. Make it a last resort.
“Mmmm.” The soft sound came past her lips as she slid a leg over mine and snuggled closer to me.
I studied her upturned face. The first time I’d seen a photo of her, it had felt like a punch in the gut, and I didn’t normally react that way to a beautiful face. Until hers.
I was keeping her. There was no other path. She’d have to accept that.
Brushing my fingers over her forehead to get the hair out of her lashes, I whispered, “Mine.” Even if she wasn’t awake to hear it. Her subconscious needed to get on board too. We had some hurdles to overcome.
When she forgave me for the shit I’d done, we would have to work on her accepting that she was going to require security at the school with her and she was moving in with me. The apartment needed to go. She would be more comfortable in my bed anyway.
“Oz,” she whispered, but her eyes didn’t open. Her face turned and nuzzled my chest.
I grinned. “Easy, darlin’,” I said softly. “You’ll wake up with my cock inside you.”
The thought of it had me already stiffening.
Thirty-Three
Winslet
Talking to Perry on the other side of glass was as depressing this time as it had been last time.
On either side of his face were thin white scars, covered by the beard he’d grown since being in there. When I had first seen them, they were much worse, but they were fresh. They’d healed better than I’d expected. He wouldn’t talk about it when I asked him about them, so I had let it go.
Marley had teared up on me, then sniffled and cried on the ride back home, which didn’t help the mood seeing him like that had put me in.
He hadn’t even served two full months yet, and he had the potential to serve eight years.
Another question he refused to answer was why he had done it. I just couldn’t get that. It was so unlike him.
This morning, I had woken up with a note from Oz on the pillow beside me. He had said he had to get to work, and I wondered what that meant exactly. What did he consider work? One of the many things I didn’t know about Oz Savelle. I was pretty sure I was falling in love and was already obsessed with him, but there was so much about each other’s lives we didn’t know.