Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 138683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
Why Tessa would give the way she did.
I was more than ready to call it a night when Kult and I dipped out the side door and into the employee lot at just after three a.m.
The air was cool, brushing against my heated flesh like a balm that might soothe the fire that burned within.
I locked the heavy metal door behind us before I ambled down the three steps to the pitted pavement below. The deep darkness was cut by the hazy glow of lights that streamed down from the sides of the brick building.
I took a furtive glance around, making sure we were in the clear and ready to roll.
Head bouncers were always the last to leave, ensuring the rest of the staff made it safely to their cars after closing up and doing one last sweep of the interior to verify it was empty.
“Looks good, yeah?” Kult asked.
“Yup.”
“See you tomorrow night, then, brother,” he said as we crossed the lot.
“Night.”
He climbed onto his Harley that was parked next to my old truck. Cranking open my door, I hopped into the driver’s seat.
“Ride safe,” I told him.
“Never.” He winked.
Chuckling, I shut my door, turned the ignition, and the loud engine rumbled to life. I’d restored the ancient blue Ford about two years before, and I took it out every now and again to keep the old girl alive.
Kult’s bike grumbled as he kicked it over, and he gave me a little salute as he pulled out and took to the road.
I backed out, and the spray of headlights illuminated the dense forest that enclosed the area.
My heart nearly jumped out of my chest when I made out a grainy figure leaning against a big boulder just off to the right, hidden in the shadows of the towering trees. The wash of headlights flooded over her, sending that red dress glittering like a dizzying mess of stars.
What the fuck was she doing out here alone?
Throat closing off, I rammed on the brake right where I was, and I shoved the truck back into park.
Her expression nearly made me lose it.
She looked lost.
Broken.
Beaten down.
Rage coiled down my spine.
I couldn’t handle the idea of the girl out here by herself.
Of someone hurting her.
The other part of me was fuckin’ relieved that she was here. At least for the moment, she wasn’t subjected to that dick.
I breathed deep to rein the chaos that caught me up in her cyclone before I tossed open the door and slipped out.
Didn’t feign to know the details about her and Karl’s relationship, but I’d bet my goddamn life he was responsible. It’d been close to three hours since she’d walked out, and I had no clue what’d transpired between now and then, but I was certain it wasn’t good.
I rounded to the front of my truck, the words coming out rough. “What are you doing out here, Tessa?”
Eyes the color of a thousand seas roiled.
Tumultuous and uncontained.
Every cell in my body clutched.
Tears streaked down her stunning face, and those thick locks of red hair were a disaster. She swallowed hard, her delicate throat bobbing as she did. “I…”
She blinked as her gaze drifted to the side before she brought her focus back to me and whispered, “I don’t even know. I came back to wait for Eden, but I just sat here and watched her leave.”
Torment rippled through her expression, and her smile cracked at the side.
Lost.
Definitely lost.
“It’s okay, Little Dove. You’re not alone.” Carefully, I approached. Every step I took sent swells of protectiveness rising from the depths. It made it hard to keep my head on straight. To remember my boundaries. The places I couldn’t go.
That was the problem with Tessa.
She got me off-kilter. Made me itchy. Made me want to forget.
Fucking heresy.
“Are you hurt?” The question was shards.
“No. I’m fine. Completely fine. Totally fine.” She swiped at the lines of tears that tracked over the freckles dappled on her cheeks.
She gave me the biggest, fakest smile. That was when I noticed the tiny cut on the edge of her mouth.
Rage blew through me so hot and hard it nearly bowled me in two. Acid burned in my stomach, and fury curled my hands into fists.
Had spent years working to control that shit.
The kind of violence that spiraled fast and cracked me in half.
“Don’t look so fine to me.” It came out the rumble of a warning.
She laughed a shaky sound and gestured at herself, the girl still wearing that red dress that hugged her slim curves so tight it was hard not to get stuck there.
“I’m not fine? Pssh. Have you seen me?” she attempted to joke and shimmy her shoulders, but it was soaked in misery.
“What the fuck did he do to you, Tessa?” I tried to keep my voice even when I was pretty sure it came out a growl, and I knew from experience I was a hot second from going on a rampage.