Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 76319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Maybe he was lying. Maybe he was just trying to scare me.
I think he likes the chase just as much as I like being the prey.
I have one more week until spring break. As a student that honestly hates fucking college, I should be thrilled, but I’ll be at Ayla’s house, the one she shares with Nash. It’s a nice enough place, but I hate the isolation.
There’s no way for him to hide in the shadows. The property has so much surveillance on it, I don’t think a bird can land a hundred yards from the house and not be detected on the security system. I know it’s what Ayla needs to feel safe, but it’s extremely confining for me.
I should be happy I still have a sister to visit because, unbeknownst to me, I almost lost that chance.
I turn the shower off, feeling like an ungrateful brat who, even after facing tragedy, is so selfish about opportunities I’ll miss while I’m there. I’ll have no chance of seeing him in the middle of nowhere.
Going home with Blakely isn’t an option. I lied when I told Donavan she went home for the weekend.
A week ago, Blakely’s worst nightmare came true. She was out hiking by herself on a trail she was very familiar with. The washout rain from the previous week left spots unstable. One minute, she was on solid ground and the next, she was falling face-first into a ravine. It took hours of screaming for help before someone else happened along. The injuries to her right leg were so extensive she had to have surgery.
I’ve spoken to her a couple of times but was told a visit was out of the question. Her parents apparently feel as if getting hurt has somehow brought shame to the family. They’ve closed rank as if she’s been involved in some scandal rather than hurt in a hiking accident. Those people are weird as fuck.
Thankfully, the hallway is empty when I head back to my room.
I shrug off my robe and climb under the sheets completely naked, my body sore in the most perfect way. I consider the very minimal chances that Donavan may follow me back to Mission while I’m on spring break.
The threat of danger follows me into my dreams where I spend the night running from shadows.
Chapter 14
Donavan
I’ve been twitchy for fucking days.
I forced myself to get into my truck on the Lindell University campus. The second I drove away, I knew I had to keep going. Leaving has grown increasingly difficult, but I knew I had to put an end to it.
I couldn’t keep showing up. Warning her makes no difference, but that part of me that normally feels justified knowing I’ll have to tell someone I told you so never arrives.
I don’t want her to get hurt, but I also know there’s nothing I can do to keep it from happening.
In fact, she seems hell-bent on getting there on her own. Short of locking her away, I don’t see it as a possibility.
My lip twitches at the prospect of having her all to myself. I think she’d enjoy the hell out of it at first. She’d lift those hips, angle that perfect ass of hers toward me, and offer anything I wanted to take from her.
But eventually, the darkness would be too much. The rough hands would stop being enough. My inability to offer her anything would leave her wanting something else. She’d grow desperate for a softer touch, and that’s not something my hardened self would ever be capable of giving her.
My eyes dart to the left, out my driver’s side window. The drunk man staggering down the block poses no threat to me, so I shift my attention back to the house I’m watching.
Normally, I’d feel something, anything, while working. There would be a simmer of a thrill for what I’ve been hired to do, but tonight brings none of it. I’m almost bored tonight, wishing I was anywhere but here right now. It won’t stop me from getting the job done, but it does make for a very long night.
I stay vigilant, wishing that staking out a house also had the ability to clear my mind. If I could erase all my memories of her, I’d take it in a heartbeat. I don’t need nor do I want her in my head. But I’ve learned from experience the last two months that actively trying to keep her from my thoughts only makes it worse, so I let visions of her swim through my head, ignoring my thickening cock when those thoughts go back to the last time I was with her.
My phone vibrates in my pocket a second before the name pops up on the screen. Ignoring it only puts it off for a few hours. If I know anything, it’s that my sister Madelene is willing to call at any time of day or night in an effort to catch me at a good time. I’ve told her numerous times there’s never a good time to call, but she doesn’t listen.