Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 120031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 600(@200wpm)___ 480(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 600(@200wpm)___ 480(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
Casey caught his face in her hands. “You didn’t let Roni down. My guess is she feels guilty that you were forced to fight in that ring just to keep her safe from further trauma. You’d tell her that was dumb, and she’d call you that very same thing if she could hear you now.” He only shrugged. “You didn’t tell me about the fighting ring earlier because you thought I’d judge you for the things you’d done, didn’t you?”
“Who wouldn’t?”
She exhaled heavily. “Eli, you didn’t duel in the fighting ring because you wanted to.”
“Doesn’t matter. I hurt a lot of people, Casey. Hurt them bad before I killed them. Real bad. None died easily. Not all of them wanted to be there. I could tell when, like me, they were being forced to fight. But I couldn’t let that matter. Couldn’t help them. Couldn’t even help myself or my sister.”
“You were just a juvenile, Eli, you couldn’t have gone up against him. You did what you had to do to survive, just like the other boys in your pack did, and no one could ever blame or judge you for that.”
Maybe. Maybe not. “Even when life got better, I was as bad as my mom and Nick for assuming I knew what Roni was feeling and what she needed. She used to disappear in her wolf form for months at a time to escape how suffocated we made her feel.”
Casey put her face closer to his. “She loves you. She does, Eli. I see it in every crazy interaction that you guys have.” She slid her hands from his face into his hair. “If you’d really let her down, she wouldn’t feel safe with you. Wouldn’t feel safe enough to tease you, wouldn’t trust that you’d never take the pranks so far that you crossed a line for her. I’m telling you, your sister loves you. How could she not? You’re rather loveable.”
Eli sucked in a breath and swallowed hard. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” she said, her voice soft.
“You love me?”
“Duh.”
He smiled. “That’s good. It’s very, very good. Because I love you more than I’ve ever loved anything. I genuinely don’t know how I functioned without you.”
“You told your mom you were miserable before me.”
“I was. The night I found you, I’d just heard that my cousin from another pack had found his mate. I couldn’t even be happy for him. I wanted to be, but I was too envious. It just seemed like everyone around me was moving on to the next stage of their lives while I was alone. So I was …”
“Brooding,” she supplied.
He shot her a mock glare. “Contemplating life.” He ignored her little snort. “And then there you were. Even now, when I’m feeling like shit, I’m happier than I’ve ever been purely because I have you. It never matters how much I have on my mind, you’re always up here.” He tapped his temple. “Distracting me. Calming me. Reminding me that I’m a lucky fucker. Making me look forward to getting the day over with so I can get back to you.”
Casey swallowed. “And yet, you kept all that stuff from me because you thought I’d judge you. Such a dumbass.”
A startled laugh bubbled out of him. “A dumbass? I tell you that you make me the happiest I’ve ever been, and you call me a dumbass. I feel so loved.”
“You are loved, which is why it makes me mad when you put yourself through the ringer and start brooding—”
“I don’t brood.”
“I’d ask you to promise that you won’t mentally beat yourself up like that again, but I don’t suppose you will.”
He made a speculative sound. “I don’t know, baby. When you set to work on my cock and do that thing with your tongue … yeah, I reckon you could get me to promise you just about anything.”
Her lips curled. “You’re kind of easy for my mouth.”
“I love your mouth.” He gave her a slow, deep kiss, smoothing his hands up her back.
Breaking the kiss, she flashed him an impish smile. “So … want to help me with something in the bedroom?”
He hummed. “What kind of help do you need?”
“Oh, it’ll be a very hands-on job. The kind you’re best at.”
Chuckling, he stood with her in his arms. “I’m always happy to give you a helping hand. Tell me more about what this job entails,” he said as he headed for the bedroom.
“Well …”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Casey kept her eye on the ball as a striker for the opposing team positioned herself to take a free kick. With no clouds to ease the brightness of the sun, she found herself constantly squinting to avoid the sharp rays of light. Sweat trickled down her flushed skin and stung the graze on her cheek that was courtesy of an “accidental” foul.