Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 46838 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46838 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
He grips my wrist harder, staring into my eyes with something like desperation. It’s as though there’s far more between us than a few kisses and one in-person conversation, as though this tatted, savage man wants me the same way I want him.
Can I dare to dream that’s true?
I take a breath, nodding. “I promise.”
Killian leans close as if to kiss me but then glances at Mom. I take a step back, silently telling him we shouldn’t do that here, in front of her.
I can sense those chains again, the hunger he’s just barely holding back.
“Once you get to my apartment, don’t leave. If you have any problems along the way, call me. I have to go now.”
“How are you going to find him?” I ask, thinking of Speeder, the cute greyhound with rusty-orange fur.
“I got a partial on Emil’s license plate. And I’ve got a few cop buddies from my fighting days, and I’ve tatted some too. I’ll ask them first. Maybe hire a PI. I don’t know. Jesus. But I have to get him back.”
I rush forward and place my hand against my man’s chest.
He raises his hand and lays it atop mine, pushing down so I can feel the thundering of his heart.
“It’ll be okay. I’ll cover my end. And thank you.”
“For bringing Emil into your life?” he says sarcastically.
“No… for caring.”
He stares at me for a long moment, making me even more certain there are unspoken feelings here. But I still don’t know how he feels about me being a virgin.
It doesn’t matter now.
Just this look, this knowledge is enough….
He came for me, risked everything, and risked his dog.
“Go,” I whisper. “I’ll be okay.”
“Promise you’ll go to my apartment.”
“I promise.”
The second I tell him, he spins, running for the door. He moves with the same urgency I imagine him using if somebody ever threatened one of our future children.
I go to Mom, taking her hands in mine.
“Mom, we have to go.”
She glances at the door and shudders, then looks at me. “We can get the door fixed and….”
“No,” I yell.
She cuts short, gaping at me. The yell comes from a place deep, deep inside, a place I thought was buried a long time ago.
But that was before I left this apartment building and fell into Killian’s arms, feeling that warm embrace, the balm that soothed all anxiety.
It was before I stood up to Emil.
It was before the promise I made to my man.
“There’s no delaying this, okay? We just have to walk to the car. I can help you. But we are going.”
“But….”
“Mom,” I snap. “All my life, I’ve been afraid. All my life, I’ve been scared of finding something worth fighting for because then it means… it means I have to fight. But I promised Killian I’d get us to his apartment safely, and I will honor that.”
She tightens her hands around mine. “Who is he? He’s not just your tattoo artist.”
“No,” I say. “He’s… my boyfriend, sort of.”
“Your boyfriend? Since when?”
“It’s hard to explain,” I say. “Just please, know that he wants to keep us safe.”
There’s no doubt about that now. And especially no doubt that Emil is real.
“I’m not sure I can,” Mom whispers. “I don’t know how.”
“Just hold onto me,” I tell her. “Hang on and… and know, Mom, I’m here for you. Always. Please, just try this. For me. Please?”
She nods, even as her eyes shimmer, even though I can tell she wants to sprint into her room and never come out. “Okay.”
CHAPTER 17
Mia
She passed out on the couch the second we got to your apartment, I texted, looking down at Mom briefly.
Killian’s apartment is huge, far bigger, and far more modern than any I’ve ever been inside. The ceiling is tall with exposed rafters, and one wall is dominated by floor-to-ceiling windows that show a view of the city, with a garden on the balcony, the railing gleaming, everything gleaming.
I’m proud of her. But more importantly, is Speeder okay?
The drive to Killian’s apartment filled me with as much pulse-pounding uncertainty as it did Mom, but I kept reminding myself of what would happen if I let any of it show.
If I let Mom see how much it was freaking me out, too, she’d buckle, crumble.
So I did a thought exercise.
I imagined I was in Killian’s arms again, imagined he was holding me that first time, the feeling that smoothed over me.
Killian texts back.
He’s getting checked over by the vet now, but he seems okay. Emil would be a dead man if he hurt my dog. There was some leather in Speeder’s teeth. I guess he finally had enough and tried to bite Emil, and that’s when Emil dumped him. I’m just glad I was able to find him.
I sit on the armchair, the plushness of it threatening to swallow me, struggling to believe I’m here, in the apartment of the man whose website I stalked when meeting him seemed like a dream.