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)
“So polite,” I say, with a light teasing note.
I watch my woman walk across the restaurant, trying to bury the urge to run over to her and press myself against her. I can just about resist, but it’s far more difficult when she’s standing, giving me a full view of her body.
My phone buzzes.
I check it, wondering if it’s Andrea with an update about Speeder.
But it’s Mia.
I know this is silly, but I don’t know how to say it in person. But I wanted you to know… I’m ready. Well, I want to be ready. I want to try. I want to be together. Being in this restaurant – being on the ‘outside’ has made me realize I don’t want to be afraid anymore. Or, if I am afraid, I want to move toward the fear, not away from it. I want to overcome my fears. I want you, Killian. I want you to take the lead.
My lips twitch as I stare down at my phone, more like my usual savage smirk than a smile.
You belong to me, I reply. So, of course, I’ll take the lead.
I’m ready to give myself to you. Not just my body. My heart. My soul. My future. Everything. Some women my age might think they’d be ‘missing out’ by finding their man so young, but I don’t. What we have is too special. And now I know why I didn’t say this in person… I’m crying in here.
Get out here, I text quickly.
But I can’t wait.
Standing, I walk toward the restrooms.
Mia emerges from the ladies’ room, her eyes glistening as she walks down the hallway.
I sweep her into my arms, holding her tightly, leaning down to kiss the warm tears from her cheeks.
“Why are you crying?” I whisper, kissing them away.
“Because I never thought I’d find this.” She clings to me, her hands digging into my back through the fabric of my shirt. “I never thought I’d….”
“What, Mia?” I squeeze her tighter, letting her speak into my chest through tangled sobs.
“I never thought I’d want to face my fears, want to go outside, want to fight instead of run. But you’ve given me that strength.”
“No, no,” I say quickly, leaning back and brushing her cheek with my thumb. “I haven’t given you anything. I’ve just helped you see what was there all along.”
CHAPTER 23
Mia
“Sorry if that was weird, the way I ran off to the bathroom,” I say as Killian drives us back toward his apartment building.
“I get it,” he says, his voice steady and deep. “Sometimes, texting is easier.”
“Especially for us,” I reply, my tone joking even as my heart hammers.
I told him I was ready, that I was done running, and it was the truth. I don’t want to spend my entire life running away from things, wondering how something can hurt me, believing the worst part of Dad’s obsession.
I want to move toward what makes me anxious….
Even if it’s hard.
But with Killian, I can do it.
At a red light, he looks at me, his eyes intense. It’s that way he has of looking at me like nothing else matters like a meteor could crash into the city, the car could flip over, and he’d still never take his eyes off me.
It makes me feel wanted, yes, but also real in a way that hiding in the apartment never could.
“I prefer being with you in person,” he says. “But I’ll always have a soft spot for texting since it’s how we started.”
“Some things are easier to say over text, though.”
“For an adorably cute virgin like you, maybe.”
His hand comes to rest on my leg, squeezing gently, taking any possible sting out of his words. It comes from a warm, loving place.
But any warmth seeps out of the atmosphere as we arrive on Killian’s street to find several men leaning against the corner of the building, right near the entrance to the underground parking lot.
“Emil,” Killian snaps.
My blood turns icy as I stare at him, the man who barged into our apartment and made me wonder if he was going to let us go… or do something evil. He’s got a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.
The men around him – four in total – are all big, with wide shoulders and a violent air around them. It’s like they could snap into action at any second, but I can’t quite figure out why.
It’s as if Dad’s protective instincts are coming in use for once.
Run away, sings out in my mind over and over.
Emil pushes away from the wall, gestures to us with his cigarette then flicks it.
“Who the hell does he think he is?” Killian growls. “He can’t keep showing up like this. And after what he did to you and Speeder….”
“Killian, wait,” I yell, but it’s too late.
Killian throws the car door open and steps from the vehicle, his massive body even tenser than usual, pressing through the fabric of his clothes, his silver hair shining like armor.