 by Isabella Starling.jpg)
Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 32429 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 130(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32429 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 130(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
I betrayed my best friend for my ruthless captor.
This is my punishment.
Now I live my life in darkness. Perpetually blindfolded and bound, I am at the mercy of Xavier’s brother.
He wants to take away the one thing Xavier wants most.
He wants to steal the thing most sacred to Xavier – my womb.
But I’m not going to break.
Not unless it’s for my dark protector.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Chapter 1
TALLULAH
The woods stretch around me as far as I can see.
I'm terrified, my heart pounding in my chest and reminding me just how mortal I am every second I spend in the woods. I'm still naked, running around like a lost doe, trying to find my way out of this place. The shadowy fingers of the forest extend towards me, inviting me into their dark embrace.
It would be so easy to keep running, if only I weren't so tired. So damn tired of trying to search for my freedom, trying to get free of Xavier's cruel grasp over me. I could keep running as far as I can, and as long as I can, even though my lungs threaten to give out by the time twenty minutes are up.
I'm afraid. I'm afraid he's going to find me and drag me back to his lair where he'll do whatever cruel things he has planned for me, excruciatingly slowly, just to torture me further.
I don't know whether or not I'm imagining the footsteps falling into step behind me. Maybe it's all a dream. Maybe it's all an illusion that Xavier gave me, and I'm still stuck in solitary confinement in that prison cell where I nearly lost my mind. I don't know whether this is all some figment of my imagination, designed to make me feel even more trapped than I am. I keep imagining Xavier calling out after me. My name, my nickname, every name under the sun to get me to crawl back to him like I wanted to do from the first second he came back into my life. There is no denying the feelings I have for my guardian anymore, as hard as I try to fight them.
All my emotions are back in full force now, reminding me I've always been in love with him. And that is a stark and terrible realization because it's the last thing I want. I don't want to be submissive to a man who has treated me so poorly. A man who has ruined my family and has been making my parents lives hell for decades.
I need to escape one last time to fulfill my duty to my family. After all, when I was born, Xavier was promised to be given ownership of me once I turned eighteen, and I'm that age now. A ripe age for taking.
I stumble to a stop in front of a large tree. My heart is pounding and I feel bile rising in my throat. I don't know if it's because I ran too fast or because of the panic that's overwhelmingly filling my body, to the point of escaping through gasps and groans that rip themselves from my lips as I lean against the thick tree trunk of the tree and try to catch my breath. I'm beyond lost. Now I have no idea where we came from, or which direction I'm supposed to be running away from.
I'm also hungry. Those five meals that I declined in Xavier's private prison cell are really coming out to haunt me. I remember the taste of food in my mouth, craving even that small slice of buttered bread.
My mouth salivates at the thought. I'm thirsty too, longing for a simple drink of water. A tall glass of something cold and fizzy. But I know it's not going to come anytime soon. The fear gets worse from minute to minute. And as those turn into hours, I realize I've never been more alone. Now that Xavier has given up on me, I truly have nobody.
It's too dangerous for me to seek out my parents because Xavier could find them through me and hurt them just for their involvement in my relationship with them.
My mind keeps circling around the men in my life who've shaped me into the person I am today.
First I think of Xavier, of course. My dark protector, the man who stood by my side and promised to guide me through life and give me every opportunity I've ever dreamed of. I betrayed him in the worst possible way and deep down I know I have this punishment coming. After all, I don't deserve his love. Not after I tried to kill him.
And then there's my father. He's a dark figure himself, and he's the one who trained me to be an assassin so I could finally plunge the knife into Xavier's heart like he never could. I don't know if I'm ready to forgive him for training me to be this person. I don't want to be this person.