Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 87996 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87996 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Good.
Given the way I felt about her, the way my heart raced when she was near, the way my muscles tensed like I couldn’t relax if we weren’t in the same room together, the way I needed her within arm’s reach at all times?
She should be scared.
I was a bad man and I did bad things to her, and I didn’t want to stop.
“I can walk you through everything I found. Step by step, I can prove that—” She was rambling, but I didn’t need her to explain anything.
As soon as she found the path and started pulling threads, I saw everything unravel.
I knew she was right.
“Olivia.” I interrupted her endless babbling. “Shut up.”
Her mouth snapped shut.
I cupped her jaw as I towered over her, pressing my hips into hers.
There was so much I needed to say to her, so much to apologize for. She deserved groveling. I should be begging for her forgiveness, but that wasn’t who I was. I would never beg anyone for anything. So I did the only thing I could.
I kissed her.
This wasn’t like all the other kisses we had shared.
This wasn’t about me dominating her, controlling her, or showing her that I owned her body and soul.
I kissed her like I thought she was, at the very least, my equal, if not my better.
I kissed her to tell her how wrong I was and to try and show her how I felt.
Every ounce of feeling I had for her, all the admiration and adoration, the guilt and shame, all of it went into that kiss.
I hoped it told her the things I wasn’t able to voice.
She instantly melted into me.
I was going to miss this. I would miss the way her frame fit in my arms, like a puzzle piece, almost as much as I’d miss the breathy way she moaned my name when I slid into her or the way she submitted to me so beautifully.
Her hands moved to my chest. I held my breath, waiting ...
She didn’t push me away but pulled me closer. She was as hungry for my touch as I was for hers.
It was so tempting. I could pick her up and carry her to my bed. I could worship her the way I should have been this entire time. I would lay her down in the soft blankets and gently coax pleasure from her body instead of demanding it. In another life, I would have made sweet love to her until she was delirious with pleasure.
With my hands on her hips, I broke the kiss and raised my head. I had already taken so much from her. I wouldn’t take more, not like this. Not while she was my captive.
Her eyes were still closed, her lips slightly parted when I pulled away.
Olivia Manwarring deserved a knight to protect her, not the monster who stole her.
Without another word, I left her in that room alone.
I unlocked the patio door and stepped out from the glass tower that rose over the sprawling city at my feet. The air was crisp and cool. I looked out over the river and a few parks. The trees were all in brilliant shades of reds and yellows, as the last of the green of summer faded.
The uncivilized beast inside of me wanted to clasp her to my chest and bite and claw anyone who dared try to take her away from me.
But I knew that wasn’t possible.
That was the problem with a scorched earth revenge plan.
When the dust settled, there was nothing left but ashes.
I knew I had to let her go.
I couldn’t undo what I had done, but I could at least get the revenge she demanded.
Then I would never see her again.
I would arrange to have my driver drop Olivia off at her brother’s new penthouse. The one he and Amelia had bought to start their new lives was only a few short blocks from here.
It made my stomach twist with rage and guilt, but I knew I fucked up, and I knew what I had to do next.
I’d made a promise, and I intended to keep it.
With a deep breath, I made the call.
It only rang twice before it was answered.
There was no point in waiting for whatever they were going to say.
This conversation needed to happen in person.
“We need to talk,” I said. “Meet me in the usual place. Come alone.”
CHAPTER 37
OLIVIA
He left.
Marksen had grabbed me and kissed me in the way I always thought a first kiss should be, the heart-stopping, passionate kiss I saw as a girl watching movies.
He gave me the kiss I’d dreamed about for most of my life, before leaving the room.
I’d heard the door to the patio close, and had assumed when he came back in, we would go over the plan to get back at the Astrids.