Total pages in book: 189
Estimated words: 178200 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 891(@200wpm)___ 713(@250wpm)___ 594(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 178200 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 891(@200wpm)___ 713(@250wpm)___ 594(@300wpm)
Damen did not pay the other man any heed. All he had eyes for was Mairi, and he offered everything in him, his fucking heart on a platter, his soul, his life – his eyes told Mairi that he was giving everything to her as he said bleakly, “Whether you’re mine or not, I will always be yours.”
He took another step.
Drake’s fist struck out, connecting hard enough with his face to make Damen’s head snap to the side.
“No,” Mairi screamed. She tried to run towards the two, but again the men at her side moved, holding her back. Damen had swiftly gotten up to fight, giving it as good as he got, but it was clear for everyone to see that although Damen was a strong fighter, he was no match for someone who had been trained to kill.
“Stop it, Drake, please!” She screamed again as another of Drake’s powerful punches knocked Damen to the ground.
“Tell your ex-fiancé not to pursue you anymore and I’ll stop.”
“Never,” Damen snarled as he forced himself to get up.
“Damen, please,” Mairi sobbed. “Please just leave—-” She screamed again and she tried harder, tried with all her might to get free from Drake’s guards when she saw Damen had been knocked down for the third time. His lip was badly cut and bleeding profusely, and one of his eyes was swollen.
“Please, Damen,” she whispered. “Please just leave.”
“You heard the lady, Leventis.”
Damen shook his head. His body ached all over, but he didn’t give a damn, and his face remained cold as he looked at the other man. “We can do this again and again, but I won’t give her up.” He came to his feet.
Mairi’s voice had become hoarse. “Drake, please stop.”
“It’s his call, Mairi.”
Her eyes swung wildly to Damen, and the swollen and bruised face made Mairi lose all color. “Why are you doing this?” she whispered. “Can’t you see? It won’t work between us.”
“I love you.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but Drake cut her off, his head whipping towards her. His voice was bland, but his gaze was icily challenging when he asked softly, “Are you going to believe him again, Mairi? After what you learned today? Your body was mine last night. And his body...”
Had belonged to Alina.
The pain of those words, of the pictures it invoked in her mind, made Mairi cry out.
While she had been hurting, he had been with Alina.
While she had cried for him, another girl was crying out his name in his bed.
While she had loved him, he had loved Alina’s body with his.
Her eyes closed, and the tears fell quietly.
Damen didn’t know what was happening. He didn’t understand a damn thing that Drake had said, but he knew that Mairi was hurt – so goddamn hurt that she looked like she had just been through hell. “Mairi?” She didn’t answer. His voice became frantic. “Mairi, answer me.” But still she didn’t answer. It was as if he no longer existed for her.
“MAIRI, ANSWER ME!”
But she only shook her head, the tears still falling silently.
His voice broke. He was losing her. He really was losing her. “I love you,” he said fiercely. “I know I fucked up so many times, but I fucked up because of love and that love will always be there for you.”
Drake’s tone was cutting as he said, “Give it up, Leventis. You lost.”
He said seriously, “You’d have to kill me first.”
And then he took a swing at Drake’s face, this time giving it all he had, this time hitting the other man as if he wanted to kill Drake. And maybe he did. For Drake was doing the same thing by taking Mairi away from Damen. Mairi was his life. Without her, his life was worthless.
The fight might have lasted for minutes or just mere seconds. It didn’t matter. Soon, blood covered Damen’s entire field of vision, and he was down on his knees when Drake’s last punch threw him to the ground. The last thing he saw was Mairi turning her back on him.
“Mairi.” It hurt to speak, but he had to call out to her, had to beg for her to come back, to forgive him and let him love her.
But she didn’t stop.
She left.
And he was all alone.
Chapter 7
A hazy and chaotic mix of images periodically ran through Damen’s mind. It was like he was watching a movie, but it was a movie of his life, something he was and wasn’t a part of at the same time.
He was being carried away in a stretcher, his body engulfed in flaming pain.
He was being rushed to the E.R., with close to half a dozen specialists surrounding him, their tones urgent but their words precise.
He could recall himself thrashing in the bed as he went in and out of unconsciousness.
And Mairi...