Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 131708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Yeah, he’d figured that was all she’d intended. He peeled off the condom and tied it. “Oh, so you mean to use and discard me? I’m hurt.”
“You’re ridiculous,” she said with an eye roll, righting her dress.
“Seriously,” he said, zipping up his fly as he pinned her with a sober look. “I want more of you.”
“I hate to point out the obvious, but you’re an angel; I’m a demon. Common sense says it’s better for us to stay on our own sides of the fence.”
He shrugged. “I don’t see why there has to be a fence. Forget about what others would say you should do, Ella. Let yourself have what you want.”
She nervously swiped her tongue over her bottom lip. “I have to go. My sister’s probably looking for me.”
It was a good sign that she’d prefer to escape the conversation than tell him outright that there’d be no repeat. It meant she was at least a little conflicted. They’d done this dance before in her previous life, and he’d managed to sway her back then. He’d do it again.
Viper caught her chin between his thumb and finger. “Come back to me sometime soon. You don’t, I’ll come for you. One way or another, Ella, I’ll have you again.” He let his hand fall away and stepped back.
She gave him an uncertain look and then walked away, her knees looking a little rubbery. He watched as she disappeared into the crowd and, fuck, it was hard not to follow her. But he knew from prior experience that moving too fast would make her dig in her heels.
Straightening his jacket, he exited the alcove to find Omen and Jester waiting nearby.
Jester flicked a look in the direction that Ella had walked off. “All good?”
Viper adjusted the collar of his jacket. “You could say that.” He shrugged his way through the crowds as he made his way back to his office, conscious of his brothers trailing after him.
Inside, Omen closed the door behind them. “You fucked her, didn’t you?” he guessed, his tone non-accusatory.
“Of course I did.” Viper walked to stand behind his desk. “There wasn’t a chance she was going to leave this club without me putting my cock in her.” He didn’t have the kind of restraint needed to hold back.
This was his woman. One he’d claimed long ago. One who’d marked him just as deeply. Plus … “She hadn’t admitted it to herself, but she came here looking to hook up. I wasn’t going to let anyone else oblige her.”
Omen stalked further into the room. “Made any plans for it to happen again?”
“No.” Viper sank onto his chair. “But I made it clear that it would.”
“And what did she think about that?” asked Jester.
“She’s hesitant.”
“That won’t last,” Omen upheld. “You two have major … what do humans call it? Zing.”
Jester folded his arms. “What now? Because it looks to me like your plan to take things slow just shot out of the window. We both know you ain’t gonna hang back until the strix are gone. Not now that you’ve touched her.”
Viper rubbed at his temple. “You’re right, I can’t hang back anymore.” Nor did he want to. He was fucking tired of battling the incessant daily urge to see her, talk to her, touch her. It was agonizing to be so very near to what he most wanted; to what he’d spent years attempting to find.
His entity grinned, stretching; both relaxed and eager to start officially hunting their woman.
“Not only because it would be impossible,” Viper added, “but because she’d either mistake if for a withdrawal of interest, or think I was playing games.”
“And then she might find herself a different bed-buddy,” said Omen. “Let’s face it, you wouldn’t let him live.”
“Did you feed from her?” asked Jester.
“No,” replied Viper. Droplets of her blood didn’t count. “I won’t drink from her without her consent.”
Omen’s brow furrowed. “You do it to others.”
“But she’s not some random human. She’s mine. That makes it different.” Viper let his head fall back to hit his chair’s headrest. “I don’t look forward to explaining I can’t survive without feeding on the life-force of others.”
Jester frowned. “She was prepared to accept it when you knew her as Everleigh and warned her about the curse.”
“Back then, it wasn’t the same. She accepted that I was an archangel, yes, and she showed no fear of what would happen to me if I fell—only compassion. But now I have fallen, and we’re not dealing with things that would happen; we’re dealing with shit that’s already occurred.
“Asking her to accept my new reality is a hell of a lot different from my sharing what could become of me. Plus, I hadn’t gotten round to telling her what happens to members of the Seven who fall. I don’t know how she would have reacted to that.”