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)
“She’ll accept you,” Omen maintained. “She loved you in her previous lifetime. I don’t see why it would be different in this one. And with love comes acceptance.”
Viper sure as fuck hoped so. If she didn’t accept him, he deeply suspected that his entity would take the situation into its own hands and tie her to them anyway. There wasn’t anything it wouldn’t do to ensure it got to keep her this time. Much as it made Viper a huge fucking bastard, he couldn’t even judge the entity for that.
“When are you planning on telling her that this ain’t the first lifetime you’ve known her in?” asked Omen.
“When I’m sure she cares for me. She’ll more easily digest it that way.” Viper sat up straighter in his chair. “Besides, if she hears it from a relative stranger, she might struggle to believe it. Once she knows me, once she knows I’d never mess with her that way, she’ll be more open to the idea.”
Considering that, Omen gave a slow nod.
“Much as I’m done keeping my distance from Ella, I’ll still have to be careful not to be seen with her in public until the strix are dead and we can be certain there are no celestial spies keeping watch.”
“I haven’t found signs of any spies,” said Jester.
His other brothers had given Viper that same assurance, but … “The Uppers told Ophaniel about the local human disappearances. They could only have known about it if someone reported it to them.”
“Maybe they’re no longer watching us. Whatever the case, we won’t let our guard down. And if any spies do turn up and somehow notice you’re spending time with Ella, they won’t live long enough to share any suspicions they might have with the Uppers.”
No, no, they wouldn’t.
“Just so you’re aware, your private time with Ella was almost interrupted.”
Viper felt his brow furrow. “By who?”
“The blonde. Neta. She tried marching into the alcove, but Omen blocked her path. I convinced her to leave.”
Viper felt his mouth tighten. The woman in question was a member of Maddox Quentin’s lair. A descendant just like her Prime, Neta was a regular at the club … and at the dive bar … and even turned up at the pool hall on occasion.
A few of his brothers had fucked her, but the others had turned her down. Why? They’d come to learn that her goal was to bed every one of them—and then eventually be claimed by Viper.
Even if there’d been no Ella, he wouldn’t have been interested. “That she’d dare charge into the alcove was fucking ballsy. What could she possibly have thought would come from it?” All he would have done was send her away.
Omen shrugged. “Maybe she wanted to break the moment. Or scare Ella away. Or just plain piss you off. I don’t really know what’s going on with Neta. I don’t quite get why, when her plan was to seduce you last, she suddenly switched shit around.”
“She might have seen how you look at Ella, V,” Jester mused. “Maybe when at the pool hall or dive bar.”
It was possible. “I don’t much care so long as she stays away from my woman. It’s not gonna be easy to coax Ella into pushing past all her reservations about demons getting involved with angels. The last thing I need is someone making it harder.”
“Yeah, you don’t want Ella realizing until it’s too late that you’re more trouble than you’re worth,” said Omen.
Viper shot him a hard look. “Thanks,” he said, his voice dry. “Do you know if Neta’s still here?”
“She stormed out of the club after we blocked her path to the alcove and told her to leave,” replied Omen. “What are you gonna do if she reappears and again makes a move on you?”
Viper rubbed at his jaw. “I’ll talk to her one last time. I’ll get it firmly across that she’s chasing after something she’s never gonna have.”
He would rather not piss off Maddox by threatening his lair members, since it would be a fast way to lose an alliance. Making an enemy of demons wouldn’t endear him to Ella. But … “If she persists after that, I’ll contact Maddox and communicate that either he deals with her or I will.” Because Viper also couldn’t allow any woman to make attempts to chase off Ella. No one would get in the way of him making her his this time. Absolutely fucking no one.
CHAPTER NINE
I’ll come for you.
Cursing beneath her breath, Ella paused in topping up the box of small on-sale products near the till. Viper’s words from last night wouldn’t leave her alone.
She’d done her best not to think about him. Had tried hard to mentally shove aside their little encounter in the shadows. It was just sex. There was no reason to think about it.