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)
So late at night?
It happens sometimes.
Stop by the club on your way home.
Narrowing her eyes, she jogged down the stairs. You’re a tenacious bastard, aren’t you?And, honestly, all that tenaciousness was annoyingly attractive while directed at her this way.
When I want something bad enough, yes.
In the living room, she sank onto the sofa. You’ve already had me.
Three dots danced. I want you again. Stop by the club.
She groaned, far too tempted despite her better judgement. I won’t finish up here until a little after twelve anyway.
I’ll still be here.
Squeezing her eyes shut, she pinched the bridge of her nose. She was so close to caving. So very, very close. And she would bet he knew it.
Dropping her hand back to her lap, she opened her eyes to find a new message: Come to me, Ella.
Oh, fuck him sideways. Because every time he said that, every time he coaxed her that way and she imagined him saying it in that gravelly voice, parts of her went tingly and warm.
She needed to end this conversation. I have to go. I have work to do. Go do club stuff, whatever that is.
When no reply came, Ella plonked her cell on the coffee table. The man was a sexual nuisance, in her opinion.
Her demon didn’t agree. As a matter of fact, it felt she was stupid for not just succumbing to temptation already. But then, by nature, it had no problem doing such a thing.
At this point, honestly, Ella was struggling to hold out. Mostly because it seemed senseless when she was pretty sure she’d give in eventually.
It wasn’t really him being an angel that made her hesitate. Not anymore. Nor was it that he was a practical stranger. It was how unnerving it was that he could so easily sway her.
It was like he knew what mental buttons to press, what words to use, what physical hot spots to target.
She had been braced to resist him at the club … but then he’d crowded her, touched her, whispered to her. All kinds of sexual levers had gotten flicked, and then she’d found herself thinking a fuck in the dark with a relative stranger wouldn’t be so bad.
She could have a firm opinion in mind … but he could blow holes in it. Could have her looking at things from a different angle; could make her second guess her stance. And then she’d be thinking that maybe it wasn’t a big deal for angels and demons to mix.
She had been set on ignoring any further advances on his part … but then he’d begun texting and calling her, flattering her demon with his attention, luring her with little phrases that went straight to her core. And now she was thinking it wouldn’t really be so bad to go get herself some.
Ugh.
Inwardly shaking her head at herself, Ella inhaled deeply. She wouldn’t think about it anymore tonight. She needed to focus on the present situation.
She flicked a look at the wall clock. It would be a few hours before Mary arrived and Ella would need to ‘lift the curse’. She figured she could watch some TV while she waited.
Ella switched it on and pulled up a movie on the streaming service. She had no intention of falling asleep. But her eyelids became heavy and she eventually nodded off …
Everleigh paced up and down in the kitchen of her home, refusing to look at the man who claimed to love her yet seemed set on keeping her at arm’s length. “Why don’t you trust me?” She heard the hurt lacing her voice.
“I do trust you,” he promised her. “I don’t trust many people, but I do trust you. I wouldn’t have told you who I am if I didn’t.”
Yeah, learning that had been a shock. Especially when she’d assumed he was just an average angel. Halting, Everleigh turned to him. “Then why not tell me about the curse as well?”
“I already have.”
“No, you told me a curse would befall you when you left heaven. You have not explained what that means.” She’d asked and asked, but he’d evaded the question each time. “It can’t be worse than what my imagination has conjured up.”
He gave her a sober look. “Don’t be so sure.”
“There’s only one way either of us can be sure.” She crossed to him. “Tell me about it.”
A resigned sigh slid out of him, and his shoulders lowered. “Something happens to angels who fall, Everleigh. It changes them. Twists them. Turns them into a kind of monster.”
A loud beep pierced her sleep, making a dozen cracks spiderweb through the scene in her mind. She groaned, feeling her dream slip away image by image, word by word, thought by thought.
Ella opened her eyes, her brows meeting. She rubbed at her throat. It felt thick with emotion, as if she’d been sad during the dream. She frowned, striving to dredge up snippets of it. None came to her, annoyingly.