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 arched into him, her breathing going to shit, her mind blissfully empty of everything but how fucking good it felt.
Tension swirled in her belly, moved through her muscles, and tightened her inner walls. Then that tension broke.
Ella shattered with a silent scream, her eyes going blind. His dick plundered, thickened, pulsed, rammed so deep. And then he stilled, shuddering and jolting with every blast of his release.
Viper dislodged his teeth from her neck as the strength seemed to drain from them both. Fuck, he hadn’t felt so sated in a long time. It wasn’t simply that he’d taken her blood as he possessed her body, it was that she’d allowed it. Welcomed it. Showed that element of trust, moving them a step closer to where they needed to be before he could claim her.
He blew over the bite mark to heal it and then raised his head. “You okay?”
She double-blinked, her lips kicking up. “We are definitely doing that again.”
He smiled.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
After she and Mia parted ways in the lobby of their complex the following Saturday after work, Ella nabbed her mail from the lockable box there. With one of her new guards at her back, she then made her way to her apartment. As always, he remained outside her front door when she entered—an order from Luka.
Breezing through the living area, she yawned and cricked her neck. It might be good for her to have a nap before texting Viper. At the very least, she’d need to knock back some painkillers first. She had a wicked headache, and the herbal tea she’d drank at the store had done nothing to relieve it.
In the kitchen, she scanned the bundle of envelopes in her hands. Bills. Shit-mail. And … whatever was in the plain brown envelope at the bottom of the pile.
Curious, she dumped the rest of her mail on the counter, along with her purse, and then tore open the envelope. As she fished out a small piece of paper that had been folded over, her belly did a fast flip. Motherfucker.
Her demon stirred, uncoiling like a snake as its mood instantly darkened. Ella tossed aside the ripped envelope and opened up the slip. One word. Only one word was printed on it: Everleigh.
Her brows snapped together. Who the fuck was Everleigh? Seriously, what was with this asshole?
Like with the other notes, there was a gleam of compulsive power in the ink. But the message itself … she didn’t know what to make of it.
Was Everleigh a person? A song? A mere attempt to baffle Ella?
The only thing she knew for certain was that she wanted to pummel its author’s face with a baton.
Ella tore into the note to disengage the snare and then slapped it on the counter. She hadn’t expected any to be posted to her address. In fact, as time had gone by and no more had come, she’d thought maybe the writer had given up on using this tactic. But oh no, apparently not.
She dug her cell phone out of her purse and texted Viper: I got another note, not bothering to add where he could find her. He’d know that already, since Ghost would have told him she’d arrived home safely.
She probably should have begun the text with a ‘hi’, but she wasn’t really in the mood for pleasantries. She was in the mood to cut off a certain note-sender’s balls.
Movement in her peripheral vision snagged her attention. She turned to see Viper stood in her living room, his face like thunder. Clearly not in tune with her mood, her hormones got a little excited.
His jaw hard, he stalked into the kitchen, his eyes glittering blue gems of anger. “Gotta tell you, baby, I’m getting real sick of this bastard.”
“You’re not alone in that,” she mumbled.
“Ghost said your car was clean.”
“It was. This particular note was posted to my address.”
Viper clenched his teeth, furious. “He clearly didn’t think he had any other way of getting it to you.” He palmed the back of her head. “Where is it?”
She swiped the slightly ripped slip of paper from the counter and handed it to him. “He only typed a single word this time. A name.”
Viper dipped his gaze to the note … and felt every muscle in his body go rigid. He stopped breathing as shock stole the air from his lungs. His entity went equally still, just as taken aback.
“What is it?” asked Ella. “You know an Everleigh?”
Viper clamped his lips shut. He could only stare at her, having no fucking clue what to say.
Her brows knit, lines of unease creasing her face. “What? Who is she?” Ella fixed him with a wary stare that made his chest pang. “Is she an ex or something? Another of your regulars?”
Fuck, he did not want to explain that now. He wasn’t ready yet.