Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 44963 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44963 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
The men stand slowly, their legs shaking, their whole bodies trembling.
“You’re lucky to be breathing,” I tell them.
“Why are we?” the leader says.
“Because sometimes it has to end. The cycle has to stop. I’m stopping it here. If they choose war, just know this… the next men they send will return in fucking body bags. Now, go.”
I roar the last word, causing the men to turn and run through the forest. Once they’re gone, I gather up all their guns and head for the house. It’s time to move.
Again.
Hopefully, one day in the not-too-distant future, we can settle down and forget about this madness.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Violet
There’s no time for me and Luke to talk privately as we drive through the night. Luke told us what happened, his standoff with the mob, his orders for them to take a message back to their bosses.
I want to tell Luke I feel the same, everything he explained. I want it all too, but it’s impossible with Dad sitting across from me, laptop open, typing away.
“It’s ready,” Dad says after a couple of hours. “I’ve got the information on a timer, set for twenty-four hours from now. If anything happens to us, the information will send anyway. I’ll reset it every twenty-four hours.”
“I won’t let anything happen to us,” Luke says fiercely, his hands tight on the wheel. “I’ll kill every one of them before I let that happen.”
He’s replying to Dad, but I can’t shake the feeling his words are meant for me.
I’m not sure Luke’s going to come to me tonight. It’s the middle of the morning, the world dark and silent. We’re staying in a top-floor apartment, a change from the cabins, modern and sleek with a view of the quiet street and the highway just beyond it.
“They could’ve been lying about my safe houses,” Luke said as we parked. “Maybe they know about my others. But this one… They can’t get to us without causing one hell of a commotion.”
I lie in bed, staring at the ceiling, the moonlight filtering through the window.
Dad seemed exhausted when we came in, and he’s staying on the far side of the apartment.
Luke took the bedroom next to mine. I wonder if that’s a coincidence, or if he wanted a chance to be close to me. Just as I’m thinking this, I hear the soft whine of my door opening. My heart pounds heavily as I look across the room to find Luke stepping into the moonlight, the pale blue catching his hair and his eyes. He’s wearing a T-shirt that makes his arms look even more enormous, his expression serious as he stalks across the room.
“You never gave me your answer,” he growls, keeping his voice low.
There’s a certain quality in it that tells me he wants to roar, wants to announce to the whole world what he told me before the mob guys came.
Reaching down, he takes my hands, pulling so I sit up. He sits on the bed next to me and wraps his arms around me, guiding me into his lap. I can feel the firmness of his huge manhood against my ass as we sit like this, Luke’s warm breath moving over my cheeks, tickling and teasing.
“Am I insane?” he says passionately.
“No,” I whisper, kissing him.
He kisses me back, both of us sinking closer. In the apartment downstairs, somebody drops something and curses.
Luke smirks and leans away, and I laugh.
“Did you mean it?” I ask. “You really felt that way the first time you saw me?”
“Yes,” he growls. “I had no doubt. The second I saw you, I knew. I knew this was the real thing. I knew I had to have a family with you. I knew I needed you, and I’d lose my mind if any other man tried to claim you. I knew all of it, Violet, without having to wonder.”
“I want it all, too,” I whisper, not letting myself think of Dad, of the complications, the fact they sent this man to kill his ex-best friend.
“You do?” he says huskily, our lips close, our breath caressing each other.
“Yes. I want to be with you forever. I didn’t think you’d feel the same. I thought I was losing my mind, honestly.”
“Maybe you are.” He smirks. “Maybe we both are. Who cares? All I know is I want you, need you, and nothing’s going to stop me from making you mine.”
“Making me? I already am.”
He smirks again, then kisses me harder than he has yet. It’s a claiming kiss, a kiss that tugs at the secret places inside of me, the place that shimmers when I think about our future, the children, the joy we’re going to share.
“You belong to me,” he growls between kisses. “Just me. Only me.”
“Forever,” I whisper passionately.
I gasp when he suddenly breaks the kiss off and pushes me back onto the bed. I wonder what he’s doing for a second, but then he kneels beneath me, his hands rising to my pants and yanking at the button.