Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 80249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 401(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 401(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
“I’m going to make it my mission to find out your name,” I warn her.
“My life is more complete, then,” she jokes.
“Mother Lisa will be waiting for us,” the other woman says.
Something is nudging into my brain—which is mostly fogged by the beautiful woman in front of me.
“Mother Lisa? Kind of a strange way to refer to your mom, isn’t it?” I question.
“It’s not when she’s the Superior.”
“The Superior?” I ask. Not quite getting it.
“As in Mother Superior,” she smiles, and that smile is a little too sweet.
“I—”
“Oh shit. You two are nuns?” Fury asks. My body stiffens and I jerk as if I’ve been punched in the gut—because I have.
“Told you I wasn’t the girl for your parties,” she says, and then turns back to her friend. “I’m ready. You gentlemen have a good evening. Nice meeting you… Devil,” she adds and then just like that, she leaves me standing with a cart full of condoms and without the first urge to use them tonight.
Damn it.
Torrent
“I can’t believe he’s out here again,” Elise mutters under her breath. I fight the urge to roll my eyes. Elise is hard to take on most days.
I’ve not minded my exile into self-denial of all things wonderful—I mean not really. I’ve missed things. I’ve missed my home. I’ve missed a good cold Sangria, I’ve missed talking with my girls, and I’ve definitely missed sex. Then again, I’m a normal twenty-six-year-old woman who really, really liked sex—not that I got to have it that much. When your father threatens to kill a man for touching his only daughter, it tends to slow the flow of willing partners. There’s not that many men willing to take on a man who looks like like my dad, especially if he has a reputation to back it all up.
All that said, if I had to pinpoint the one thing that annoys me most about this situation, it would be putting up with Elise. That’s saying a lot, especially since there are days that I crave going out for hot nachos and Cherry Coke or, better yet, a strawberry daiquiri, or heck, even the option to walk around naked in my bedroom and paint my nails. There’s also days I’d kill to just dye my hair. I did that regularly in my old life. The life I was forced to leave three very long months ago. I’ve done it because Dad and Wolf asked me to. I did it because my father might be a cold-hearted bastard to most people, but he loves me. He’d die for me in a heartbeat—and I don’t want him to die. I also did it because my father will kill for me in heartbeat—and has. If I think about the men he’s killed while I’ve been in exile, I’d probably have to go for penance a lot more often than I do.
Still, when I agreed to go somewhere safe, I didn’t realize what my father meant. I pictured a luxurious apartment with a pool and a gym. I pictured a cabin in Alaska with a roaring fire and a sexy wilderness guide. Hell, I even began daydreaming about an island with a sexy cabana boy, wearing loose, white pants that swayed in the breeze and showed off his rather large attributes as he stood over my lounger, fanning me with a large palm leaf.
Nowhere—and I do mean nowhere—did I picture myself pledging myself to the Lord and not being able to wear what I want, speak how I want, or even freaking eat like I want. I realize I probably sound like a petulant child, but at this point I don’t give a damn. I sigh as I look around the picnic area, wondering if somehow anyone can read my thoughts and I’ll need to say penance for those too. Elise keeps droning on and on and I’m resisting the urge to shut her up—by throat punching her and fixing it so she can’t talk. I think I’d probably be doing everyone in here a favor at this point.
I might be tuning her out, but the subject of her whining hasn’t left my mind at all. I pretend to be uninterested, but I do look over Elise’s shoulder to see Devil in the background.
He’s leaning on his bike, his arms crossed at his chest. He looks like he doesn’t have a care in the world, but I know that’s not true. He’s been staring in my direction for the last ten minutes. I can feel the intensity of it, even at a distance. He’s been doing this at least twice a week for the last month and a half… ever since I met him buying condoms at K-Mart. The thought makes me want to smile, but Elise is watching me too closely so I push a spoonful of cereal in my mouth to hide it.