Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64702 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64702 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
My final measure is a trip to her house before Lucian finds out she’s alive and decides to kill her some other way.
Chapter Fourteen
Addie
My Uber driver appears to be on a mission to ensure I throw up in the backseat of his car. Why else would he break with a heavy foot and whip around every single curve? Thankfully, though, the ride is short, and I survive. He pulls up to my door, and it’s blessed relief to know I will soon be alone, next to my very own toilet that is sparkling clean. Better yet, a trash bag in hand as I go fetal in my bed will serve me much better.
Whatever the case, I don’t regret the ride.
I’d climbed into my little beetle and had a flashback of a few deadly military operations I’ve been privy to where assassination happened by vehicle. Better a rough ride than risking my last drive.
Once I’ve exited the Uber and my bags are in tow, I nervously head toward my door, with a sudden realization that going inside might not be smart—the second place that people got killed was in their homes. Where is Creed, damn it? Insecurity washes over me. My first fear is that he’s deserted me again, and that is doused immediately by worry. He was hurt last night. They tried to kill him. What if they went after him again?
Why haven’t I just tried to call him on that phone he gave me? I step into the covered enclosure in front of my door and start digging for it. About the time I find it, the door opens, and I’m pulled inside.
The mark on my neck is tingling, the scent of Creed insinuating into my nostrils even as he grabs my bags, deposits them inside, and shuts and locks the door. And then he’s leaning against the wall and folding me against his hard body, his powerful thighs molded to mine, branding me. He slides his hands up my back.
“Creed,” I whisper, relief vibrating through me, my hand pressing to his face. His hair is pulled back, his eyes a brilliant sky blue. “I was worried about you.”
“I’m the one who doesn’t die, remember?”
“You might be hard to kill,” I scold, “but you are not immortal, and you need to remember that.”
He laughs low and rough, and oh, so Creed. “Yes, honey.”
“Don’t mock me,” I bristle.
“I’m not,” he promises softly and roughly.
“Did you know,” he replies tightly, “that once a female has had sex with a GTECH, there is a psychic residue that can be tracked? Unless that female is lifebonded or underground, a skilled GTECH Tracker with the right motivation can find you anywhere. Even Germany.”
Shock rolls through me. I’d never been safe. Julian’s Trackers could have found me. “You knew I was in Germany?”
“I’ve always known where you were. And I knew you were far enough away to stay out of sight, out of mind—off Julian’s radar. I was furious when your father lured you back to the States, back onto Julian’s radar.”
A knot forms in my throat. “I…you knew I was there, but you never once came to see me.” In this moment, I realize quite painfully that I used my time in Germany as his excuse for why he hadn’t contacted me. He couldn’t find me. He couldn’t come to me. But he’d found me all right.
His hands slide into my hair. “I came to see you,” he confesses softly. “I had to stay far enough away to not waken your mark. You just never knew I was there. You were safer that way. And I’ve kicked myself a million times for not intervening when you were returning home. I should have made you stay there. But I also knew any contact with me put you at risk—and not just from Julian, Addie. I knew if I touched you again, there was no way I would ever let you go.”
I suck in a breath at his confession. He’s touching me now.
His hand slides up my back, splaying wide between my shoulder blades and molding me closer. “Do you know how damn worried I was about you when you were on that plane?”
“No,” I say, accusation in my voice, leaning back to search his face. “No, I don’t. I don’t know anything about what you feel, Creed. Because you never tell me.”
“Well, I’m telling you now,” he says hoarsely. “I was going insane, coming out of my own skin. Barely able to stop myself from yanking you out of that airport and back into my arms.” His mouth closes down over mine, hot, passionate, and fiery, like a man starving. I cling to him, desperate for the strength in him and the safety of his strong arms. He is what I need, and I can feel that same need in him for me. He needs me. He has always needed me. He’s always known where I was, always guarded me.