Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 130924 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 655(@200wpm)___ 524(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130924 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 655(@200wpm)___ 524(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
My jaw clenches as I prepare for the rejection.
But then she squeezes my hands.
“You know I love you, don’t you Ichabod Crane?” she says.
I nearly collapse on top of her.
I shake my head, too afraid to let my heart swallow her words, so greedy for her love and affection. “I wouldn’t be going mad and losing my mind over you if I had that bit of information,” I admit. “But you could easily put me out of my misery.”
She lets out a light laugh, the kind of laugh that fools you into thinking everything will be okay. “I suppose that’s my fault, isn’t it? My brain has taken far too long to catch up to how my heart was already feeling.”
I raise my brows expectantly, waiting for her to say it.
“I love you,” she says earnestly. “I’m quite terribly in love with you.”
I exhale in relief and rest my head on her shoulder. She lets go of my hands and starts sweeping them down my back. “Even Brom knew,” she says.
I lift my head to peer at her, my heart skipping again and again. “Brom knew you were in love with me?”
She nods. “He did. And I told him I was afraid to tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought you would ask me to marry you. Little did I know that you would do it anyway, on top of telling me that you wanted to get me pregnant.”
“You were afraid I was going to ask you to marry me?” I repeat.
Jesus, am I that predictable?
“Yes. Because I knew I’d say yes.”
“Well, that sounds terrible, saying yes to me.”
She grins at me. “You have no idea how consuming you are, Crane. Everything revolves around you, and I’m not even sure you realize it. Me, Brom, we’re caught in your orbit, no different from the stars in the sky. It’s impossible to stay away. It’s impossible to say no to you.”
“Do you want to say no to me?”
Kat shakes her head, sucking on her lower lip for a moment. “Never.”
“So if I lie down beside you and make you climb on my face while I eat your cunt, you won’t say no?”
She laughs. “I won’t say no. But if you’re still looking to put me with child, then I hate to break it to you, but that’s not the way to do it.”
“No, but it’s still a lovely appetizer,” I tell her.
Then I roll over on the bed, grab her by the hips, and have my way with her into the depths of the night.
Chapter 32
Kat
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
I sit up with a start, my heart pounding in my chest. The room is dark, except for the slice of moonlight coming in through the window, and beside me Crane snores softly in a deep sleep.
How long have I been asleep for? Can’t have been more than an hour.
“Crane?” I whisper, putting my hand on his forehead. His skin is hot to touch and he doesn’t stir, his eyelashes fluttering in dreams. “Crane?” I say again.
Did I just hear the ghost of Vivienne Henry outside the door?
But he sleeps on, and I don’t have the heart to wake him. I eye the bottle of laudanum on the desk and wonder if he took some when I was already asleep. Then again, after the night we had, the ritual, the blood play, the sex, the emotions, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s truly that exhausted.
I’m tired too, but I still could barely sleep. All I could think about was the fact that Crane proposed to me and I said yes. That we’re engaged. And I’m possibly pregnant with his child.
And all I could think about was Brom. I know he’s angry, I know Crane said some fairly cruel things to him out of fear, but if I could talk to Brom, maybe I could get through to him. I saw the pain and anguish in his eyes when he said he was a stronger person with the horseman inside him, and I know why he thinks he can cling on. But the horseman will never help Brom the way he thinks he will. In the end, the Hessian will only divide us.
I swing my legs out of the bed, wondering how angry Crane would be if I snuck on over to Brom’s dorm to check on him, when the thumps sound again, just outside the door.
“What do you want, Vivienne Henry?” I say into the air.
Silence.
I get up, glancing back at Crane, hoping he’ll wake, but he’s still snoring away, his mouth open. I’m surprised he’s not drooling.
I grab the candlestick and conjure a flame with my finger, lighting the wick. Even that act of magic drains me a little, but I need to be able to see. I grab Crane’s coat and slip it on against the chill, then cross to the door and open it, peering down the hallway. The trail of blood goes past and around the corner, just like last time.