Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 90075 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90075 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Tensing, she muttered, “You wouldn’t have noticed, but...all kinds of biological data are being recorded when you stand in front of my booth and fill in that questionnaire: your temperature to see if you’re sick, your pheromones to see if you’re excited or scared. We even have a sensor on the pen that takes trace samples of your sweat to see if you have noxious substances in your bloodstream.”
So that’s why she looked at her laptop screen as I held it.
Nick glanced between Hunter and Giselle. “I thought this was just a kink fest? Yet now I find out you’re travelling vigilantes ridding the world of rapists?”
Hunter smirked. “Your words, not mine.”
“How many?” Nick crossed his arms. “How many men have you stopped?”
“Don’t forget women.” Hunter shuddered. “They can be deadly when they want to be. I’ve had to save a few unsuspecting boys from being eaten alive by femme fatales.”
“How many?” Nick asked again, deceptively quiet.
Shrugging, Hunter glanced at Giselle. “What’s our last number, Gis? I’m starting to lose count.”
Giselle stepped closer to Nicholas with a beaming smile on her pretty face. “Spectacle of Secrets has operated for seven years. We’ve travelled the world. We’ve satisfied hundreds of thousands of people and...” She puffed up her chest. “Have personally ended the reign of nine hundred and eighty-two paedophiles.”
“Nine hundred...?” I coughed. “That’s...insane.”
A sickening number. And even worse, it represented a fraction of the monsters that truly existed out there.
“When we get to one thousand, I’m hiring someone to help me.” Hunter caught my eyes. “I’m getting jaded. I wasn’t aware of how jaded until I spotted you in your car today.”
My stomach flipped as Hunter came toward me and gathered me in his strong arms. Pulling me off the bed, he wrapped the black sheet around me, then hugged me tight. Pressing his forehead to mine, he stared painfully deep into my soul. “I haven’t felt the kind of lust I did for you in a very long time. Sex has become tainted for me. I mingle with horny guests every night, yet all I see are the monsters who shouldn’t belong.”
Kissing me softly, he whispered, “So thank you, Ella. Thank you for reminding me of why I run this circus. I made this business, not as bait to trap those who deserve to die, but because sex truly is the greatest pleasure we have. Sex given with consent. Sex between one or multiple partners. Sex because lust is agonising and love is consuming.”
Licking the wound he’d left behind on my bottom lip, he sighed. “I doubt we’ll see each other again, little witch, but I want you to know...you took my body tonight but you also took a piece of my heart. I’m half tempted to carry you away with me. To steal you from this town and keep you for myself, but...” He looked up and caught Nick’s eyes where he glowered at us by Giselle.
“Come.” Unwrapping his arms from around me, he took my hand and pulled me toward Nicholas. I couldn’t breathe as he pushed me gently into Nick’s side. “I have a feeling if I stole you, I’d break more than just one heart.”
Nick didn’t touch me.
He sucked in a breath, and in a heartbreaking, horrible move, he stepped away from me.
I froze with my black sheet pooling like nightmares around me.
Hunter narrowed his eyes at Nick but then captured my cheeks and kissed me one last time. “I will never forget you, Ella, and I hope you never forget me. But...a word of advice. It seems as if you’re drawn to men who like to help others. Nick has the unwavering commitment to eradicate the world of cancer, and I have the undying desire to slaughter every single sick son of a bitch I come across. Maybe, through our tireless work, we can make a difference and the world will one day be a happier, healthier place, but...no matter our responsibilities and pledges to our chosen causes, you should never, ever come second best. You should be the only commitment a man makes. That’s the least you deserve, and it’s why I can’t steal you even though I would very, very much like to. I can’t because I don’t deserve you. I know in myself that when we leave this town tomorrow and go to another, my focus will be on hunting monsters, not providing you with a safe and stable home.”
Tears welled and rolled down my cheeks.
Not because I’d wanted him to take me but because he spoke with such conviction and apology. “I’m endlessly grateful I met you, Hunter. That I got to share this incredible night with you. I’ll never forget you or what we did.”
“You too.” Giving me the softest smile, he whispered in my ear, “Don’t let his coldness hurt you, Ella. Nick is an imbecile, waging a war on himself. He’s completely besotted with you, but if you want him...you’re going to have to break him. He won’t have the power to do it himself.”