Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 94076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
A sweet tension coils in my belly.
An orgasm being conjured slowly.
Rising. Straining. Taking me to the edge.
I’m desperate to increase my pace.
My body begs for it.
But I force myself to control it.
Because this isn’t about the end game. This is about right now. What is happening between us. Something more than the crash of ecstasy ripping through us.
My breathing quickens.
So does his.
And when we both unravel, we unravel together in a moment of intense emotion.
Pain and heartbreak collide with pleasure.
I know this is probably goodbye.
I won’t be able to come back after tonight because I’ve fallen in love with him.
And that puts him in danger.
I need to put him in the past to keep him safe and go do what I need to do.
Which is to kill Luca.
Tomorrow I will visit the mansion and either leave a king slayer or die trying.
I collapse against Lars and sink into the warmth of his chest, finding peace in the rapid beating of his heart against my cheek.
It’s done.
We are done.
And it’s time for me to go.
But I don’t want to leave the comfort and safety of Lars’s embrace.
I slide off him and he secures his big arms around me.
Just a few more minutes.
My eyelids grow heavy, and I give in to the pull of sleep. It pulls me under its soft waves, and in Lars’s arms I fall into a deep and content sleep.
My eyes flick open in panic, and they dart to the clock on the nightstand. Glowing green letters tell me I well and truly missed my curfew.
No, no, no, no.
Beside me, Lars is deep asleep.
I can’t wake him because he’ll want to know why I’m leaving in the middle of the night.
And why I am so panicked.
Fear burns in my chest when I think about walking out the door, not knowing what awaits me, but knowing this is the last time I will see Lars.
If it wasn’t for Lucretia, I would have told him everything.
Maybe I should’ve anyway.
But it’s too late, and I close the door behind me and slip into the night.
The cab picks me up at the end of the driveway, and during the ride back to my motel, I brace myself for what waits for me. I’m more than an hour late.
I look at my phone. There are no messages, which is a good thing, right? After all, if Luca was aware of me missing curfew, he would enjoy sending me a warning. A promise of what is to come. But there are no text messages.
Have Thug 1 and 2 fallen asleep?
It’s okay. You’re okay.
I lean back into the head rest and let out a deep breath, closing my eyes.
Just breathe.
My phone vibrates in my hand. It’s Lars.
Pick it up and tell him everything.
My heart aches. I can’t.
Not until I get Lucretia away from Luca.
Because if I tell Lars and he brings in the rest of the club to help, Luca will retaliate by hurting her.
No, before I do anything, I have to find out which boarding school she is in and get her to safety.
I let the call go to voicemail.
But it rings again.
Then again.
I put it on silent and focus on my breathing, trying desperately to calm my racing pulse.
But when we pull into the motel parking lot, my heart clamors against my ribcage when I see the giant Rolls Royce parked out the front.
I have a visitor.
All the lights are on inside my room, and the door is open.
Leaving the safety of the cab, I lift my chin and walk toward my fate.
My brother is going to hurt me.
But it’s not Luca waiting for me.
It’s so much worse.
“Hello, Ella,” Viktor says when I walk in. He has his back to me. “Didn’t I warn you not to break curfew?”
CHAPTER 52
Lars
She’s gone.
It’s the first thing I’m aware of when I wake up alone, and it’s followed by a surge of adrenaline, although I don’t know why.
I just feel that something is wrong, and my instincts have never let me down before.
The clock reads one o’clock.
Grabbing my phone from the nightstand, I check for a message from her but there’s none. Without hesitation, I call her, but it goes straight to voicemail.
I try again.
And then again.
The only thing that stops me ringing a fourth time is the idea that maybe Ella feels weirded out by what I confessed last night.
Is she afraid of me?
Pain twists in my stomach at the thought.
I would never hurt her.
I’d fucking fall on my sword for her.
Then what is it?
Did I read too much into it, and she woke up with second thoughts?
No. There was no regret in the way she made love to me last night.
Then where is she?
The alarm begins to build in my chest.
I dress quickly and grab my bike keys, my mind racing with different scenarios.
The clubhouse is quiet when I leave my room and hurry down the hallway.