Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 101872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
There ought to be a prize for how much of a fucking saint he was. And there was no other way to describe what he was, because only a saint could have had a naked, wet Opal in the shower a few feet away and refrained from getting in there to touch her, taste her, to get on his knees to worship her.
It had been a definite test of his control.
Now she was in bed, leaning back against the headboard with pillows propping her up. She claimed it was the most comfortable position.
He plugged in her heating pad that she had by the side of the bed and placed it behind her back before helping her settle back in.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t need to thank me, Gem,” he said gruffly. “The shower helped, so will the heat, but you need drugs.”
“I know.” Shadows crossed her face. “But I just . . . I don’t know that I can trust myself to have them in the house.”
Hmm.
Didn’t trust herself?
That told him something he didn’t much like.
“Talk to me, Gem,” he ordered gruffly.
“Do you know much about what brought me, Ryleigh, and Lilac to Haven?”
“Guessing it had to do with Ryleigh being a long-lost Malone daughter? You just can’t make up this sort of shit.”
“You sure fucking can’t,” Opal agreed. “We came to Haven because we hoped that her brothers were decent people who would help us. Or, at least, protect her. Lilac and I were prepared for the fact that we might have to keep running. Hiding. But we couldn’t keep going with Kye. He needed stability. A home.”
“The Malones were always going to take care of all of you. They might be wild, but they’re all about family and loyalty and all of that shit.”
“Tell me about it. If I’d known I was going to be an honorary Malone, I might never have come here.”
Well, add that to the hundred and eighty-three things he didn’t like. The idea of her not being here.
“You’re not going anywhere,” he growled.
Her eyebrows rose. “You’re awfully demanding for someone who doesn’t want anything long-term.”
Well, fuck.
Yeah. He could see the hypocrisy considering he planned on leaving.
But he still didn’t want her going anywhere.
“I don’t like the idea of you not being here, where you’re safe.”
With me.
However, he bit back that last part. And then wished he hadn’t as her smile drooped slightly. She rallied, hiding her disappointment.
But he still felt lower than a pig’s belly.
“I’m not . . . I’m not going anywhere. Because this place, even though I still think it’s some sort of crazy cult, it’s the safest I’ve ever felt. The most accepted. I think this’ll surprise you, but I’m not actually everyone’s cup of tea.” She grinned as though she expected him to agree, to join in the joke.
“Who the hell said you weren’t their cup of tea,” he demanded.
“Lots of people, darlin’. I get it and I don’t care. I am who I am.”
“Anyone tells you that again, I want to know.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
And then he was going to make their lives a fucking misery.
Opal desperately wanted to ask why he cared so much when this was just a short-term thing . . . but she didn’t want him to stop caring. So she kept her mouth shut.
She’d agreed to the short-term, no strings attached thing, and she wasn’t going to go back on it.
It was easy.
Uncomplicated.
It meant that she got her needs met without having to curtail her independence.
The only issue was that Opal was pretty certain she wanted complicated.
“I was living in a bad situation before I came to Haven. Guess you might have heard some of it?”
“Heard that Lilac’s brother was a bad guy and was trying to find the three of you.”
“Yeah. Stefan Masters. Lilac was his sister. Ryleigh was his fiancée and I was his whore.”
“Right, that’s one.”
“One what?” she asked.
“Punishment. I told you the rule. Gave you a warning. Once your back is feeling better, your butt is in a whole heap of trouble.”
“But that was the truth.”
“Now you’re at two.”
“What? Seriously?” she exclaimed.
“You might want to be careful about what you say next.”
“You don’t understand the situation, though.”
“So explain it to me,” he urged.
“Stefan was a really bad guy. A narcissist for sure. He had so much charm when he wanted to, though. When he turned his attention on you, you felt like you were his world. And it was hard to see anyone else. I was completely fooled by him. Taken in by smooth words and empty promises. He could read a person like no one else. He knew just what to say to get me to fall into his trap.”
“How did you meet him?” he asked.
This part was hard to say. “I was in a bad place. I was working in a strip club as a waitress. I didn’t strip, but I was close to doing it. There’s no shame in stripping if that’s what you want to do,” she said hotly.