Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 75792 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75792 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
The farthest bookcase in the back of the building, the musician section. The place no one ever goes to look.
But I’m not here to read books, and she knows.
I’m her silent stalker, and the predator has cornered his prey.
A filthy grin spreads on my lips as I clutch both bookcases and block the exit. With her back against the wall, she’s trapped between me and the books she loves so dearly. But she loves one thing in this world more … me.
I prowl closer, and her chest begins to rise faster and faster as her breaths become ragged. “Eli, what are you doing here?” she murmurs.
My brow rises. “You know why I’m here.”
Her lips part, and her body, wrapped in jeans and a soft, woolen top, quivers. Her clothes barely cover her petite body, yet I want nothing more than to rip it all to shreds.
I step closer and closer until I’m towering over her. And my hand slams down against the wall behind her. With one hand on her waist, I lean in and whisper into her ear, “Tell me … what’s your darkest wish?”
A sweet, almost sinful smile spreads across her lips. “Punish me,” she whispers.
I groan and press my lips against her neck, right below her ear. “Good, because I intend to.”
And I whisk her up into my arms and shove her against the bookcase, kissing her until she’s breathless while her fingers rip away my shirt. And I smile against her lips as she wraps her legs around my waist, eager to submit to me. I look up into her beautiful eyes laced with the same lust that courses through my veins whenever I lay my eyes on her. It doesn’t matter where or when. She will always be mine. “Let’s be sinners … together.”
Epilogue
Amelia
Eight months later
“Push! Push!” the nurse yells at me, but I can barely hear her through my own screams.
The pain is beyond belief, and I’m not sure I can hold on. But I must. I have no choice but to push on, literally. And I do, with all the strength I have left.
“You can do this, Amelia,” Eli says, clutching my hand even though I’m squeezing his to death. “I know you can.”
“It hurts!” I shriek.
But when I look into Eli’s eyes, all I see is the same pain he’s been through. The burn marks on his back must’ve hurt just as much. And if he could bear it, then so can I.
So I close my eyes and push on and on until my very last breath.
“Look up!” the nurse says, and when I do, there’s a little head. “It’s a girl.”
Tears well up in my eyes as the pain and adrenaline all come rushing out of me. And I cry as the nurse hands me my baby. When her little lips part and a cry comes out, my heart swells with a love I never knew existed.
Eli presses a kiss to my forehead. “I’m so proud of you.”
“She’s ours …” I murmur.
“But you did all the work,” he says.
“We have to give her a better life. Better than we had,” I say, looking up at him, and he nods in agreement.
All the suffering I’ve been through vanishes from my heart when I look at her. This little girl … she was worth it all.
“I promise you now, little girl …” I murmur, kissing her on the forehead. “Your parents will love you. No matter who you are or what you do. And we will always be here for you. Always.”
Eli
“Right, Eli?” Amelia asks as she looks up at me from her bed, her hair in shambles, her eyes thick, the bedding bloody and sticky from the messy birth. But none of that matters. All the pain and suffering fades when I see that wondrous little bundle of joy in her arms.
And when Amelia holds her out to me, I gently take her into my arms, cradling that beautiful girl while staring into her eyes. She has the eyes of her mother. Eyes that make my heart jump. Eyes that split my soul in half.
“She’s beautiful,” I whisper. “You hear that? You’re the most precious thing alive.”
“What should we name her?” Amelia asks.
I look down at the pretty girl in my arms, whose whole life is ahead of her. It won’t be an easy life, and it will definitely be full of struggle, but I know in my heart she will do good. She is, after all, the spitting image of her mother.
“You decide,” I mutter as I look up at Amelia.
“Really?”
I nod. She seems surprised I’m willing to let her decide. I don’t easily hand away control, especially not when it comes to us, our lives, and our relationship. But certain things require an exception, and one of those times is now.