Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 54283 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54283 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
Naz and I are opposite sides of the same sad, lonely coin. He became a monster trying to keep his loneliness at bay, to live in this world without letting it destroy him entirely. And me? Well, I got trapped into being a good, obedient little princess.
His honesty about who he is and why is a stark contrast to my family's overprotective coddling. With my father and Niall, I'm a fragile little doll, safe but smothered. I'm supposed to be part of this world but untouched by it.
Will it be the same with him? With everything he's already lost, can he really give me the freedom I crave, or would giving into whatever is between us just be exchanging one pretty cage for another?
"Am I just another possession for you to protect?" The words taste bitter on my tongue, but I force them out anyway. I need to know. "Because I've spent far too long in one of those pretty prisons already, Nazario. My father promised my mom that he'd keep me safe, and he's never seen past that promise. He never will."
Naz slides his fingers into my hair, cradling my head, his expression soft. "Protection is a necessity in this world, Brynna. Your father understands that, just like I do. We guard what belongs to us because we know the agony of losing what we love. He's afraid of losing you."
My heart clenches at his statement. He offers my father understanding in a way my father would never return. In his shoes, my father would have sought to divide us, to sow doubt. But Naz doesn't try to turn me against him. He doesn't try to create a wedge between me and the man who raised me. He simply…defends him. It's a kindness I didn't expect from him, one that humanizes him in a way that nothing else could.
And it allows me to see him in a way nothing else has. He may be everything he said he was, but there's far more under those monstrous scales than I think anyone else will ever know. And those are the parts of him that fascinate me.
Maybe he is the god of war like people say, a brutal tactician who murders and maims as easily as he breathes. But he's all too human, too. And that part of him is just as fierce as the other parts. It knows kindness. It craves love.
Does he even realize that's what he wants? Perhaps not. Will he let himself feel it? I don't know. But the ability to feel it? That's there.
I rise up on my toes, pressing my lips. "Thank you," I whisper. "For being honest."
He groans against me, his arms tightening around my waist. "Brynna," he whispers, his hands fisting into my shirt. "Dio, mi cielito. You're killing me."
I think I'm killing me, too. I press my face against his throat, trying to get myself under control. Instead, I manage to knock the book I was thumbing through off the shelf.
Naz glances down at it and chuckles, unwinding himself from around me. His gaze flicks to mine, his amber eyes full of mischief as he bends to pick it up. "Is there something in particular in here that caught your eye, Brynna?" His deep voice sends a shiver racing down my spine. "Because I'm more than willing to put you in any position you point out, little one."
"What?" My brows furrow in confusion. Right up until I glance down at the book and realize he's holding a copy of the Kama Sutra, anyway. Mortification floods through me, heat blazing in my cheeks.
"Oh my God. I didn't…I don't…" I stutter, my tongue suddenly tied in knots. "This is so embarrassing."
"Embarrassing? No, mi cielito. You in any of these positions is a fucking dream come true." He flips through a few pages, his expression heated.
"You aren't helping," I groan.
He steps closer, crowding me up against the shelf again. "I'm not trying to help, Brynna. I like you trembling and sweet," he murmurs, his lips brushing the shell of my ear. "I like the flush to your cheeks and the way your pulse flutters." He nips my ear, his warm breath against my skin, stealing mine. "I like you thinking about me inside you."
I whimper, my knees quaking beneath me.
"Tell me, what filthy desires hide behind those innocent eyes, hmm? What is it that makes that sweet little body ache and burn?" he rasps, his voice gritty as he pulls back to look at me.
I swallow hard, my body trembling under his intense scrutiny. No one has ever looked at me the way he does—like he wants to consume me, possess me, worship me. Like he wants to own every thought in my head, every secret fantasy. It's thrilling and terrifying at the same time.
He trails his fingers along my wrist, branding me as his with nothing but his touch. "Do you want me to show you what you need so badly, Brynna?" he asks, his voice a seductive purr. "Do you want me to shatter you right here with entire worlds stretching out around us?"