Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84533 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84533 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
“I’m fine. This is where I want to be.”
“I’m going to have Melody take a photo of my card and text it to you. If you need anything, I want you to call me, okay?”
“He won’t hurt me,” I defended.
“I didn’t say he would, but I have no idea why you’re up there, and it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
I agreed. He must have handed the phone back to Melody because just before I hung up, she said, “What’s going on, Cyrus?”
Rather than answering, I said, “Thank you. I didn’t…I didn’t give you a chance before, and that’s my issue, not yours. But you were a good friend today. That means more than you’ll ever know.”
“No problem. I’m not going to see you for a while, am I?”
“I can’t say, but if you don’t, just know that I’m where I want to be and I’m okay.”
There was a short pause before Melody said, “I can do that, but will you do me a favor and keep in touch?”
I smiled, feeling like even though we didn’t know each other well, I mattered to Melody. That was an incredible feeling. “I can do that.”
As soon as we ended the call, I climbed into bed and curled up into a ball, with my cell phone clutched in my hand, watching each minute tick by. The anger was still there. Crow had locked me in a room and then driven down the mountain. What if there’d been a fire? What if Melody hadn’t called me and he’d gotten arrested? A million things could have gone wrong.
I was unsure what to expect when he came home too. Which Crow would I see? The one who’d been completely shut off when he’d nearly broken Billy’s hand? The one who’d cooked me meals and took a bath with me and taught me how to weatherproof windows and can vegetables? Or would it be a completely different Crow, one I hadn’t met yet?
None of that mattered to me, though. I just wanted him home.
Time ticked by too slowly. Every minute felt like a decade as I lay there waiting for him.
At some point I must have dozed off because I didn’t hear the truck. I didn’t even hear the bedroom unlock until Crow was pushing open the door.
I rolled over and jumped out of bed, not caring that I was still naked. “What were you thinking! Why did you go without me? Why the hell did you lock me in the room?”
Can’t you trust me? Will you ever?
It took me a moment to notice his eyes, the wildness to them. His pupils were huge, and his breaths sounded close to a pant. There had been numerous times before when I thought Crow looked wild, feral, but they had nothing on him at this moment as he took a step, then another toward me.
I walked backward, goose bumps racing across my skin. The hairs on my arms stood on end. It was me who couldn’t speak now, my adrenaline spiking. My gaze shot to his wrists when he moved closer. Bruises colored his skin from the handcuffs, making some of the fear inside me melt. “Crow? It’s me. I won’t hurt you.”
As unbelievable as it might sound, it was almost as if something flashed in his eyes, like when the electricity flickered off, then on again. He moved forward, and I went backward, like he was stalking me. Part of me knew I should be scared, but I couldn’t be—not of him.
The back of my legs hit the bed, and I fell down onto it.
“Need.” The one word came out broken, and grittier than I’d ever heard from him, like it had taken everything inside him to get it out. He started to shake, like he was struggling to contain himself, like he didn’t belong in his skin. “Yes or no,” pushed past his lips, clueing me in.
“Yes. God yes.”
And then Crow was on me.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Crow
I felt caged, like I still had the cuffs around my wrists. Once I’d gotten on the mountain, I’d hoped that feeling would go away, but it didn’t. My heart hadn’t slowed its beat. My limbs tingled, everything inside me feeling restless. I didn’t know how to fix it, how to clear my head and relax my body. I just needed.
I grabbed Cyrus and flipped him to his stomach. I kicked out of my shoes, climbed onto the bed, and jerked my jeans down my thighs. I spit on my fingers and pushed them between his ass cheeks. The tip of my digit circled his rim before pushing inside.
“Fuck…Crow…”
A low rumble started deep in my chest. The way he said my name…it was almost enough to pull me out of this frenzy, his voice a life raft, thrown to me while I was lost at sea.