Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 79211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
He spills in me as my body goes up in flames. I relish the feel of his warm breath on my back. The hot rivulets of water cascading between us. Our mutual bliss and ecstasy. The flaming heat of his marks on me, claiming me as his.
I’m boneless and tingling with arousal as he rinses me off and holds me to his chest.
“Don’t ever get compliant,” he says, bending down to kiss my cheek. I love the feel of his stubble on my sensitive skin. “I need a reason to fuck the brat out of you.”
“I wouldn’t even know where to begin, so we’re good.”
I stumble going back into the bedroom. “Good, it worked,” he says, as he scoops me up and places me on the bed.
“Keep telling yourself that,” I respond, even as I roll over to stare at the state-of-the-art monitor he’s had installed that’s a hundred times better than the one we used before. Ivy’s peacefully sleeping.
He slides on a pair of boxers, then a pair of black sweats. I just got my brains fucked out of me, but I can still feel a rumble of awareness skate through me at the sight of his hardened abs, the dark hair that dips dangerously into the waistband of his sweats.
“Where are you going?”
Wordlessly, he pulls on a black tee and a black zippered hoodie. I suspect the bundle in his fist is a mask as well.
He doesn’t answer me.
“You look like a ninja.”
“Good. And you look like an angel.” He kisses my cheek. “Go to Ivy and don’t wait up for me.”
Still, he follows me into Ivy’s room. “I can handle this myself,” I remind him, and he squeezes the back of my neck in that move that I love.
“I know, baby,” he says gently. “But I want to see Ivy before I go.”
Something in me melts just a little bit more when I see him bend and tuck the blanket around her carefully, so she’s nice and secure.
Because that’s what Aleks does — he makes sure the people he cares for are safe and secure. It’s why he’s going out tonight.
“Good night,” he whispers. “Sleep.”
I curl up next to Ivy and close my eyes. In my dream I hear screams and see nothing but darkness. I wake, my heart pounding, somehow both secure in the knowledge that it was just a dream yet still craving reassurance.
“Aleks?” I whisper. There’s no answer. I lie back on the pillow and remind myself that Aleks is gone.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Aleks
I hate leaving Harper and Ivy, but it has to be done.
I’ve got shit to do.
Gleaming under the moonlight, engine purring, the pitch-black coupe nearly blends into the night. I check my weapons and slide into the driver’s seat.
Viktor sits beside me, a silent testament of power. Our human weapon. Nikko’s behind me. Lev next to him.
We’re heading to Harper’s family home.
“Tell us everything,” Viktor says. He likes to know every sordid detail before we go on any kind of mission or hit. It fuels him. If he needs to beat the shit out of someone who owes us money, I’ll make sure he knows the motherfucker beats his wife when he loses a bet.
So I tell them everything. “And the last time Harper found one of her father’s guns, he beat her.”
“To be fair,” Lev says, “if I found one of my kids holding one of my guns, I wouldn’t exactly be Mr. Nice Guy.”
“That’s beside the point,” I growl. I don’t disagree. “We all know there’s a difference between parenting and beating the shit out of someone.”
The worst of it is how Harper felt after having Ivy, though. How she had to hide her and how they shamed her. They’ve used her for years and it’s time they pay the piper.
I remember when I first pulled up the drive to get to her family’s home and left with my bride.
Adrenaline surges through me as we draw closer.
The forest around the estate where I chased her looks mysteriously vacant.
“Aleks…”
“What?” I’m still lost in the memory of the first time I touched her. Chased her. Captured her.
Now I can’t be sure I’m not the one that’s been captured.
“Are you sure this is the right place?” Viktor asks. “There’s no signs of anyone living here.”
He’s right. As we pull further up the driveway, I note ours is the only car. The front porch is swept clean. There’s no welcome mat, no wreath on the door. Not a light on inside. A buildup of collected mail sits on the ground below the overflowing mailbox.
Goddammit.
Did they go away after they visited us? That doesn’t make sense…
“Strange.” I cut the engine, mentally cursing because I came here tonight with a purpose.
We get out of the car in silence, stealthy and quiet, all of us dressed in black, masks pulled on.