Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 98000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
My heart slams against my chest, but I fight to steady my breathing. This is nothing. I’ve done this many times already.
I let him enjoy most of his cigarette—a man deserves that before he dies—then slip out of my hiding spot, in all black, gloves, and a mask.
He turns to me, fear in his wide eyes as I raise the gun. He doesn’t have time to do anything before I pop off the first shot, hitting him in the forehead.
My legs feel slightly weak as I walk over, look down at him, at the blood spreading across the cement. “I’m sorry,” I say, then pull the trigger one more time, making sure the job is done, before disappearing into the night.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Dean
My eyes pop open the second I feel the mattress shift. I can only see the shadow of him, but I know it’s Tiernan. “You’re home.”
“Shh.” He leans over me, lowers his mouth to mine. He flicks his tongue against my lips, and I open to let him in. I taste toothpaste, smell soap. He couldn’t have showered in the room because I would have woken up, but it’s clear he did it somewhere recently.
His body comes down on mine, Tiernan kissing me hard, rutting against me. I’m in my boxer briefs, but when I wrap my arms around him to grip his ass, I feel he’s naked.
I knead his cheeks while we thrust together, his cock against my cloth-covered one. We kiss and touch but don’t make any moves to go any further. One of my hands travels up his back, then threads through his hair. I grip Tiernan tightly, needing to feel him, glad nothing happened to him and he’s back with me.
Eventually, the kissing slows down, lazy but still hungry, until he pulls his lips from mine.
“Are you okay?” I ask, still playing with his hair.
“Yes. I’m always okay.”
“You don’t have to be with me.” It’s wild, the change in us. The change in me. My rough edges aren’t gone, but they are smoother with him.
“Thank you, but I’m fine. It is what it is.” Tiernan gets off me and sits beside me. I miss the weight of him instantly.
Leaning over, I turn on the light. His gun is on the nightstand, his phone beside it. When my gaze lands on his face, I tense at the bruise on his cheek.
Angry heat flushes through me, and it takes everything inside me to keep my voice steady when I ask, “Who did that to you?”
Tiernan doesn’t answer right away, just sits there, naked, with his back against the headboard. His cock, hard against me just moments ago, is already softening.
“I hate myself for not standing up to him,” are the first words he says. “There is no one in this fucking world who can make me feel weak other than him.”
My teeth grind together, making pain shoot through my jaw. His father. Of course it’s his fucking father. “You do what has to be done.”
“I could take Ash and my mom and run.”
Memories flash through my head—moving around, Mom being afraid all the time, being so fucking careful because Sloan’s power doesn’t stop at the Massachusetts state line. “That’s no life for anyone.”
“And this is?” He points to his face. “I don’t give a fuck about the rest of it. That’s who I am. It’s who I’ll always be, but this? I should fucking kill him for touching me, but I won’t. I’ll just…continue to do what he says.”
“To keep yourself safe. To keep your family safe. You think I can’t see that you do it for them? Even without the details, I know that because I know you. And it’s not so easy to get out, even if that’s what you wanted.” My father tried and died because of it.
“I killed someone tonight. I won’t sugarcoat who I am for you, and I didn’t have a good reason like I did with Jensen. I did it because my father told me to, because he wants what doesn’t belong to him. And I did it knowing that what he’s taking hurts my mom. That’s what disgusts me. I love her. Why do I help him hurt her?”
My heart breaks for him, at the pain and self-loathing in his voice. I’m not sure what to tell him, how to make this better. I’m not good with words or feelings. I’m actively hurting him by lying to him every fucking day. “Tiernan…”
“Draw me,” he interrupts.
“What?”
“Draw me while I’m awake this time, while I can watch you do it.”
I don’t know why he wants this, but I’ll give him any fucking thing I can. With a nod, I get up and grab my supplies before sitting on the bed again. “Relax against the headboard…cock your head slightly.” Tiernan does as I say. “Yes, like that.”