Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 94678 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94678 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
“And I am?”
“Yes!” I scream, the hurt of his betrayal too painful not to react. “You’re to blame for everything!”
I thrash against him again, desperate to get free.
The memories are too painful, the hurt still real.
To my absolute horror, I whimper out a moan when my fight to get free of his hold has my leg brushing past his crotch—his extended crotch. It flashes up memories of last night and exposes how he didn’t just watch over me after I stumbled into the owner’s suite. He was in every frame, close enough to catch me if I were to fall but not close enough to intervene in my rebellious streak.
I try to remember my anger and the pain that hasn’t subsided in over a decade while saying, “Let me go. Please.”
“No,” Mikhail says sternly, his voice steady. “I’m not letting you walk away from this. From me. I shouldn’t have let you do it ten years ago, and I won’t let you do it now.”
His shunting of the blame again fuels my anger. I continue to fight, to place necessary distance between us, but he holds on tight.
“You can’t just decide to fight now,” I snap out, my voice rising. “It’s too late. Years too late.”
Even as the words leave my mouth, a part of me is grateful, pleased that he’s finally showing some fight and not letting me go without protest this time.
The memory of Mikhail leaving me at the altar is still fresh, a wound that refuses to heal, but his silence for the past ten years hurts more.
I honestly don’t know if I can go through that again.
“It’s not too late,” Mikhail argues, his tone softer now but still resolute. “We can move past this. We can get over it. Fuck.” His eyes are full of emotions and on me, hot and heavy. “I can’t lose you again, Emmy. It will kill me.”
A twisted mix of emotions hits me at once. Anger and gratitude are most prominent. But hope is there too, and it leaves me feeling conflicted. “It’s too late. You should have fought for us sooner.”
“I know,” he admits, his voice cracking with emotions as his grip on my arm loosens. “I should have demanded answers a long time ago, but I...” His eyes bounce between mine. “I didn’t want to know the truth. I didn’t want to face the fact that we were over. I couldn’t bear the thought of hearing that from you.”
I stare into his eyes, fighting back the moisture looming in mine. As much as I hate to admit this, the hurt in his tired gaze suffocates some of my worry, replacing it with a glimmer of hope.
Maybe, just maybe, there’s something still worth fighting for. We just need to heal the wounds we’re both carrying and rebuild what we’ve lost, and my hungover head is confident it knows the perfect way for us to commence that.
Chapter 26
Mikhail
Air whizzes from my nose when Emerson uses the tactic she always does when she’s losing.
She kisses me.
I could pull away. I don’t because I don’t have the strength.
I’m a human, not a fucking superhero.
This woman could stab me in the heart over and over again, and I still wouldn’t deny her. That’s how under my skin she is, how badly she drilled herself into my brain. Even when I am furious at her, she’s forever on my mind, and I’m done pretending she isn’t.
Even if it only awards me an hour of her time, I’ll let her have every penny I own before I will ever stop this.
With my fingers weaved through Emerson’s hair and our lips squashed together, I kiss her with everything I have.
Our embrace isn’t close to sweet. It is angry and indulgent, and it makes my dick leak pre-cum. This was always our pattern: cruel and vindictive, but once the tension was released, the hurt faded, and mutual admiration and respect emerged.
I can only hope we will follow the same route now.
As our tongues dance an intricate routine, I back us up until the first step of the grand staircase of Zelenolsk Manor almost knocks Emerson off her feet, and my cock throbs halfway up her stomach.
She grips my hair, fisting it roughly, when a second after I lay her across the top three stairs of the stairwell, I lower my mouth to the region of her body that teasingly badgered me for hours on end last night.
My only task was to ensure her safe arrival home, but her regretful groan changed my plans. I slipped between the sheets and pulled her into my chest before a single thought crossed my mind, only escaping mere minutes before the fight I knew would inevitably occur began.
After pulling Emerson’s sleeping shirt up to her chest, I curl my tongue around her erect nipple. I suck it into my mouth before gently grazing it with my teeth, doubling the harshness of her breaths. Her back arches as I feast on her delectable breasts.