Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 38466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 192(@200wpm)___ 154(@250wpm)___ 128(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 192(@200wpm)___ 154(@250wpm)___ 128(@300wpm)
She started to laugh, but he could hear the desperation in the sound.
“I grabbed the first thing that I saw, which happened to be the fireplace poker. He heard me coming and charged after me, but I swung hard and felt the iron hit his body. He dropped lifelessly to the ground. Blood pooled around him so quickly that I got scared and ran.” She pulled away and looked between him and Thayer. “And you know the rest.”
The silence in the room grew thick, and so were the tension and rage. He could feel his brother’s anger as strongly as he could feel his own.
It felt like standing on the tallest mountain, the wind whipping at your body and threatening to take you over the edge. It took every ounce of strength Deacon possessed to not go hunt down that bastard and make sure he was dead.
Pulling Jessa away from his chest was hard as hell, but he needed her to know that things were different now, that they didn’t care about her past in the way she feared.
Her big brown eyes were wet from her tears. Her dark lashes were spikey as she stared up at him. In just one day this tiny woman had completely turned his world upside down.
He had no doubt their mate was this one, fragile woman, the female that could tame his beast and bring him to his knees.
“Come on, baby. I think you’d enjoy a soak in the tub.” He rose to stand and kept his arm wrapped around her waist. Thayer stood before them, a pained look on his face.
He handed their mate off to his brother and went to her room to start a bath. While the water ran he braced his hands on the counter and looked at himself in the mirror. His animal moved the surface, pacing for one chance to touch what it knew was his.
His blue eyes flashed at the thought, as if his leopard reaffirmed what Deacon already knew. He didn’t know why he was like this, so much more rugged and unstable than his brother.
If he could think rationally, be one with what he truly was, then maybe he would have been able to let her go. As it stood, there was no fucking way he planned on letting Jessa go. Even when he fixed her car he knew he couldn’t watch her walk away.
He’d find her no matter where she went. There was no place she could hide from him. He didn’t doubt Thayer’s feelings for her, but his brother and the animal that he housed inside of him had boundaries, meshed together so it became one being.
It was always a fucking struggle with Deacon’s beast.
Hanging his head between his shoulders he let the sound of the water filling the tub calm him. Even through the sound of rushing water he could hear Jessa, smell her scent that had him gritting his teeth.
They would have to tread gently with her. Her past was one of pain and fear. He knew she couldn’t possibly feel the same emotions they did for her.
Hell, she didn’t even know who or what they were. Humans didn’t allow their minds to delve into the possibility that not everything was black and white. A whole world of grey existed. He turned and shut off the water and left the bathroom.
Thayer had his arm around Jessa’s small shoulders and led her toward him. She held a tall glass of wine in her hand, and he was thankful to see her tears had dried.
He let Thayer take her into the bathroom but stayed in the doorway. She sat on the lid of the toilet, her shoulders slumping forward. She looked so defeated.
He would have to make sure to put her at ease, however long that took. She would grow to trust them, come to understand that not all men were sadistic fuckers intent on hurting women.
Deacon wanted her, desperately, and he knew Thayer did, too, but they had all the time in the world. Right now she needed to get to know them, the men, so then maybe one day she could come to understand what they truly were.
Watching his brother lean down and kiss her on the forehead brought warmth to his chest. This felt right and perfect. Jessa looked into Thayer’s face and smiled, and then turned her gaze toward him.
Her smile was grateful, but under that he sensed a spark of life. She thought she was broken, but she wasn’t.
The pieces of her life could be put back together, and he and Thayer would make sure she became whole again.
Chapter
Thirteen
Two days had passed since Jessa had confessed her life filled with dirty secrets to Thayer and Deacon.
The fact they hadn’t judged her had her feeling unfamiliar emotions. For the past seventy-two hours they had been gentle with her, letting her get to know them and their lives.