Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 46398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
There was a girl in the corner.
She saw what they did to me and I saw what they did to her.
Except when the lights were off and when they put us in confinement.
I was 16 and I don't know how old she was.
We couldn't talk; we couldn't even look at each other.
That would lead to punishment. I was punished a lot because I had to see if she was there.
There were dozens of us and yet at night, it was only her that helped me sleep in that nightmare of a boarding school.
They thought I was bad when they sent me there... little did they know the monster they created.
I didn't know her name, but I knew who ran the school.
Years later and with blood on my hands, I got my revenge planned years ago when I was only a child.
Then I found a name.
Her name.
If you thought they f**cked me up, you should see what happened to her.
My angel.
"At its heart, this is a second chance romance but with a twist that absolutely caught me off guard. It also includes powerful trauma representation and so many emotional, heartfelt moments. Every time I thought I had the story figured out, it would throw me another curveball. I was hooked from start to finish and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a romance that’s as moving as it is unpredictable." - sisters_bonded_by_books
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
PROLOGUE
Dean
Tonight feels different.
Almost like that first time when I saw her across the room and knew she was innocent and worthy of so much more than this. We’re so close to the end. I know it. I can feel it in the marrow of my bones.
The evening air is crisp and my breath forms a fog outside her bedroom window. Behind me is only the woods since she lives on the backroad. It’s quiet apart from the sounds of the night. The sky darkens as I slip my hands into the jacket pockets and watch her undress.
Just for me.
I know she does it just for me. The way she arches her back to tease me. Exposing her slender neck so I can imagine kissing her right there, just beneath the shell of her ear. Her curves toy with me and my needs as her blouse becomes a puddle of silk at her feet. Bared for me with only a strip of cloth separating her cunt from my prying gaze.
The glow of the bedroom light dims when she flicks the light off.
I can imagine the creak of the bed as she climbs beneath the covers. I’ve heard it so many times before. My cock presses against the zipper of my jeans and I hold back a groan as I force myself to leave her sight.
The keys in my pocket jingle as I make my way around the side of the house to the backdoor.
It’ll all be over with soon. There will be nothing standing between us. Not the nightmares of what once was. Not the pain that lingers and keeps a grip on the thread of sanity I have left.
Haley
It’s all in my head but I swear I can feel him.
The sheets chill my naked skin as my eyes adjust to the dark. The bed is empty but I stare at the lone pillow, wondering how long it may remain that way.
My gaze drops to where the pillowcase meets the sheet and I know the notebook is hidden beneath it. I can feel its secrets, its confessions… the vivid dreams I’ve scribbled away in the darkest of the nights.
Turning onto my back, I let out a heavy sigh and close my tired reddened eyes. The relief is immense.
But then I see him again.
I see it all play out and my throat tightens.
If I had never kissed him… none of this would have ever happened.
It was a kiss that changed everything over a decade ago.
A single moment where we thought we could escape. The sirens wail in my memory, the flashing lights force my heart to race as if it’s all happening now. As if I’d just pulled the fire alarm. As if we’re racing down the hall in the middle of the night, praying for the Devil to stay soundly asleep in the heat of chaos.
Tears leak from the corner of my eyes.
“Run away with me,” he whispered and it’s like I can feel his warm breath kissing my neck like it did that night.
I stared into his desperate eyes, full of pain from what we endured, and I could only beg him, “Kiss me first.”
The water sprayed down around us, as he stared back at me, his chest rising and falling. We’d already made our choice. What was one more going to change?
“I don’t even know your name,” he murmured as others ran in a blur behind him.
“I know you though. I see you.” I told him and I’ve never felt so honest in my life.
That’s when the screams started.
Breaking up the moment… and yet.
A creak from the hall floorboards pulls me back from the memory. Grounding myself in this moment where it is all in the past. This is only trauma brought back by the recent events.
“It’s gone. It’s over,” I whisper and I don’t know who I’m trying to convince.
A second creak, louder and closer sends a wave of goosebumps down my body, chilling me to the bone. My heart seems to pound louder and harder with a spark of renewed fear. I call out, my voice hoarse, “Who’s there?”
DEAN
He walks the same. That heavy footed boot hitting the ground sends a chill down my spine. My back tenses against the brick wall as I force my eyes to stay open and watch him walk from his car to grab a pack of cigarettes. The gravel beneath his feet does nothing to remove the memory.
Left. Right. Left. I hear footsteps all over again. His footsteps. Just like it was yesterday. Like I’m in the cot, urine stench and all, listening to him come down in the middle of the night.
The moon is full so there’s plenty of light and I don’t mind that he can see me.
Unlike back then when I wished I could just disappear whenever I heard the thunk of his heavy gait.