Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 64571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 323(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 323(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
“You could have run,” I say. It comes out rough, accusatory, like I’m angry she stayed.
“And where would I go?” she asks, rolling her eyes at me. “You’d track me down.”
“I would.” I don’t deny it. Why at this point? The veil has fully dropped, and I’m sure she now sees that my having her locked away wasn’t fully about keeping her safe. No, it was keeping her to myself. I didn’t want to share her with anyone.
That’s how it was for years because I didn’t know how to deal with all of it, and in the end, I hurt the one person I’ve cared the most for in my life. I held on so tightly she ran from me.
“Well, I’m glad you’re being honest.” She huffs a breath and tries to get up. I hook my arm around her, holding her in place. “Tristan—” She tries to sound annoyed, but I catch the hitch in her voice at the end.
“I want that to sink in, Lily.” I don’t mean it as a threat, but it lands that way. Her breath catches. “Anywhere you go, any door you try, I’ll make sure I’m always on the other side.”
“I don’t know what to do with that,” she tells me.
“I don’t know what to do with it either, but I’m not fighting it anymore. It’s been two months of pure hell since you left.”
“You’re so confusing.” Her brows pull together, and she goes back to trying to read my expression.
“Trust me, I’m fully aware. I’m pissing myself off.”
“Hey now, that’s my job.” A small joke slips through. “Can I get up so that we can maybe talk?”
“What is it that we’re doing now?”
“It’s hard to think with you wrapped around me.”
“Good. We’ll both be honest then.”
“Okay, if we’re going to be honest, let’s go then. How long have you been here?”
“Since you left.” I’ll answer what I can, but I’m not telling her anything that could hurt her. I need more information about her father and everything else.
“And you were sneaking in here. Messing with my things. Taking my stuff! I freaking knew it,” she mutters, her nose scrunching. “Housekeeper my ass.”
“My turn. You missed me?”
“Tristan…” Her lips purse, and I want to kiss her, but I always do. “I think it’s clear I’ve wanted more with you, but you weren’t capable of it.”
“Lily, I didn’t know. I mean, when you were a little younger, sure I thought you had a crush. That it would pass. Then everything got hostile.”
“Hostile?” She snorts a small laugh.
“So you still want me.”
“Fuck off,” she quips, but there’s no power behind it.
“Or I could fuck you.” I grab her hips and yank her body down the bed, coming over top of her. Lily sucks in a deep breath.
“We’re not doing that again. I’m in my right mind now.”
“You weren’t in your right mind when I ate your pussy?”
“Tristan!” she hisses at me, her cheeks turning pink. When did she get shy all of a sudden? It’s fucking adorable.
“You’re saying you didn’t want it?” I loom over her, knowing her answer could rip my whole world apart, and she has no clue. Lily thinks I have all the power, that I keep her captive; that goes both ways, but I’m a willing captive.
“I didn’t say that. Just because something is nice doesn’t mean—”
“Nice.” Damn.
“Fine, what do you want me to say, orgasmic?”
“You want me to say it was fine?” Those purple pools of hers narrow on me.
“That was my first time, as you know, so I don’t have someone to compare it to, but it’s nice to know you can.” She pushes on my chest; I don’t move. “Tristan,” Lily hisses.
“Are you getting jealous?” That catches me off guard. The hell does she have to be jealous of? I’m the one who sees how fuckers look at her when she goes out. I am contemplating killing five people already from Willow’s Creek.
“You’re dead,” she growls and then snaps her teeth at me.
“You’re a violent little thing.” When her lips purse, I know I’ve gone too far, so I rein it in. “I don’t have shit to compare it to either.”
Those lush lips of hers go from pressed together tightly to dropping open in shock.
“Lily Pad!” is shouted before a banging on the door. “What’s up? It’s getting late.”
I hear the door push open. “How many times do I—” Teddy cuts off. I can’t see her, my attention still on Lily, who is beneath me. “Whoa, holy crap!” Teddy gasps. “And I don’t even have my Taser. He’s the jerkface that broke it! Stomped on it with his shiny giant shoes.”
“Out,” I growl, not bothering to look over at her. I don’t want this moment to end with Lily, but I know it is. The reality of what is outside of this bed is slipping back in.