Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 90268 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90268 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
“You can’t own my soul unless I consent,” she breathed out, not waiting a second. “Rule number one, asshole. The devil can’t collect what isn’t owed to him. That’s free will, you fucking asshole!”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it, loving the fact she already knew that. Sucking on her bottom lip, I scoffed out, “You’re too smart for your own good.”
She didn’t let me get away with it, chomping down on my tongue when I slid it into her mouth. I groaned loudly, and it only made my dick harder. I claimed what was mine, continuing my descent. She kissed me back, not that I didn’t expect her to.
She was as addicted to me as I was to her.
I couldn’t help but notice how vulnerable she felt. How exposed she was to me at that moment. Hennessy didn’t just poison me. She was venomous to herself as well. Belladonna ended up being toxic for both of us, and I hadn’t seen that coming.
For a woman who hid behind her strength, it was hard to watch. At least it was for me.
She slowly licked my blood off her lips, trying to govern her unsteady breathing. Hoping I didn’t realize how much she wanted me to touch her.
Hold her.
Comfort her.
I didn’t.
I couldn’t.
I wasn’t made like that either. I wouldn’t know where to begin. I wouldn’t know what to say, how to explain, how to tell her I’d fallen in love with her. Perhaps it was her venom that made that happen too.
For the first time in my life, I understood the meaning behind the saying that love could kill you, and you’d think I’d already know that by now.
She paused, panting with her forehead placed on top of mine. “None of this makes any sense to me. I should hate you. What did you do to me?”
“You do hate me, or at least you will.”
“Hate is not what I feel for you, Onyx.”
“Hmm…” I murmured against her lips. “If that were true, you wouldn’t live to say it to me.” My bloody hand hadn’t left her throat.
“Why did you mix our blood?” she asked when she noticed.
“The more questions you ask, the less anything is going to make sense.”
“I want to know anyway.”
Going completely against my better judgment, I declared, “It was a ritual of silence.”
“Silence?”
I wanted to provide her the only security I could, which only put her life in more danger, and trust me, the irony was not lost on me. Despite feeling uneasy about confessing this, I answered her persistent question as if I was a man on death row, and in some cases, I was.
Looking deep into her eyes, I shared another truth, speaking with conviction, “I vowed to never tell you what happened to your father.”
If she weren’t lying down, she would’ve fallen to the ground from the impact of what I just openly shared with her.
“You knew my father?”
“Knew isn’t the word I’d use.”
Her eyebrows pinched together. “That’s the same thing your aunt said to me when I asked her about him.”
I stayed quiet. What could I reply to that…
“All I was told was that he died when I was young.”
“He did.”
“Where? Here? Is he part of the Brotherhood too?”
Unsure of how much I’d actually share, I went with it and answered, “He’s like me.”
“What do you mean? Like you, how?”
“He’s a legacy family…”
She gasped with wide eyes. “The crest I saw in the museum?”
I simply nodded.
“What does that mean?”
“Your ancestors started the Blood Oath Brotherhood, just like mine did.”
“Ay dios mío.”
I shook my head, confirming, “Your God isn’t going to save you from this, Hennessy. Your father already cursed you with his last name.”
Determined, she snapped, “I’m not my father.”
“Your bloodline is, and that’s all that matters.”
“What the fuck?” she exclaimed. “Does my mother—”
“Why do you think you live in the Peruvian Amazon, Hennessy? Now I need you to open your fucking eyes and see the truth that’s been in your mind this entire time because it’s the only thing I can’t share with you.”
“So your loyalty lies with them?”
“My allegiance is to keep you alive.”
“My family has a generational business. They’re not hiding me.”
“Your mother has one. That has nothing to do with your father.”
“Why do you say it with such contempt? What did my father do?”
“He betrayed the Brotherhood, and it cost him his life, but before he sacrificed himself, he made sure you wouldn’t know about his legacy. It ended with him, and up until this school year, his request was met.”
“What happened?”
“Your fucking uncle.”
“What can you tell me about him? How is he marrying your aunt? She’s a Devereaux. Why isn’t it an arranged marriage like your sister's? My uncle isn’t in the Brotherhood.”
I merely watched that little mouse running wildly inside her head until once again, all the expression from her face vanished in plain sight as she figured it out on her own.