Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 104185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
“You’re shaking,” he whispered.
“Because I had another memory just now, when you—”
“Attacked you?” he said, with disgust. “What was it?”
“I was being strangled in a parking garage. And my nightmare before I came in here,” I swallowed a breath, “I was running from a man with a gun in that same parking garage.”
His arms were gone. He sat up, alarm in every cell of his face. “Did you remember anything else? Like, why he was strangling you?”
I shook my head. How did he know what I was talking about?
“Good.” He relaxed ever so slightly. “There are some memories you’re better off not having. Tonight—or ever.” He leaned over and brushed his fingertips down the side of my face. “There’s a mountain’s worth of trauma pending in here. Shit, I’d keep it from you if I could.”
My head began to ache, but I was able to get it out. “Tell me.”
He didn’t even consider it. “No.”
Before I could argue, he settled back down beside me. He trapped me under his heavy arm, and it quickly became clear he wasn’t going to let me leave. His hold tightened so he could bury his face in my neck, his lips resting a breath away from my skin.
God, I’d been so wrong.
Climbing into this bed had been a terrible mistake, one I suffered through silently while he slowly drifted off. He wasn’t aware how tense I was as I lay beside him, held in the prison of his arm. This man didn’t make me feel safe.
I was sure being in his bed was the most dangerous place of all.
Ryan’s phone, charging on his nightstand, trilled with an alarm while it was still dark outside, stirring him awake.
I wasn’t sure if I had slept at all last night, but I pretended to be deeply asleep when he sat up and silenced his phone.
He slept in the nude. I’d realized it after he’d kicked down the sheet at some point during the night. His naked body headed for the shower, and a faint, dark voice whispered I should follow him.
Not a chance. Last night had been a disaster, and I wasn’t about to confront him naked. Stress only seemed to trigger the worst of the memories and—
Holy shit.
I bolted upright in the bed.
That was what I had been doing on the balcony. I hadn’t been trying to end my life . . . I'd been trying to get it back.
I flung the covers back and sprinted to my room, my hands pulling the robe tight around me and then reaching for the doorknob of the patio door.
It wasn’t as cold as the last time I’d been out here, but my breath was visible in the wind and my bare feet were freezing on the stone. It was safer this way, though. Shoes could cause me to slip when I was on the other side of the railing.
The sleeves of the robe were long, falling past my fingertips. That was why I’d thrown it off that morning. I hadn’t wanted to get tangled while climbing over the railing.
I flung it onto the chair, hoping for a sense of déjà vu, but it didn’t come. Every footstep to the edge of the balcony was shockingly cold, and the railing was even colder when I grasped it.
Not knowing was worse than what I was about to do, I told myself. Answers lay on the other side. I took a deep breath and leaned on my hands, my toes lifting off the stone—
“What are you doing?” Ryan demanded.
My feet dropped back onto the patio, and I spun to face him. He had only a towel on, held closed with a hand, his hair drenched.
“I . . . don’t know,” I lied.
“Come inside now.” He held out his hand, his expression demanding I take it. I grabbed my robe first before reluctantly complying. I was led back to his room like a child he needed to punish.
“I came out of the shower, and you were gone, and then I see you trying to climb over the railing.” He looked and sounded pissed. “Maybe you just stay off the balcony from now on. Understood?”
I nodded, guilty.
“Good, I’ll let Plavko know.”
Then he dropped his towel.
Oh, God. I spun away, shocked.
“We’ll be married in two days,” he reminded.
“I know that.” It came out broken.
“Then turn around.”
I couldn’t. He stepped up against me, dipping his head so his breath was hot on my neck. His tongue traced a line there, up to my ear, and I lurched forward, turning halfway to glance at him. There was that feeling of déjà vu I’d been looking for, but it was horrifying.
His face was dangerous and predatory, forcing me backward and away from him. Away from the pair of eyes I hadn’t seen before.
Once Ryan left for his business trip, there was a countdown clock in my head, ticking down to zero, toward something I found terrifying.