Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 128356 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128356 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
“Well, they kept me away from you and your suffocating attention.”
I realize I’ve spoken too much when he narrows his eyes to slits. “Right. Risking death is definitely worth escaping me.”
“You would’ve killed me anyway.”
“If I wanted to kill you, no one would’ve been able to stop me, Violet. Not Julian and not fucking Kane. The only reason you’re not buried six feet under is because I chose not to put a bullet in your pretty little head. Are we clear?”
My lips part because he sounded…offended? Maybe I’m being naïve again, but I believe Jude over Julian. It’s probably because Jude never lied to me, and he’s too straightforward to play games.
I swallow. “Am…I still a target?”
“No.”
For some reason, that doesn’t send relief through me. “Then why are you here?”
He lifts a brow. “I told you I’d see you tomorrow last night, remember?”
My heart stutters, thudding harshly behind my rib cage.
No. No, no, no, no…
“That was not… It’s not…” I stop talking because I’m sweating, my ears are heating, and my eyes are so wide, I think they’ll bulge out.
“It’s not what?” He cocks his head to the side. “You swallowed my cum like a good girl after you finger-fucked your tiny cunt for me—”
I place both hands on his mouth as I study my surroundings, and I feel his lips curving beneath my palms.
“Shut up.” I drop my hands. “It was just a dream.”
“Sure. Let’s call it that when I shove my cock into your tiny cunt the next time.”
“Stop that, Jude.”
“Mmm.” There’s a glint. No, a smile. How the hell does this man even know how to smile?
He’s done it twice now, and it’s giving me an existential crisis.
“I like the sound of my name in your voice.”
My lips part, but I clear my throat. “Just…forget what happened last night. I thought it was a dream.”
“Do you dream about me a lot?”
I step back, or try to anyway, because his grip forbids me from creating any form of distance. He’s so close, and his scent is so overwhelming; my body is reacting, and my brain is a jumbled mess.
“Tell me, Violet. Am I the fantasy man you write about and dream of?”
He read my journal.
Damn it, of course the freaking stalker would.
God. This is so embarrassing.
If the earth could split open and swallow me whole, that would be awesome. Thanks.
“Did you touch yourself to memories of me every night?” His low voice sends shivers through me.
Why the hell is it so hot in freaking February?
“Please. I don’t even like you,” I say in my calmest tone.
“Didn’t stop you from shattering to pieces in front of me.”
“I was thinking of someone else,” I lie through my teeth.
Something curious happens then.
A flash.
A tightening of his jaw and a gradual darkening of his eyes. “Someone else?”
His voice sounds impossibly deep, like it’s ringing from the wildest corner of hell.
“Yeah,” I whisper.
“Who is this someone else?”
“No one you know.”
“I know everyone in your fucking life, Violet.”
“That’s not something you should be proud of.”
“Don’t change the subject. Who is it?”
“Don’t be desperate.” I pause, biting my lower lip. “Just leave me alone.”
“So you can keep picturing someone else while you touch yourself at night?”
“What if I do?”
His lips lift in a snarl. “There will be no one but me, Violet. Your life is mine, and so is your fucking body. You hear me?”
“Yeah, well, you can have neither my heart nor my soul.”
He’s angry.
No, he has that enraged expression he wears when he’s about to beat someone up on the ice or snap a hockey stick in two.
Why the hell am I provoking him, really?
Because I’m embarrassed and he’s pissing me off, that’s why.
He leans down, his mouth so close to mine, I can feel his minty breath on my sensitive skin. “I will have your fucking everything, sweetheart.”
“I’m not your sweetheart. I’m not your anything.”
It’s a challenge to keep looking him in the eye, but I do, refusing to let him stomp all over me again.
Maybe because I already faced death, but Jude will no longer stop me from living my life.
“We’ll see about that.” He drags me behind him to where he parked his huge bike.
“What are you doing?” I try to shake off his grip, but fighting Jude’s strength is like going against a damn bull.
He offers me the helmet. “Hop on.”
“No, I won’t. I have school.”
“I’ll give you a ride.”
“No, thanks.”
“Hop the fuck on, Violet. Don’t make me repeat myself.”
“I won’t—” My words end on a yelp when he grabs my hips and lifts me up, then sets me on the bike as if I’m a rag doll.
Before I can say anything, he shoves the helmet on my head and then puts on his own and drives off.
The distance to campus isn’t that far since the place Kane bought for me is about a twenty-minute walk, but with the way Jude’s speeding, I feel like I’m fighting for my life.