Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 92043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
“That was…” I sniffled and searched for a word that would fit.
“Beautiful,” he whispered against my skin. “Fucking beautiful.”
“It was…a lot,” I replied, raising my tired arms to run them through his hair. “But beautiful works too.”
“I’m yours,” he said as his lips drifted lazily down my neck and over my collarbone. “And you’re mine.”
The certainty of that sunk in to the tiny places inside me—the ones I kept hidden and refused to look at—like a balm.
He was still hard inside me and eventually began to move again. The next round was languid and intimate, our gazes never veering from each other’s faces as the pleasure built, and we came again. It wasn’t as overwhelming as the first time, but almost better for it.
Once the urgency was gone and the bond between us pulled taut like an unbreakable steel wire, we’d made love.
It was hard to get dressed afterward and nearly impossible to follow Ambrose down the stairs to where the family was gathered in the kitchen.
I’d accepted that Charlie was going to go on this rescue mission, not because I’d been convinced of its merits or because I thought that he needed to do it. No, it was more basic than that. I’d finally realized that I didn’t have a choice. He was going to go whether I liked it or not. I couldn’t stop it, and I couldn’t expect Ambrose to stop it either. That wasn’t his responsibility.
I was woman enough to realize I’d been outmaneuvered.
Now that we’d completed the bond, it occurred to me that I was potentially as immortal as Charlie, but I didn’t even mention it. Logically, I knew that bringing in two inexperienced humans was an even worse idea than bringing in just one. If I was there, the Bouchers’ focus would be split between us. I’d only make Charlie less safe.
Dinner was a pretty quiet affair, and I could barely choke down my food. Everyone around the table was distracted. Reese sat with her head resting on Beau’s shoulder, their chairs pulled so close together that there was no space between them. Alice and Matilda talked about random things, cool as cucumbers. They didn’t seem concerned at all, and that gave me a weird kind of hope.
“You have to eat, baby,” Ambrose chastised, nodding at my plate.
“I’m not very hungry.”
Ambrose let out a small sigh and nodded, leaning over to brush his lips against my temple.
Fifteen minutes later, I was gripping his hand as he led me to a room I hadn’t even known existed. I paused at the threshold.
It looked like a hospital room. There were two uncomfortable-looking beds in the center, with IV poles and machines set next to them. A large stainless-steel sink hung from the wall in the corner. Shelves and cabinets of supplies lined the walls.
Alice strode past us and went directly to the sink, washing her hands brusquely with a little scrub brush while she hummed under her breath.
Reese and Beau came in behind us. He was murmuring to her soothingly, but I couldn’t understand what he was saying. She didn’t want to be here.
I looked at Ambrose as Reese assured Beau that she didn’t need to be sedated. She argued that she could hack it. That she’d rather just wait in a different room, fully conscious. Ambrose shook his head at me and led me over to one of the beds.
“You can climb up,” Alice said, not unkindly. “If you’d be more comfortable, we have gowns to change into.”
I looked down at my leggings and T-shirt. I’d picked an old Rolling Stones shirt that was so thin it was almost transparent. “No, I’m good in this.”
Now that the moment was fast approaching, I felt myself beginning to panic. My hand tightened around Ambrose’s. He was going to leave. He and Charlie were going to leave, and no one knew what would happen. I would be stuck there, unconscious, and I wouldn’t have any idea if something went wrong.
“Breathe,” Ambrose whispered, turning to cup my cheek in his hand. “If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. We’ll adjust, and I’ll stay close.”
My mind spun with horrific scenarios, so many that I couldn’t even articulate that I wasn’t afraid for myself or what the heat would do when we were separated. That was so far down the list that it didn’t even matter.
A thump sounded behind me, and I jolted, spinning to look.
Beau physically lifted Reese and dropped her onto the other bed while she cursed at him.
“Last time she was in here,” Ambrose explained as he gently helped me onto the bed. “Beau was hurt and having surgery. She’s just dealing with some bad memories.”
“Beau was hurt?”
Ambrose nodded as I lay back. He carefully covered me with the thin blanket, smoothing out any wrinkles.
I tensed as Alice walked between the beds and started messing with the machines.