Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 101872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
Fuck.
She was so tired.
Her eyes were closed and she was dozing when he came back.
“You find something?” she asked.
“Nope. I’m going to have to stay the night.”
“Wait. What?”
“You got a spare toothbrush, Gem?”
“Yeah, there’s a new one in its packet in the cupboard under the sink,” she said. “You’re really staying?”
“Yep. I’ll sleep on the couch.”
Oh. Of course.
But maybe he should sleep with her.
“Not going to risk bumping you by sleeping in your bed and I want to be close to the window.”
Who knew how long that latch had been broken for, though?
“Do you need me to bring back a cloth so you can take off your make-up?” he asked.
Hell no.
Nobody saw her without her makeup on!
“Nope. I’m good, darlin’.”
“Hmm.” He eyed her. “Can’t be nice going to bed with makeup on.”
“The last time anyone saw me without makeup on was when I was twelve, before I started wearing makeup.”
“I don’t care what you look like without makeup,” he told her gruffly.
Maybe not.
But she did.
When he walked back in, she tensed. Renard was going to sleep in her house.
“There’s blankets and spare pillows in the linen cupboard,” she told him.
“Thanks. You look tense, Gem. Something wrong?”
Crap.
What did she say?
“Let me guess, you’re wondering how you’re gonna stop yourself from jumping my bones.”
Um. What?
He sighed dramatically. “Well, you’re just gonna have to figure that out, Gem, because I’m exhausted.”
She found herself grinning. He’d turned it from awkward and a bit weird to pretty damn funny in the blink of an eye.
“I’ll try to refrain from jumping you.”
“Appreciated. Come find me if you need me. Night, Gem.”
“Good night.” She settled in, closing her eyes.
Only trouble was, she still couldn’t sleep. Everything kept running around in her head.
Over and over.
After about an hour of trying to get to sleep, she decided to get a drink. It had nothing to do with wanting to check that he was still here.
Nope. Nothing.
She shuffled into the kitchen and quietly grabbed a glass to fill with water.
“Couldn’t sleep, Gem?”
She let out a squeal, groaning as she jumped. “Nope. Sorry if I woke you.”
“You didn’t. Couldn’t sleep.”
“Do you want to go home?” she asked.
Please don’t leave.
“Only going home if you’re going with me. And, frankly, I don’t want you in my apartment.”
Ouch.
That hurt when she hadn’t been expecting it.
“Oh.”
Was that all she had? Oh? Well, if she said anymore, she might blurt out something she’d regret.
“It’s a soulless, crappy place where even I don’t want to be. So why would I want you to be in there?”
Ohh.
This roller coaster of emotion was hard to handle.
“Come on, let me take you back to bed.”
He led her back and even tucked her in. Then he grabbed an armchair, dragging it close to the bed.
“What are you doing?”
“Going to sit here until you go to sleep.”
“That’s kind, but I usually have trouble getting back to sleep after I wake,” she told him.
“You wake a lot?” he asked.
“I have nightmares,” she told him.
He grunted.
“Not sure I’ve ever slept really deeply,” she told him. “Come close to it living here. But . . .”
“But what?”
“I don’t know. I’ve always felt like I have to be on alert. Even when I’m asleep, you know?”
“I was a Marine, so yeah, I get that.”
She guessed he would.
“Since you’re awake, I’ve got something to ask you.”
“All right. If I don’t want to tell you, then I’ll just say.”
He grunted. “How’d you escape him? Master? How did the three of you get away?”
“That was all Lilac. Stefan’s obsession with Lilac . . . it was wrong and sick. Ryleigh and I were just a passing interest to him. When Ryleigh found out the truth about what an evil man Stefan was, we started to worry about what he would do next. That’s when Lilac started to form a plan to get us all out. She’s smart and she’s brave. Everyone was scared of Stefan. His men, the people he had working for him. They feared Stefan, but they loved Lilac.” She ran her hand over her face and realized it was trembling. “My hand is trembling.”
“Probably a reaction to the pain and the memories,” he told her. “We should stop talking about this.”
“No, no. I’m fine. So, Stefan had plans to marry Lilac off to one of his allies. One of her prospective grooms was actually a semi-decent guy. So she decided to ask for his help.”
“Fuck. That could have gone horribly wrong.”
There wasn’t enough light to see his features, but if she was a betting woman she’d say he was frowning.
Then again, that was pretty much a sure bet with Renard.
“Tell me about it. But we didn’t have much of a choice. He was going to marry her off to some asshole that would likely abuse her. And we’d be split up. Ryleigh and I had no chance against Stefan. Lilac was the only one who could ever get through to him when he was in one of his ‘moods’.”