Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 36632 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 183(@200wpm)___ 147(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36632 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 183(@200wpm)___ 147(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
The second she opened the bathroom door and took the three steps from the door to the chair, any hope I had of keeping her at arm’s length vanished. Nope. Sonya was mine. The look on her face, the uncertainty and dread, made me want to kick my own ass. Not because I’d fucked her. Because I hadn’t held on to her after I’d realized what the fuck was happening.
“So?” She laced her fingers tightly together in front of her on the table. “What did you want to talk about?”
Chapter Five
Sonya
What had started out as a fantastic idea had rapidly… devolved. Not only had I made a fool of myself, but I had touched Archangel without permission, which had put him in a tenuous position. Especially if my father found out. If the positions had been reversed, there was no one in either Salvation’s Bane or Black Reign who wouldn’t kill Archangel for taking advantage of me. I get the dynamics were different and he was both mentally -- in terms of age and life experience -- and physically my superior. He could have fought me off where I’d have been at his mercy. But the end result was still the same. I’d sat at the table with every intention of playing off the whole incident, but the truth was, what I’d done was inexcusable.
Before Archangel could say anything, I ducked my head so he couldn’t see tears forming. “I’m sorry, Archangel.” I whispered. “I didn’t think about what would happen after. I only thought about what I wanted and that if you didn’t, you’d stop me.”
Archangel let out a long breath. Then he reached out to put both his big hands over mine. “Look at me, Sonya.” I shook my head, but he simply reached out with one hand and tilted my chin up. “Yes.” When I still refused to look at him, he brushed my lower lip with his thumb. “Give me your lovely eyes, little Sonya.”
I gasped in a small breath. There was such gentleness in his voice and touch, I had to comply. But when I met his gaze, the heat and need I saw reflected my own. Sex with Archangel had surpassed my every fantasy and left me longing for so much more. Looked like he’d enjoyed himself too.
“Sonya.” His voice was rough, gravelly as he stared into my eyes intently, obviously wanting me to believe whatever he was about to say next. “Whatever you think you did wrong, don’t. If I’d truly wanted to stop things before they got out of hand, I could have. My inaction is on me.”
His eyes were swirls of gray and green that seemed to shift with his emotions, but there was a softness in them that caught me off-guard, making my chest tighten and my breath catch. I wasn’t sure exactly what he was feeling, but whatever emotion was dominant was something he embraced with his whole heart. Archangel was a hardened man with internal walls built out of concrete and steel. Yet, here he was revealing a vulnerability I was quite sure he’d rarely shown to anyone before.
“I’m sorry.” I couldn’t help the apology. It needed to be said.
“OK. Apology accepted.” He gave me a hint of a smile. “The real problem is, you’re right. You didn’t think.” His tone was gentle, and he didn’t break eye contact with me. “What you did, Sonya… It was dangerous. Reckless even. As much as you enjoyed it, as fan-fucking-tastic as it was for me, we can’t ignore the possible consequences.”
“I understand that,” I replied in a barely audible whisper. A single tear slipped and traced its way down my cheek. I was well aware of the damage that could already have been done. We hadn’t used a condom, but I couldn’t say I’d have done anything differently if I’d been given the opportunity. So, yeah. He was right about consequences. What kind of person did that make me?
His gaze softened, and he reached out to wipe my tear away with his thumb, his touch tender and lingered longer than I’d have liked given he hadn’t declared his undying love for me. I knew that was a laughable fantasy, but it was still my fantasy. “It’s going to be okay, Sonya. But we need to clear a few things up.” His voice had an intensity I found impossible to ignore.
He leaned back in his chair, giving both of us space to breathe. I watched him swallow hard, the movement of his Adam’s apple jerking my heart in a painful beat. Archangel didn’t seem like a man who was at loss of words, yet here he was struggling to find the right ones. And even though I wanted him to speak, to clarify the muddled mess in my mind, I also dreaded his next words because they might shatter me completely.