Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 127484 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 637(@200wpm)___ 510(@250wpm)___ 425(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127484 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 637(@200wpm)___ 510(@250wpm)___ 425(@300wpm)
“I thank you.” I clasped my hands in front of me so he wouldn’t see them trembling. “For showing me what I really need. What I really desire.” I looked to Stone. “A powerful man who is able to operate in society, not chained by the shadows like you are. You’ll never be able to give me the life I want.”
There it was. Poison, sickening and vile, but hopefully convincing enough.
I turned away from Knox. I couldn’t bear to look at him. Instead, I took my cues from Stone, whose smile had grown wider and wider as I spoke. He believed me, I guessed.
“Ah, isn’t this nice.” He clapped his hands together before grabbing me roughly and pulling me against his body.
I squeezed my eyes shut for a second to survive the unwelcome touch, steeling myself from fighting against him or kneeing him in the balls.
He was still holding the knife. Which meant my life wasn’t safe. He wasn’t wholly convinced. And he enjoyed torturing Knox.
His hand stroked my hip, creeping upward, across my bruised ribs to the underside of my breast, not quite fondling me, but it was an assault. I winced at the pain from it, yet Stone only held me tighter. Tears stung my eyes, and I tasted copper as I bit into my lip to stop from crying out.
Though I knew it was a mistake, I looked at Knox again.
His face was blank.
Completely blank. Not even like it had been when he first took me, devoid of human emotion. This was something else. I couldn’t explain it. It was as if he’d left, the shape of his face changed, and I swore, something inhuman and feral lurked beneath his eyes. His wrath was that deep.
“You’ll forgive me, my darling, if I don’t believe you at face value,” Stone’s voice was deep, warm. “It is partly on account of you whoring yourself out to the first of my men you encountered.” I had to swallow a whimper of pain when he held me rougher. The grip promised more violence. “I’ll be taking measures to ensure your … loyalty to me.” I forced my limbs to remain where they were when he leaned down to lay his lips on my neck. “I could make you bend over for me, right here, in front of Knox to show him what you’re giving to me,” he whispered., but not quietly enough for Knox and his men not to hear.
My stomach lurched at the threat. Not quite a threat either. He was actually considering it. Weighing his options. If he did order me to do that, it meant I was dead. I understood that if he truly wanted me to be his wife, he wouldn’t expose me that way. He held a fucked-up version of honor. He wouldn’t let his men see me like that.
I didn’t have a plan if he did do that. Other than fighting like hell and hope I won. Hope Knox won.
Stone kept me there, in the purgatory of his indecision for a full minute. I counted the seconds. It was all I could do to keep sane. It took him fifty-seven seconds to act.
Keeping a firm grip on my ribs, he pulled back, his fingers again brushing below my breast. The sound that came out of his throat sounded like a laugh, but it scraped down the sides of my soul.
“I had planned on disposing of you.” Stone tucked a loose curl behind my ear. “Not before tasting what has bewitched the most ruthless of my men.” His eyes flit to Knox for a split second before returning to me. “But you have changed my mind. I’ll have you. Knox, you did me the great favor of disposing those of my men who had knowledge of you fucking her.” A pause, Stone’s gaze never leaving mine. “Well, almost all of them…”
In one swift movement, Stone had removed something from his jacket, two loud pops sending the men at Knox’s side tumbling to the ground with heavy, wet thumps.
There was a ringing in my ears.
I gaped down. To where Stone had shot his own men. In cold blood.
Blood trickled from their heads. Warmth dripping down my cheek told me it coated my skin.
Knox was immobile in front of me. I struggled to do the same, but my knees trembled, and I was glad that I didn’t have much to eat today or it might’ve been all over Elizabeth’s designer shoes.
Suddenly, the room was smaller, shrinking so it squeezed against my ribs harder than Stone’s hand. It was incredibly intimate—and not in a good way—to have the only living men in the room be Stone and Knox.
My savior and my captor.
Stone was still holding me. Armed. His dangerous energy strangled me.
“Now, I’m sure you’re still filled with all sorts of intentions,” Stone addressed Knox. “Revenge being the most pressing of them. Even if my fiancée has made it clear that she finds you … lacking.” He sighed. “I know it’s hard to let go. Bear in mind, if I so much as catch a glimpse of you...”