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 wasn’t sure how long it was supposed to take. Knox had wanted to punish—read, torture—those men for hurting me. How long did that take? Probably longer than an hour.
It had only been a handful of minutes.
That felt like eons.
I worried for Knox, though I didn’t doubt his ability to go up against two men in the state he was in, fuming with a kind of rage that I hadn’t known existed outside the animal kingdom. But I was still aching from thinking he was dead. I didn’t love the idea of him risking his life so readily after so recently coming back to me.
Then again, I reasoned this was only the beginning of Knox risking his life for me. Two men were the appetizer when you considered the behemoth we had in front of us.
I jumped at the sound of a door opening and closing, scuttling back on the bed, ready to fight my way out of this as the predator in black prowled toward me. It took me a couple of seconds to realize it was Knox, not one of Stone’s henchmen.
My eyes cast over him, looking for any injuries, any obvious harm. There was none. His hands were white, pristine, not even a spec of blood that I could see.
“It’s done?” I asked, surprised.
Knox dipped his chin in confirmation.
He then prowled toward me. Though I knew the threat was gone, my heartbeat didn’t steady as I reflexively backed against the wall.
Knox caged me in.
His hands landed on either side of my head, and his body pressed against mine, his face hovering inches away, eyes landing on my bruise for a long moment before making true eye contact.
I winced at the abyss I saw in his gaze. The emptiness quickly retreating but first showing me a glimpse of who he turned into when he was killing.
Killing.
There I was, with a man who was the embodiment of violence, who had presumably just killed two men. Two very bad men to be sure, but he had snuffed out their lives.
Did that change how I felt about him? Did it kill any love inside me?
No.
The answer came within a second of the thought popping up in my mind.
No.
Nothing would ever stop me from loving this damaged, dangerous, deadly man.
“I need…” His tongue ran along his front teeth.
“What?” I asked immediately. “What do you need?”
He shook his head as if he were trying to banish thoughts, images. “This is when I would … clean my blood.”
This was when he’d score his skin with a knife. Purge himself. Hurt himself. As punishment for what he’d done? For who he was to his core?
I didn’t want to shame him for his coping mechanisms, but I greatly wanted to end the act of Knox hurting himself. Adding to an already overabundant collection of scars.
I licked my lips. “Can I offer you another option?”
My pulse thrummed, and warmth crept into my limbs. Need. It seemed impossible for me to have this feeling given the events of the past—however long it had been—but I did. I had a desperate feeling to feel alive. To be full.
Knox’s eyes widened a smidge, the tension in his jaw intensifying at my words.
“Piper,” he warned. “Do not offer something that you are not ready for in order to try to protect me.”
I reached up to cup his jaw. His body was a statue under my hand from the force he was using to keep himself still.
My other hand, rather crudely, went to cup him where he was already rock hard.
Flutters stirred between my legs.
“I offer you everything,” I whispered. “In fact, I demand that you take it. I demand that you take me so you can erase every touch from those who weren’t you.”
He jerked at my words, but he didn’t take a second to ask if I was sure. His mouth plastered to mine, and I hungrily sank into the kiss. Into him.
“They didn’t rape me,” I said, disengaging from the kiss with great effort.
Knox searched my face for a lie then nodded quickly. He didn’t visibly relax, but I swore I saw a wrinkle leave the corner of his eye.
“And, uh, one more thing,” I added before he could kiss me again. “It may make you rethink what we’re about to do.”
He clasped the back of my neck. “Nothing could make me rethink what we’re about to do, if it’s within your consent.”
My body seared with need for him. While in the midst of his animal state, still establishing consent. So hot.
“I’m, I’ve, uh, got my period.” I was irrationally embarrassed about a normal bodily function.
Knox froze then blinked once. “Does it make it uncomfortable for you?” he asked practically.
I shook my head. “Not at all. It’s just … messy.”
Knox showed his teeth in an expression that certainly could not have been described as a smile. “You think I’m scared of a little mess? A little blood?”.