Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 32998 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 165(@200wpm)___ 132(@250wpm)___ 110(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32998 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 165(@200wpm)___ 132(@250wpm)___ 110(@300wpm)
Or maybe he left you, a little voice of doubt whispers, but I shove it down, refusing to hear it. He wouldn't do that…would he?
No, of course not. Not even after…
I shy away from thoughts of what happened last night, refusing to think about the man we left unconscious in the clearing. The one who came out of nowhere.
I feel so stupid for letting myself get caught like that, but I didn't think anyone was out there. I thought I'd go get Carver's axe, and he'd find out and punish me for leaving the porch.
I naively let myself believe that I was completely safe here, able to play any game. That I was untouchable because he was here, too.
It was a foolish belief.
Carver can't protect me from everything, no matter how hard he tries. The world doesn't work that way, as much as I think he wishes it did. There are dangers everywhere, especially in the mountains like this.
I have to be more careful, not just for my sake, but for his too. Because as much as I need him, I think he needs me just as badly. I saw the terror in his eyes. I heard it in his voice. I felt it in his touch. He was afraid for me—afraid he'd lost me when he's already lost so much.
I feel like the worst little girl for putting him through that. He's been the most amazing daddy, treating me like a princess. I've never been this happy. I've never felt this cherished.
I always dreamed about love like this, but I never imagined I'd actually find it. Now, I feel like it's right here within my grasp. Every day, it consumes me—he consumes me. And I love it so damn much.
Maybe what we did was wrong last night—having sex with that man right there. But I loved it. Even after what happened, I felt so safe, so free, like I was more myself than ever before. Carver makes me feel that way, like it's okay to be exactly who I am and love exactly what I do, even when the rest of the world says it's wrong.
Maybe that should scare me. Perhaps it should. There's darkness in what we did last night, I know that. I felt it. But I'm less afraid than ever. Because of Carver.
I sit up, considering slipping into my boots and going to find him. He's probably out chopping wood again, those muscles flexing, sweat sliding down his golden skin, grunting from exertion…
My entire body twitches at the thought.
But before I can throw the covers back, a memory of that man lunging at me flashes through my mind, evil in his brown eyes, a mocking laugh on his lips.
I blink it away and quickly decide to wait inside, where it's safe.
As I pull on one of his oversized shirts, wrapping myself in the scent of pine and something distinctly Carver, my phone erupts into life, Dalton's ringtone ripping through the silence of the room.
I groan, scowling at it on the bedside table. I guess Carver brought it back with us last night. I almost wish he'd left it out there. Maybe then my cousin and my grandfather would stop calling me so much. They're driving me crazy.
It rings again, and I grab it.
"It's way too early for you to be annoying me already, Dalton," I grumble, brushing hair out of my face. "I haven't even peed yet."
"Lena, I need you to come home."
As soon as I hear the tremor in his voice, everything else fades away. Something is wrong. Seriously wrong.
"Dalton," I whisper, clutching the phone tightly. "W-what happened?"
"It's Gramps," he says, exhaling a shaking breath. "Dorothy found him on the bathroom floor this morning. She thinks he had a stroke, Lena."
My heart plummets, ice spreading through my veins. "H-how bad is it?"
"I don't know yet," he admits, frustration bleeding into his voice. He's not the type of man used to not knowing. He's one of the most powerful men in Nashville, always in control. "I just got to the hospital, but no one will tell me a goddamn thing. I don't fucking know if that's good news or bad news. I don't know."
"Okay," I whisper, my voice steadier than I feel. Gramps is the only parent we've had for a long time. And he and Dalton have been arguing for weeks. If he doesn't make it, it's going to destroy Dalton. Because as much as they argue, Dalton loves him fiercely. Just as fiercely as I do.
"I need you," Dalton says, not words he'd speak to many people. He doesn't let anyone close. He never has. But I'm different. I know all his secrets.
"Of course I'm coming," I promise, already dragging a pair of panties up my legs.
I end the call and dress quickly, my thoughts a tangle of anxiety and fear. Carver still isn't back by the time I'm dressed, and I'm not sure exactly where he's gone. I don't have his phone number, either. We never bothered to exchange them.