Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 60234 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 301(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60234 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 301(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
The only time he’s ever in the now is when his cock is buried deep inside me, giving me all his pleasure, and I’m the lucky bitch who gets to see him like this, hot and on fire, gorgeous. His body collapses on top of mine, gasping for air, his heartbeat pounding against mine.
“Nova,” I whisper in his ear, nipping the lobe hard enough to pull a grunt from him. My heart is as full as my pussy, and I wrap my arms around him, stroking the hairs on the nape of his neck.
This is it. I don’t know where the thought comes from, but a second later, unexpected words fly from my mouth.
“Run away with me. We can go anywhere and start over. Be together.” I smile when the words leave my mouth even though my heart galloping like a fucking racehorse, waiting for his answer.
He goes stiff on top of me, and my heart deflates like day-old birthday balloons. “Maggie,” he begins, rolling off of me.
I turn away and close my eyes. Here it comes. It’s not you, it’s me.
“Look at me, Maggie.”
“I’m good,” I say quietly, trying to keep my emotions in check. I refuse to cry right now. Refuse to cry in front of him. “Say what you gotta say.”
“I can’t.” The anguish in his voice should make me feel better, but it doesn’t. “I can’t just run away. My MC needs me.”
I need you. A harsh laugh escapes because there’s no fucking way those words are coming out of my mouth. “Then that’s your answer.” I sit up and swing my legs over the side of the bed, finding all my clothes scattered across the room.
“Stay with me.” His fingertips skate down my spine, pulling a deep shiver out of me.
“We both know I can’t stay here in Angel Harbor. And not with the Reckless Souls.” They hate me, probably for good reason, but that ain’t how to start something real. I know what I feel for Nova, what we could have. It’d be real as fuck. “Fuck you, Nova.”
“Maggie.”
I shake my head and shrug off his touch. “Nah, fuck you for being who you are. Fuck you for making me catch feelings when you had no plans to do jack about it. Just...fuck you.”
I turn away, stepping into my clothes even as his come still drips down my thighs.
“I would do anything for you, Maggie. Anything you need, but I can’t leave my MC. You wouldn’t feel the way you do about me if I did.”
He’s probably right, but I don’t acknowledge his words at all. I keep my back to him, listening as he dresses before leaving me alone.
Again.
This time, I know the truth.
Coming back here was a mistake. There’s no happy fucking ending for me.
For us.
There’s only the future, far away from Angel Harbor.
Far from the damaged doc.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Nova
Fuck. That word’s like a cyclone in my head, spinning out of control after I left Maggie trying to hide tears she didn’t want me to see. I broke her, and that rips me apart. But leaving Angel Harbor? Abandoning the Reckless Souls? Can’t do it. Those guys are more than friends—they’re my tribe. My fucking club. We brawl, we booze, we’ve got each other’s six. That’s family.
I can only tell Maggie the truth, as ugly as it is, and now I feel like a piece of shit. The mix of hurt and fury in her eyes? That’s seared into me, unforgettable and haunting. So here I am, throttling down open roads on my bike, trying to outrun my demons, praying that something—anything—finally clicks into place.
Tearing up the road on the 405 doesn’t help. When I get a chance to change it, I give the 710 a shot, but riding isn’t any better. I can’t stop thinking about Maggie or the words I had with my brothers last night.
Worse, I can’t stop thinking about losing control last night and the hell I unleashed on those assholes who approached us. It felt good in the moment, but it only felt good for a moment. I need to purge these thoughts. It’s the only way I have a chance at the future I want, the future I believe I deserve.
Visions of the future—of Maggie—collide with visions of the past, of all the men and women who died on my tables, the ones I couldn’t save. Just like last night, the images blur together until it’s just a mass of unrecognizable, dead faces. “No more,” I growl into the wind, looking up just in time to see the exit toward Birchmont Bay.
“Fuck.” Birchmont Bay is my hometown. It’s where I grew up, where my path was laid out before me. Military, medical school, and then medicine. It’s also the place where everything fell apart.
Okay, the truth is that the Middle East is where everything fell apart, but Birchmont Bay is the place where it all came to a head. Where my parents disowned me for not staying on the path they laid out for me, for not understanding what I’d been through, for not acknowledging the truth of my trauma.