Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 116570 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 583(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116570 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 583(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
He was touching my face, but I felt as though he was holding my heart. And it wasn’t fair. I had spent months building the strength, securing my emotions so that I could do this. Yet in minutes, he was breaking down all my walls and efforts.
“We have spent more time away from each other than we have spent together—”
“That can change.”
“Gale, what if I am a different person from who you—”
“It has not been that long. People do not change easily, even if they want to. You are still the same you that I remember. I feel it.”
“There are other people you could—”
“If I wanted to be with someone else, I would not be here.”
I sighed in frustration, hitting my hand against his chest. “At least give me a chance to finish.”
“Why, so you can lie to yourself and me?”
I didn’t speak.
“Odette, tell me your fears.”
“What if it’s just you?”
“It’s not,” he said so confidentially it was annoying.
“I don’t feel anything for you anymore! Sorry! I’m Odette the Coldheart—”
He kissed me before I could finish, and I felt my hand shake. Before I could push him away or kiss him back, he pulled back. “That was a lie, Odette, but it still hurt to hear, I must admit.”
“Gale, please...” Please, don’t pull me back to you. Why couldn’t I just say that? I hung my head, whispering what I knew to be true. “They will rip me apart, Gale. I am not a queen.”
I bit back the tears in my eyes.
“They will try, but I will not let them close enough to do so,” he replied, gently lifting my chin back up. “Because you are my queen,”
“My parents weren’t royal, yet I grew up watching as people who did not even know us tore into my mother. Every time we went someplace, people gossiped. That is why I have stage fright. When I was a kid, I didn’t understand. But then I got older, and the constant judging, the constant comments, the constant attacks, and every time cameras flashed in my face, I froze. Every time I got on the stage or spoke in public, I could hear their comments. Sometimes, I could handle it, and other times, it paralyzed me. That was the side effect of being around my parents. What happens when I am in the center of everything? It is going to be worse.”
“It is.” He let go of my face and leaned back, looking me over. “I do not know what to say to that because you are right. It will be chaos. But at least we will be in the center of it together, and we can make it our eye of the storm, so when it thunders, when the skies darken, and the winds howl, we will be calm and will find peace there, blissfully ignorant of everything else.”
“I can’t—”
“Odette, do you want to look back one day and see that you did not do what you wanted to do or be with who you wanted to be with because of the comments of others?” His eyes were glazed over...damn him and his stupid eyes. “I do not want to.”
“Gale.” Ugh, he drove me crazy. “I thought you said you did not know what to say?”
“It came to me,” he said, wiping the tears from my eyes. “So, do not give up on us yet. We have barely even started.”
Why?
“Why can’t you just let us go? Why do you want to do this?”
He looked me over, his eyes filled with something else now—sadness. “Since my brother died, every second of every day, I have been the Adelaar to everyone, even my mother. I’ve wanted to be just Gale again. I have been trying for months to be me in this role, only to be beaten down. And then you just show up, and all of a sudden, I feel like me again. Even now, as you try to run away from me, as you lie and tell me you do not care about me, I’m happier than I’ve been in a long time. When I found out you were here, it was as if fireworks had been set off inside me. I rushed through the dinner tonight, as you were all I could think about. I would have run through the palace and into a taxi if Iskandar didn’t talk some sense into me. I could not wait to come and see you. So, I am holding on, Odette. I will not let you burn to keep me warm, but I will burn everything else so you can stay. So stay.”
He did not give me a chance to answer. His lips met mine, and I found myself melting into him. The little fight I had vanished, and I could still taste my wine on his tongue. His arms wrapped around me, pulling me toward him. Turning us both onto the bed, he kissed down the side of my face, his lips on my neck.