Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 89032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Bianca looks confused. “I don’t know anything about this.”
“No, you don’t. But I remember it clearly. You were walking home from what I came to learn later was Grace House. It must’ve been one of your earliest shifts. I was following my target that night, keeping back, waiting for a good chance, when he happened to spot you. I’ll never forget that night.” I close my eyes, breathing deep, smelling the oil and the garbage, the reek of Philly’s back alleys. “He was going to rob you. I suspect he was going to kill you too, at least if everything went wrong. And under normal circumstances, I would’ve let him.”
“Sorry, what now?” Her eyebrows raise.
“I don’t take chances. It wasn’t a good time to make my move. Too many unknowns, too many variables. Anyone could’ve walked down that street and found us. There could’ve been cameras.”
“You were just going to let him take me?”
“No, feather. Not you.” I close my eyes and tilt my head back. “I saw you for the first time as he closed in. I’d never seen someone so beautiful in my life. I was drawn to you in a way I’ve never experienced since. Something about your hair, your nose, the quirk of your mouth, the way you walk on your toes. Your light and your grace. I saw what was about to happen, and for the first time in my life, I decided to stop it.”
She moves into the room. Her breath is coming quicker now. Chest rising and falling. “What did you do?”
“I stopped him. Before you even knew he was coming. I grabbed him, my hand over his mouth, and I dragged him into a doorway. You kept walking, blissfully unaware, while I struggled with him. The bastard fought. I remember that. He wanted to live, but I couldn’t let him. Not anymore. I wrapped my hands around his neck and squeezed until the light left his eyes and bliss rushed through me. That’s when someone yelled, and I realized how badly I fucked up.”
“You got caught?”
“Almost. Someone saw me and I ran.”
“They didn’t chase after you?”
“If they did, I got away. But I didn’t leave Philadelphia. Not at first, even though I should’ve been lying low, because I had to find you.”
“Why?” she says, and it’s that word again. Why, like a chant or a prayer, like there’s a reasonable explanation for all this madness.
“Because for the first time in my miserable existence, I did something good.”
She looks surprised. “Seriously?”
“All I’d done to that point was kill, break, maim, destroy, all for my family. But you’re the first time I did something purely good, at risk to myself, simply because I wanted to. And afterward, I felt better, like the world wasn’t trying to smother me anymore. I had to feel that again.”
She seems to understand. Her eyes dart around the room. “That’s why you kept coming back.”
“I needed you in my life. But I couldn’t let myself get any closer. I knew I’d ruin you. The way I’m afraid I am now.”
“You stole from me. You broke into my house.”
“Yes, feather, I did, because I love you.”
Her eyes widen. My pulse quickens. I’ve never said those words before. Not to anyone. Not even to my own family.
But with her, they’re true.
They’re pure and they’re real.
I love her.
“It was pure chance,” she says, trying to rationalize my feelings away. “You could’ve found anyone that night. You thought I was pretty and so you decided I was perfect.”
“No, feather. I looked into you. I found out about Grace House and your charity contributions. I learned everything there was to know about you, your hopes, your dreams, everything. I saw you as an angel that night. I realized you were a goddess in the years that followed.”
I move toward her. I can’t help myself. Emotions flood my bones, and I’m trembling with how badly I want to touch her. She’s biting her lip and staring, but she doesn’t back away.
“Pure chance,” she says again.
“Divine intervention.”
“There’s nothing divine about this.”
I gently touch her cheek. She whimpers, leaning into my hand. “There’s everything holy here, my love.”
“This is so fucked up. You know that, right?”
“I know, and it’s why I need you.” I bend down and brush my lips against hers. She tenses, but she doesn’t tell me to stop. “This is pure. This is right. I know you’re afraid, but you don’t have to be, not with me. Not ever.”
“I’m not afraid of you.” She looks me in the eye. There’s suffering, but there’s something else. Curiosity. Desperation. Pure, dark lust. “I’m afraid that I’m not running away screaming again. I’m terrified of how badly I want you.”
I crush her mouth to mine. I can’t take it anymore. An animalistic growl rolls over my body as I drag her deeper into the holiest of holy sites, the center of my faith, the heart of my world. I kiss my goddess, worshipping, praying into her mouth, taking her taste and letting it flood me, as I tear off her clothes like the vicious killer I am.