Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 136048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I fucked up. I understand that, and I promise, I will never do something so reckless again.”
My hands fall from the front of the hood, dropping around her, and as I lift her and her legs lock around my waist, I bury my face into the sweet curve of her neck. “Never again,” I tell her. “I can’t risk losing you like that.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispers again. “I’m sorry.”
I take a minute, and as I hold her, the calmness pulses its way back into my body, consuming the rage with nothing but love and light, and by the time I’m finally able to lift my head from her neck, the sun has begun its descent.
I look her in the eyes, my chest aching for everything she’s endured today, and as I grip her chin, those beautiful green eyes fill with tears. “Do you understand that if Elias hadn’t dropped those charges, you would have been done?” I ask her. “There’s nothing I could have done to help you. You would have been locked up, and you and me . . . How the fuck am I supposed to survive if I don’t have you with me?”
“I don’t ever want to be without you.”
“You won’t, doll. I won’t let that happen, but I need you not to do shit like this. When you’re in trouble or feel yourself slipping, I need you to come to me. Rely on me. Let me be your fucking shoulder, doll.”
She nods, her eyes filled with unshed tears. “I promise,” she whispers before bringing her lips to mine. “I’m not going anywhere.”
I kiss her back before resting my forehead against hers, taking just a moment to be okay before walking around to her side of my truck and depositing her straight back into her seat, where I know she’s safe.
I get in beside her and pull out onto the road again, and as I drive, Harper watches me, her curious stare seeming to eat me alive. “What is it, doll?”
“Nothing,” she says. “I’ve just never seen you like that. You’ve always been so composed.”
“There’s not a lot of things that could bring me to my knees, but you’re at the top of the list.”
A small smirk pulls at the corner of her lips, and I roll my eyes. “Of course, you’d fucking love that,” I mutter, shaking my head.
“Can you blame me?”
I blow out a breath, and as we turn off the highway and hit the back streets that lead to our home, I can’t help but glance at my girl, a deep curiosity pulsing through my veins. She shot someone today, and while he more than had it coming, it doesn’t take away the shock. I always knew she’d be capable of pulling the trigger when the time came, but fuck. I hadn’t expected it to happen like this.
“Why the thigh?” I ask.
Her face scrunches. “Huh?”
“Elias. You shot him in the thigh. Was that intentional?”
She nods. “He said I didn’t have what it took to pull the trigger. In my eyes, he was practically asking for it.”
I grin. She’s got one hell of a point. If you want to bait someone holding a gun, then you deserve to get shot. “You didn’t take the kill shot?”
She shakes her head. “I thought about it, but I wasn’t ready. It was too easy. I wanted him to suffer first, and if he hadn’t lunged for me and stolen the gun, he’d be dead right now. I had it lined up, even pulled the trigger, but he moved at the very last second.”
My brow arches. “You took the kill shot?”
Harper shrugs. “I mean, technically. But I missed.”
“Fuck, Morticia. Every time you open that sweet fucking mouth of yours, you manage to shock me,” I tell her. “But that thigh, how’d it feel?”
She relaxes in her seat, trying to appear unfazed, but there’s no denying the sparkle in her eye or the twisted grin that slowly creeps across her face. “Like the angels came down from heaven and gave me everything I ever wanted.”
“That good, huh?”
“Only second to when you’re inside me.”
“Goddamn, Harper,” I say, clutching the steering wheel tighter as I turn onto our street, the idea of being inside this feisty little jailbird already working me up. “You always know exactly what to say to me.”
She laughs, and her beautiful grin blows me the fuck away, only it disappears as I pull into the driveway, and she turns away, reaching for the handle.
“Fuck no, Morticia,” I say, reaching for her arm and stopping her from exiting the truck. She glances back at me, her brows pinched as she tries to figure out what the fuck I want. “You don’t get to make comments like that and not expect me to follow through.”
“What?” she laughs. “But we’re in your truck.”