Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33526 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33526 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Anger bubbled within me. I was so sick and tired of Alaric’s hot and cold temperament. “He thinks being decent is a contrast to being good? Is this a sick joke the three of you are playing? Spinning me like a record or bouncing me like a yo-yo?”
The bowl of popcorn crashed to the floor as I jumped off the sofa and strode from the room after Alaric. I was done with him treating me like a toy he played with and discarded like garbage.
I barged out the back door and spied Alaric sitting on a deckchair by the pool. One hand held a whiskey bottle to his mouth while a cigarette dangled from the fingers of the other.
“What the fuck is your problem?” I demanded.
Alaric turned to me, his eyes eating me up silently as he slowly took a haul of his cigarette.
Apparently, the jerk thought he was too cool to answer me, which made me angrier. “Are you deaf? I asked you a question. What’s your problem?”
He cast his eyes to the shimmering water. “Isn’t it obvious? My problem is you, Princess.” He threw the bottle, and I watched in horror as it shattered into tiny pieces on the deck. Alaric stood and stepped forward until he was directly in my face. “I don’t know what to do with the way you make me feel.”
“How do I make you feel?” I demanded, holding my breath. I never knew if Alaric’s words would be a balm to my soul or a knife wedged deep in my heart.
“I’m stuck between suffocating when you’re around and wishing I was dead when you aren’t. I want you so bad I can’t see straight, and that’s a dangerous path. A path there’s no coming back from. We can’t give you what you need. Not regular shit like roses or chocolates, only three fucked up men with no moral compass and homicidal tendencies.”
I frowned. “We weren’t talking marriage and babies and happily ever after, Alaric. We were watching a movie, and you stormed out like a toddler who couldn’t get his way.”
Alaric smirked and stepped closer. “Trust me, Ella. I can get my way. I’m just not sure you can handle it.”
I didn’t retreat from his advance. I closed the small space between us and pressed my body flush to his. “I can handle it. I can handle all three of you.” I was unsure why I’d made that claim because the truth was, there was no way I could contend with them. But I wanted to. I had to if I wanted to discover what this was between the three of us. It could be a perverse attraction driven by curiosity, or it could be something tangible and mind-blowing. Either way, I wanted to find out.
“I need you to pick a word,” Alaric said. “We don’t acknowledge words like ‘no,’ ‘please,’ or ‘stop.’ We like those words and will only stop for one of your choosing. So pick.”
My gumption suddenly vanished, and I was wary of the pandora’s box I was attempting to open.
“That’s what I thought, Princess,” Alaric scoffed. “You can’t handle shit, so why don’t you scurry off?”
“Prick.”
Alaric snickered. “Been told I’m a prick by my mother my whole life, Ella. Your paltry attempt at name-calling isn’t gonna do much.”
I didn’t understand why, but his admission was like acid thrown in my face. The sheer horror of his mother demeaning him hurt me more than anything he could have called me. A mother’s love was supposed to be pure and unconditional. Words from a mother should fuel you and help you flourish, not cut you down like an annoying weed in her garden.
I smiled. “No, Alaric. That’s my safe word. Prick.”
Alaric blinked. “I’m giving you a head start, Princess. Gonna count to ten, and you’ll run.” I opened my mouth to speak, but Alaric placed a finger on my lips. “Princess, all three of us have our little proclivities. Asher likes leashes. River likes pain. And me?” He leaned in close. “I like to chase. So start running.”
I saw Asher and River from my peripheral vision. I was a deer caught in the headlights, frozen in place, unable to think or move.
“One. Two,” Alaric counted. “This won’t be fun or challenging if you stand there, Ella.” His voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. “Run.”
The message finally reached my feet, and I dashed toward the forest surrounding the house. Alaric raised his voice, counting slowly, giving me the fuel to quicken my steps.
The trees beckoned me like old friends welcoming me home. I’d spent many days running beneath their shelter and climbing their sturdy limbs in my youth. I placed my foot on the bark and hoisted myself onto a hanging branch. I now had a bird’s eye view of the three men circling below like a pack of wolves. Alaric, the alpha, with River and Asher flanking him. They were a terrifying sight to anyone who gazed upon them.