Laurelin Paige · 853 pages
Rating: (18.7K votes)
“Slowly, reluctantly, he stepped out of my pathway. But just as I was about to step through the door, he slipped in front of me. He put his hands on each side of the frame, not touching me, but blocking my way. “No, I’m not ever letting you go.” His words were raw with emotion. “I’ll let you leave here right now, but I’m not giving up on you. I’ll pursue you like I’ve never pursued anything in my life. I’ll fight until you have no choice but to believe that I love you with everything I am.”
“He settled his hand at my jaw, his thumb tracing the line of my lower lip. “Of course, I do, precious.” His tone was uneven but sincere. “You’re my everything. I love you. I love you so much.”
“If you want possessive alpha male, I can certainly comply.”
“I’ve never been more serious, Alayna. You’re the first person I’ve ever met who makes me believe I might not be crazy. It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“You’re the center of my world, precious. Every minute of every day. Even when I’m not with you.” He brushed his lips against mine. “You make it so easy to fall so hard.”
“That she’s not just my reason for breathing, she’s air itself. That she’s the meaning behind every one of my thoughts, every thrum of my pulse, every whisper of my conscience. She’s my entire everything. It’s as simple and as complex as that.”
“I know. I know that you would never take advantage of me like that. But the point is you could.” He paced the small room. “This is the only way I can think of to show you that I’m willing to be vulnerable to you. That I trust you.” He turned to face me again. “And that, even though I don’t deserve it, I’m determined to fight to earn back your trust. Even if it takes the rest of my life.”
“I loved books—not only the stories they contained, but the feel of them in my hands, the silk of the pages, the words all collected in one place.”
“This pretend relationship—to what extent would I be expected to perform?” “Don’t pussy foot about it. You’re asking about sex.” His eyes darkened again. “I never pay for sex, Alayna. When I fuck you, it will be for free.”
“I twisted my lips at the thought. “This is a new beginning for us, isn’t it?” He leaned forward to brush my nose with his. “No. This is better than a beginning. This is what happens next.”
“His condescending tone irked me even more. “Sex isn’t the only way to show a person how you feel.” “I know. I tried to give you a nightclub.”
“Here I am, precious. I give myself freely. All of me, Alayna. No more walls or secrets or games or lies. I give you all of me, honestly. For forever, if you’ll take it.”
“He’s not the road to my heart.” “Where is the road to your heart?” With one finger, he lifted my chin to meet his eyes. “Don’t you know? You’re the one who paved it.”
“That night is going to pale in comparison to today, precious. Today, I’m going to make love to you sweetly and tenderly. Then I’m going to fuck you so long and hard, your beautiful pussy is going to be raw. You won’t be able to stand, let alone walk. After that, I’m going to go down on you until you’re shivering and coming all over my tongue. And then we’ll do it all again.”
“He stepped toward me again. “I told you before,” he growled. “I don’t share.” A surge of euphoria pulsed through me. He still thought of me as his. I remembered when he’d said those words to me the first time, how it had turned me on to no end. The rawness of it, the primitive way he claimed me as his own.”
“He was such a perfect lover, understanding my body and its demands even better than I did.”
“You think we’re both fifty shades of fucked up, don’t you?”
“Without struggle there is no progress,”
“It was the truest thing I knew, like the way the sun knew to rise in the morning, the way a rosebud knew to blossom in the spring. He was in my veins, in the innermost recesses of my heart and soul. I’d love him until I died—through death, even. Through fire, through hell. I’d love him through eternity.”
“I don’t care if you did stalk Celia or call her a million times or leave a dead chicken in her bed—I don’t care. I just want you. I want to be with you. If you were sick, then there was a chance that I would lose you. And I can’t. Whatever it takes to make that happen. Whatever I have to do. Whatever I have to say. I have to have you in my life.”
“But loving a person didn’t necessarily make you right for them—didn’t make them a good person to be in your world.”
“I told, you he doesn’t feel anything.” She was a warrior. Good at the game. I had no doubt she’d been the one who taught Hudson to be so good at his own games. “For anyone,” she added. “That’s a lie.” I had no chance against her. She drew the reaction she desired. But if I had to spar, I’d put my best fight into it. “I’ve seen proof to the contrary.” “Because of how he seems to love you? He’s a good actor.” I spun to face her. “No, because of how he seems to love you.” I spit the words like venom. “When there’s no reason he should. When you’ve alienated him and betrayed him and destroyed him and made him the confused man he is by your lack of affection and support and faith. If he can continue to care about a piece of shit like you, after all you’ve done to him, then I have no doubt of his capability of love.” You fucking bitch.”
“every journey starts with a single step—even the journeys we shouldn’t be taking,”
“I thought I could put my stalking skills to use to find you.” “I would have liked to have been found by you.”
“though I agreed to not press charges,”
“And please, don’t use my father to get close to me. He’s not the road to my heart.” “Where is the road to your heart?” With one finger, he lifted my chin to meet his eyes. “Don’t you know? You’re the one who paved it.”
“Go get ready for bed.” He nodded toward the en suite bathroom door. “Don’t take too long. I’m eager to lick you senseless.”
“I wondered if he was opposed to nicknames for people in general, or if he just knew the weight of using a proper name—the power it held over people. The doors opened and a dark-haired, muscular man”
“Now what can I get…you…?” My words trailed off as my eyes met the suit’s, the air leaving my lungs, suddenly sucked out by the sight that met me. The man…he was…gorgeous.”
“For eighty thousand dollars there had to be more he expected. Since he wouldn’t spell it out, I tiptoed around the topic myself. “This pretend relationship—to what extent would I be expected to perform?” “Don’t pussy foot about it. You’re asking about sex.” His eyes darkened again. “I never pay for sex, Alayna. When I fuck you, it will be for free.”
“Sorry, honey, but this is sort of an emergency. I’ll be right back, okay?” “But…but I don’t really know anyone here,” Kat protested. “You’ve got your convo-pillar—you’ll be okay. Look, hon, I really have to go. You’ve never seen a mess like Take-mes in rut. They’re as mean as a bull with a porcupine up his ass.” Piper patted her hand. “You just stay right here and I’ll be back in two shakes.” And”
“In my mind's eye, my chess pieces had grown into lines of dark-skinned men marching forward, being beaten by a white army and crumpling one by one into my father's waiting arms, bloodstains blossoming across their shoulders. (32)”
“I realized then that only diseases and not honesty and integrity are passed down to the next generation through genes.”
“Sometimes, she reflected, she dressed for courage, sometimes for success, and sometimes for the consolation of knowing that whatever else went wrong, at least she liked her clothes.”
“not Hercules148 Could have knocked out his brains, for he had none:”
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