Page 149 of The Invite
“You fooled me?” Relief washes over me and I’m surprised he did that. It’s still diabolical what he did.
A battle ensues in his expression as he admits, “I wanted to push you away by making you hate me, but I was only lying to myself.”
“Are you saying you don’t want me to hate you?” I whisper ever so slowly. It feels unreal.
“You hating me is inevitable. The difference is I’m not going to actively go out of my way to make it happen,” he utters with conviction. Before I can retort, he rasps, “So, will you be mine if I agree to your terms?”
It’s such a loaded question. The answer is not so simple. It’s like I’m replacing one vice with another. Either way, an addiction is predestined.
Perhaps he is a devil.
With every low husky word, I’m becoming hypnotized and willingly falling into his lair. No good comes out of making a deal with the devil. The only saving grace is that this time, the rules will be mine.
Augustus wants me too much to back out now.
It’s in the potent lust swirling in his sinister eyes.
“I’ll be yours,” I whisper, staring at him.
I’m giving him what he’s wanted all along.
My utter surrender.
My devotion.
Serving him as his loyal little demon.
Time stands still as our gazes remain locked on each other. I hold my breath, waiting for his answer. It’s a gamble I’ve taken. Because there’s nothing I can do if he says no. I’m solely at his mercy.
His jaw shifts underneath my palm as he grits out, “Your safe word, Nessa.”
I swallow at the true meaning of those words.
I just sold my soul to the devil.
“Hell,” I utter, seemingly appropriate to choose it as a safe word.
Gripping my waist in both hands, he yanks me forward until I rest my forearms on the back of the couch. My hair makes a curtain around us as we share the same air.
Raw need bleeds into his rough voice as he demands, “When do I claim you?”
“Now.”
CHAPTER – 37
Nessa
“I won’t be gentle,” Augustus warns.
I caress the corner of his sinful mouth. “I don’t want you to be.”
“Yeah?”
“I want you to make me forget every single thought in my head,” I demand in a whisper. “I want to forget about the world. The threat of Anonymous and everything wrong in my life. Make me forget my own name, Augustus.”
“August.”
I’m taken aback. “What?”
