Unbind (Alchemy #6)

by Elodie Hart

Because if Tom Ellis reminded us of anything in Lucifer, it’s that Satan is in fact a fallen angel… and he looks every inch of the celestial being he once was.

Now I do laugh, because this is ridiculous. Generous, yes, of course. But also more than a little psychotic. Adam Wright has basically kidnapped me, and the good doctor on his payroll is enabling him.

It’s this secret knowledge whose existence has been corroding my insides for the past few hours now: If I didn’t know who Adam Wright was and what he was capable of in the past, if I hadn’t lived twenty years with the scars his despicable crime had left not just on my brother but my entire family, if he was a random, dashing hero whose presence of mind and extreme generosity and stunning home and overall concern for my welfare represented the extent of my knowledge of him, then let me tell you this: I would be swooning right now. Swooning. Hard.

You forgot your stuff. Thought you might like the book, too. And keep an eye on that glucose :) A. Dear Lord in heaven, help me to survive this man.

Do you ever slip through those doors and let any of those hungry, entitled arseholes fuck you? Would you ever, in some inconceivable parallel universe, let me fuck you? Let me make you feel as good as I know I could, if only you’d let yourself judge me on the man who stands before you today and not the sins I was capable of committing half a lifetime ago?

‘In any case, I think you’re talking bullshit. But I’ll be mature enough to admit it for both of us. I want you so badly I barely know my own name right now, and I would bet a lot of money that if I reached under that little dress and felt your panties, they would be absolutely soaked.’

‘No, sweetheart. Absolutely nothing is wrong with you, you hear me? You are fucking perfect.’

She’s a shadowy hollow in the woods on a too-warm day; she’s a balm for this weary traveller.

‘Everything that happens from here is for you,’ I tell her, and my dick twitches angrily at this subjugation of its needs. ‘Do you understand? All I’ve wanted to do since I first laid eyes on you is make you feel extraordinary.’ My voice is so deep it rasps on that final word. ‘For God’s sake, take this moment for yourself.’

‘Anyway, you’re wrong. I don’t want you because you hate me, Natalie.’ He speaks my name like a caress. ‘I want you despite you hating me. That’s a big difference. But I’m not under any illusions here. I’ll take any crumb you’re willing to throw my way tonight, even if it’s the privilege of my tongue in your cunt while you disgorge every obscenity you’ve been too well-bred to voice before now.’

‘Who put this on you?’ he murmurs. ‘Evan,’ I say with difficulty, because his movements have the satin lining of the cups rubbing just so over my aching nipples. ‘And who’s Evan?’ He tugs the length of ribbon so swiftly from one of the holes that its rasp is audible. ‘My pattern cutter. He made this for me.’ ‘I bet he fucking did.’ ‘He’s married. To a man.’

He’ll go home tonight with memories of how my body tremored, how loudly I cried out at his hands. I absolutely have to have the same from him. He’s proven his point. I want to undo him. It’s only fair. ‘Come on me, then.’

I feel fragile and exposed and a bit shaky. It seems Adam Wright is getting all my most vulnerable moments, the sexy and the not so sexy. But I’m self-aware enough to know what it isn’t: regret. Because every time I allow myself to think about what went down in that room, I get this delicious, fluttery clenching low in my stomach. It was so ridiculously hot I could never, ever regret it.

So Adam Wright is a hot male version of Oprah with British swear words. Excellent.

Once again, this beautiful man I’m not supposed to like has made me feel seen and cared for and valued.

If last night felt like a battle where each of us wielded our need to undo the other like a weapon, then this is the most heated sort of truce, our dancing tongues the white flags, our roaming fingers the olive branches, our mutual surrender more evident with every ragged breath.

‘Adam, I’ve spent two decades hating your guts and rueing the day you were born. I thought you were a total fucking psychopath who didn’t deserve a second chance, let alone the success you’ve had. The only way is up, my friend. Believe me.’

I won’t be the one ‘taking’ her, I realise now. Not in the slightest. She’ll take me, and she’ll milk me dry as surely as a vengeful goddess might demand that a sacrificial lamb be bled out for her, and this sinner—this willing, willing victim—will welcome every blessed moment of it.

‘When these kinds of doors crack open, you elbow your way the fuck through them, got it?

While I’m endlessly grateful to Adam and Kamyl for respectively obsessing over my needs and creating the most delicious meals for me, sometimes a girl just needs a fucking pizza. So when Dr Wright isn’t around, I go big.

The pure-hearted willingness Nat shows to be with me in every way she can is the most humbling gift I’ve ever, ever received.

‘Are you okay darling?’ Adelaide asks, leaning forward with concern. ‘Yeah.’ Nat’s voice is so low, so shaky, that her words are barely audible. ‘God, I had no idea. But I’m so, so glad he had you.’ Her bottom lip trembles on the you, and she presses her hand to her mouth. ‘Jesus, he had no one else. Thank God he had you.’ ‘Oh, my darling,’ Adelaide says, her voice tremoring. ‘Don’t worry. He had me. He had his fabulous lawyer. And that lovely man, Anton. We looked out for him.’

I release her hand and wipe the dampness from her nearest cheek. Adelaide catches the gesture and smiles at us fondly. ‘And would you like to expand upon how you’ve come to join the Adam Wright fan club? Though, god knows, he’s an easy man to be a fan of. He’s such a good boy.’

‘Sweetheart,’ he says, his voice so low. ‘If you think, after all we’ve been through, that there’s some kind of imbalance here, that you’re not “paying your way” in this relationship, then you are fucking delusional. You’ve given me so much more than I could ever give you. Besides, I’m hopelessly, ridiculously, in love with you.’

‘I think I have been, probably, since you had your hypo and I basically kidnapped you. I love you, Nat. You are the strongest, most resilient, most passionate woman I’ve ever met, and the only reason this is a set of keys and not a diamond ring is because I don’t want to send you running for the hills just yet. ‘And I’ve enjoyed this place far more in the past month than I’ve ever been able to enjoy it before. Seeing you fall in love with my home has been incredible to witness.’ He leans his forehead against mine. ‘I just want you here with me, sweetheart. I want to come home to you every night. That’s all there is to it, really.’