Deliver (Deliver, #1)

by Pam Godwin

If only she could find the strength to end her own life.

damn, that's a heartbreaking thought Liv

Lips pinned in silence, she sought out her defense, a song, any song, and grabbed hold of “Gods and Monsters” by Lana Del Rey.

She was stolen innocence, following the rules of monsters. Somewhere along the way, she’d become one.

Josh’s face creased in a smile. “Do you believe in meaningful coincidence?” Absolutely not. “Why?” “I play football and my jersey number is fifty-four. Your name is L-I-V.”

Josh sensed Liv’s huge brown eyes making furtive sweeps in his direction. Addictive eyes, the kind that tunneled through his outer shell and scrambled his mind until he forgot where he was going. There were moments in his life when he wanted to bypass the road chosen for him. He was staring at one now. The most attractive woman he’d ever seen. In his truck. Watching him.

He closed the final inches and tasted her lips. Her exhale caressed his mouth, and her fingers swept through his hair, pulling him closer. He fought the urgency to work his tongue past her lips and kept it chaste. Since kissing was the breadth of his experience, he’d stolen countless lip-locked moments, each one growing bolder but never out of bounds. Though the sensation of her lips whispering over his went beyond that point of contact, spreading south.

kiss with the devil

“Someday, I hope to matter to you, because you are the only one who matters to me. You will always be mine, Liv.”

damn, Van

The icy cut of her eyes melted into liquid brown, and pink stained her cheeks. Absolutely stunning. But nothing on Earth compared to the mystic beauty of her lips as they curved up, stretching with abandon. Her smile was jewel-like in its discovery, sparkling and precious. And for a fleeting heartbeat, it was his to treasure.

“Enjoy the fall, or nothing at all.”

He looked at her like he thought he could save her. Maybe he could.

The truth of his words paralyzed her, shriveling all of her justifications for choosing Joshua Carter. The real reason made her throat tighten. He represented purity, beauty, family, all of the things that had been taken from her. He was a glimmer of goodness in her dark fucking world, a warm spark she could hold, if only for a fleeting span of time.

“Better to be enchained with someone on your side,” he said, “than to be alone with a false sense of freedom.”

“We may not be trapped for the same reason, but we’re looking in the same direction, reaching beyond these walls together. Tell me what we’re up against.”

“I give you an inch—” “And I’d be six-foot-three.” He lowered his arms, nudging her chin with his bound hands. “I love your smile.”

For the first time in seven years, someone held her in a nonsexual way. She didn’t know what to do with that,

“Don’t gape at me like that.” “Seriously?” He released a ragged breath. “You’re stroking me.”

😂

“Don’t do this.” The anguish in her whisper gutted him. He pushed through it. “Don’t do what?” “Don’t make me feel things for you.” Her voice rattled. “It will end badly.”

Holding her, melding with her, his virginity felt so inconsequential. This connection extended far beyond a physical union. He’d give her anything. He wanted to give her everything.

She loved his kisses, his confidence, his stubbornness. She loved every goddamned thing about him. He only had to glance in her direction, and the floor dropped away. She was freefalling, riding the wind of his breaths, hoping he’d catch her.

“Gives me chills, Liv. Every damned time. Your beauty isn’t just an experience for the eyes. It breathes through the ears and evokes a reaction so consummating it claims the soul.”

“I can feel you.” He leaned back, inhaled deeply. “Inside me. Everywhere. You own me. You will always own me, and I will walk through hell to keep it that way.”

“I’m yours.”

“I stand here without rope or chains, Liv, tethered to you by my own will.” His blood beat with the ferocity of his words. “I won’t be free until you are.”

One more kill. In Van’s bed. Where he would find her dead and rotting and clutching her letter.

“Don’t you see how wrong I am? I’m a kidnapper. A murderer. A fucking monster.” “I see all of you.” He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his lips to her temple. “I claim every jagged piece of you.”

“The worst is behind us. It’s just you and me. Everything else is trivial. Got it?”

Nothing compared to the freedom of floating in his arms. He would say the hand of God was holding them up, delivering them. She called it love. Her heart didn’t fall. It flew.