Coerce (Death in Bloom, #1)

by Candice M. Wright

“You can be whoever you need to be out there, but you’ll always be my hero even if the only person you’re saving me from is myself.”

“You are one of a kind,” he admits as I hurry to grab my phone, keys, and money before shoving them inside a small black clutch. “I prefer the term limited edition, but whatever.”

Aging out of the system and being told to politely fuck off so they can wipe their hands of you is a harrowing experience. It moves you from lonely, which most foster kids feel at some point or another, to being alone.

You can be lonely yet still know if you pick up the phone and call someone, they would have your back.

You can be lonely and still visit family once a month for loud, invasive dinners where everyone touches base and argues over inconsequenti...

There are no phone calls or family dinners, no people to touch base with or to reach out to kno...

There are no people there to help you up if you s...

cautious. Risks for me don’t equal rewards. Putting yourself out there is only worth it if someone catches you, so why am I b...

I’ve never wanted anything in my life more than I want this woman. Even knowing I’ll ruin her, knowing I’ll shatter her soul and watch all the sunshine bleed out, I still can’t let her go.

“Are you trying to kill me? I nearly choked on my steak.” She shakes her head. “Only meat you’ll be choking on is mine. Now eat. You’re going to need your energy.”

“Never stay with a man who makes you cry more than he makes you laugh.”

Atlas Monroe has nothing but heartbreak written all over him. Knowing this, I still reach out and take his hand, feeling like I just sold my soul to the devil.

“You got a little something on your hand, boss,” he remarks. “Hmm…I know. It was dessert.” “Was it good?” Oh my god. Stop talking. Please stop talking. “Oh yeah but then I always did have a thing for cherries.” I’m gonna kill him in his sleep.

The smell of bacon rouses me from my sleep like it would any mere mortal.

He drives like he lives his life, confident and in control.

“Do not fucking hang up on me ever again.” His angry words sound lethal enough to make me suck in a sharp breath so I do what any sane woman would do, I hang up on him. Fuck him.

I want her to be as obsessed with me as I am with her. A victim has many uses but I want her to crave me as if she were the huntress herself.

Now that she’s somehow marked me, I’ll take on the devil himself if he tries to take her from me.

He sighs but he doesn’t disagree. As much as he likes her, I know when it comes down to it, he’ll always have my back.

Shes the fucking job isn't she 😑

“Tell me, Ivy. Tell me you get me. This body is mine, this heart is mine, and if I have my way I’ll steal your soul from the reaper himself to bind you to me for an eternity. Now tell me you fucking understand me,” he roars.

“You’re mine now, Ivy. It will be my ring on your finger and my seed in your belly. If you try to run from me again, I’ll lock you up, shackle you to me figuratively and literally to keep you by my side. Don’t push me, baby, because you’ll never win, not against me,” he warns me before licking away my tears.

I know this relationship is the poster child of dysfunctional, but walking away from him is like trying to stop the moon from orbiting the sun. I’m going to hurt either way, so why not go down in burning rapture?

“You’re lucky, sweet Ivy, that I’m in my happy place right now.” “Your bedroom is your happy place?” I mock, gripping his arms tightly while holding on for dear life. “Your pussy is my happy place,” he groans, slowing his movements.

I know a bad person can do good and a good person can do bad things,

“I’m not a good man, Ivy, but I can be good to you.”

Running my fingers through the hair of the devil, who settles himself over me like a dragon hoarding its treasure, makes me question my sanity.

He’s poison, but right now nothing has ever tasted sweeter.

I can ask him to tell me a thousand lies, but I’ll never be able to lie to myself.

Staying with Atlas won’t change the man he is but it will change the woman I become.

I fear there isn’t much I won’t do for Atlas, including walking into the fiery pits of hell.

“I don’t do half-assed things. This”—he indicates between the two of us before gripping my hips and pulling me against his erection—“is about as real as it gets. I’ve never felt about anyone what I do for you. I do not give one single fuck how fast it is. When you know, you know. It’s you and me, Ivy. Yesterday, today, tomorrow.”

I need a therapist, or maybe a priest because something is seriously wrong with me.

Same lmao

“Often the most important lessons are hardest to learn.”

That’s the thing people miss. When straight-up evil knocks on your door, it’s easy to turn it away and hide under your bed until he’s passed. It’s so natural to hate someone when they are inherently bad.

But they fail to notice that rarely is someone all bad. If they were, they’d live a lonely life.

People who have darkness in their veins are drawn to the light, whether to cultivate it or...

To get close they need to have something that draws the light to them and that will usually be in the form of charisma, a pretty face, and a sexy body. Something ...

“I don’t want to hurt you.” I close my eyes and nod. “I know, but we both know you will anyway. What can I do?” I shrug.

“Hold on to me and when you fall, take me with you. I don’t know what love is, Ivy, but if I could ever love anyone it would be you. I just don’t know how to fall.”