Hooked (Never After, #1)

by Emily McIntire

“Just remember, that whenever things feel bleak, all situations are temporary. It’s not your circumstance that determines your worth, it’s how you rise from the ashes after everything burns.”

“But I regret, with every fiber of my being, that for even one moment you suffered under my hands.” Her eyes widen, the beautiful shades of brown glossing over. “You are, without a doubt, the only good I’ve ever known.” I rest my forehead on hers, my shaky breaths ghosting across her lips, my thumb rubbing against her cheek. “So don’t lie to me, Wendy darling. Because my heart won’t survive it if you do.”

There is no exchanging of power here, no demand for obedience or a need to keep everything under my control. There’s just Wendy. Only ever Wendy.

“I want you to tell me but not because I say to, not because I ask.”

It’s in this moment that I know, as wild as it seems, that I love her. And that terrifies me more than anything else ever has.

“I would give you the world. You simply have to ask. You want kids? Done.” He presses his lips to my jaw. My stomach tightens. “You want to stay here and never work again?” Another kiss, this time just beneath my ear. “Done.” My core flutters, heat spreading through me. “You want to watch the world burn?” “Let me guess, you’ll set it on fire?” I ask. He chuckles, the sound vibrating through me and settling into my bones. “No, darling. I’ll hand you the match and stand at your back, watching you become queen of the ashes.”

“Darling, if I’m the dark, then you’re the stars.”

“Don’t say it,” I hiss, my stomach twisting until it tears. “Don’t you dare say it.” He smiles, and I swear to God the sight makes me want to die. “The greatest thing I’ve ever done in my life was to love you, Wendy darling.”

“That’s my girl,” he says. I grin against him, warmth spreading through my chest, my arms wrapping around his neck. “Only yours, James Barrie.” “And always yours, Wendy darling.” He kisses my jaw. “Every night.” “And straight on ’til morning.”

And to think, it all started with a little bit of faith. Misplaced trust. Missing pixie dust. And a villain who just needed to steal a little love.