Second to the Right (The Neverland Chronicles, #1)

by T.S. Kinley

“Beautiful girl, please don’t cry. You are here in Neverland now. He can no longer cause you pain.” He gently wiped the tears from my face. I absently touched the tender bruises on my arm, still in shock how the whole thing had ended.

Peter’s gaze landed on my wrist, “Did he do that to you?” He scowled as he ran his fingers softly over the dark purple bruises that made a perfect handprint on my wrist. I couldn’t speak at that moment and only nodded. “Shall I cross the veil and kill him for you?” his face was absolutely serious, “Then we can forget all about him.”

And that’s my queue to enter the scene. Well, technically Tripp came first. But nobody gives a shit about Tripp,” he said mockingly. “And we’ve been pushing the pirates back ever since. It hasn’t been easy, especially now that Hooks tamed that damned beastly crocodile to do his bidding.

“We have time. I won’t rush things with you. I plan to draw this out. Savor every step along the way… then maybe you’ll stay.”

He brushed my hair from my face, tucking it behind my ear and cupping my jaw. “I want you. I don’t care anymore if you break me when you leave. I’d rather be a broken man who took his chance at real love rather than a foolish man that turned his back on it.” Peter’s words were soft, but spoken in earnest.

I’ll have to find the strength to hold it together until the end of eternity. Maybe we could meet there, in the end, and pick up where we left off.”

“Gwen, I know I can’t keep you,” he said slowly, his voice husky and low, “but in this moment, you are mine.”