When She Unravels (The Fallen, #1)

by Gabrielle Sands

“Of course, your highness. I’ll be sure to rub your wood just the way you like it.” I realize how that sounded the moment the words leave my mouth.

“One look was enough for me to know I’d lose my mind over you if I wasn’t careful. I tried to be. I manufactured reasons for why I should stay away from you, but I can’t seem to make any of them stick.”

If I see someone else’s hands on you, I’ll break them. It’s a hyperbole, of course. I have to remind myself that he’s not like the men from my old life.

This man wants me. If I hadn’t run, I would have lived my entire life without experiencing this once.

I told her I’d get addicted. I made it clear that once my restraint snaps, she needs to be ready for everything I’ve been holding back.

“Are you trying to buy me?” I was about to tell her she can quit her job and I’d pay for all her things, but her outrage makes me backtrack on that idea.

But when I look at his face, I realize that I’m a liar. I like his concern. I don’t want to reject it. I want to burrow deeper inside of it.

Damiano might think I’m his, but when he says those words, I know he says them as a promise, not a threat.

In that post-orgasm moment of clarity, I realize a very inconvenient thing. I’ve claimed her as mine. And I’m never letting her go.

Keeping a secret doesn’t become easier over time. The weight of it accumulates, until you’re faced with a choice—crumble beneath it or let it go. I don’t want to crumble.

I’ve lost control around her more times than I can count. It’s like she turns the dial up on all my feelings until they burst. It’s terrifying how alive she makes me feel.

I’m not a romantic. I refuse to believe in love. In my experience, it’s toxic and makes people do stupid, unforgivable things. But no matter how I search, I can’t find another word to describe what I’m feeling.

But I’m not in love with Valentina. I can’t be. Attraction isn’t love. Need isn’t love. This wordless thing I feel for her… It can’t be love.

That’s when I know. I’m going to marry this man.

“Before I met you, I thought romantic love made people crazy and weak. I was right about the first. Cazzo, I’m so fucking crazy about you. But love doesn’t make us weak. It’s the opposite. It shows us what we absolutely can’t lose—what’s worth dying for. I’d die for you, Vale.”