Tick, tick, tock.
Time.
That’s all I have now.
A small room, a photograph, and time.
They want me to trust them and confess my sins.
They told me they wouldn’t judge me—they lied.
I thought we could convince the world that this wasn’t a crime.
We were wrong.
Time doesn’t stand still.
The clock keeps ticking, the world is unconvinced, and now…
Now he is gone.
I’d waited until he got out of the truck before approaching. I didn’t want his escape to be as easy as driving away. Standing in the small stone alcove of the gate, I knew it would be best to wait until he stepped away from the lit area. That way, any cars driving by wouldn’t be able to see us.
I wanted no excuses, no reason for him to worry, but I could see my silence had caused just as much concern as my presence would have. He turned to me, and I finally took a moment to really look at him the way I wanted to.
His hair was still pulled back but several pieces had now escaped and been pushed behind his ears. The darker stubble lining his square jaw made my fingers tingle with the need to touch.
“Oh, thank God,” he whispered, sounding relieved.
I thought he would move away from me once he knew I was safe. Instead, he reached out and squeezed my shoulder.
“I thought something had happened to you.”
I don’t think he realized that he was slowly massaging me.
“Jesus, don’t do that again. Okay?”
Taking another step closer, I agreed quietly. “Okay.”
He licked his lips and removed his hands, and I saw in his eyes the minute he decided it was time for some distance.
“What are you doing out here?” he asked. His casual black sports jacket shifted with the breeze, and all of a sudden I couldn’t remember why I was there. All I knew was that I wanted to touch him.
“Addison?”
His voice had the ability to make all of the noise inside my head cease.
Blinking up at him, I finally answered, “Yes?”
“What are you doing out here?”
Moving in so my jacket brushed the front of his, I finally reached to touch him, but he grabbed my wrist, holding it away.
“No,” he told me, and his voice was so stern I probably should have heeded the warning…but I didn’t.
“No?”
His head bent down, and when his face was a hairsbreadth from my own, he repeated, “No. Tell me why you’re here.”
His breath was warm as it ghosted over my lips, and I couldn’t help but part my own, hoping by some miracle I could taste him on my tongue.
“Why are you here? That’s a better question, don’t you think?”
“I know better than this.”
I reached up needing to touch him, but he took that hand too, holding them both prisoner. Being held in place with nowhere to go elicited a hunger in me that I didn’t yet understand.
“Than to be here.”
“Then go,” I offered.
That was all it took. He spun me around, backed me up against the truck, and had my arms pinned by my head so fast I lost my breath. Leaning in beside me until his mouth was by my ear, he rasped in an unsteady voice, “I can’t.”
I turned my head to face him and saw all of his turmoil, and finally, the full impact of his desire. “Then don’t.”
“You’re going to be the death of me.”
Life is full of ironies, because with him, I’d never felt more alive.
He’d calmed me when no one else could.
He’d saved me from myself.If only they knew the truth…But no one is listening, and his time is already up.
Tick, tick, tock.
WOW
If this book isn’t proof that Ella Frank is an incredible writer, I’m not sure what is. This had to be hands down, bar none, one of the best Student/Teacher romances I have ever read. The writing, the story, the characters; I can’t even put into words what this book did to me. But if I really had to try?
If you’re a fan of this author, this book is a must read. And if you’ve never read anything by her, than this book will have you putting her on your auto-buy list.
This will be a spoiler free review. I’m doing you a favor, believe me, because this is a book that simply has to be experienced.
The story captures you from the very beginning. Miss Frank gives you just a little taste of what’s to come that will leave you sitting on pins and needles the entire time you’re reading. You know that something happens, but you don’t know what or when. You know where Addison ends up, but you don’t know how. This book gave me the worst case of anxiety EVAR. I couldn’t put it down. I had to know what happens next, and at the same time I was completely terrified of it happening.
Addison is a senior in high school, but she’s not the typical young heroine you’d find yourself reading about. She’s not shy, she’s not even remotely meek, she’s no virginal ingenue, and she’s certainly not suffering from a low self esteem.
She has the perfect looks, the perfect life, the perfect boyfriend, the perfect everything…or does she? Behind the veil of perfection, lost somewhere in the shadows of her darkest dreams, is a broken girl with a painful secret
But then everything changes when she comes to her first day of class and sees
him.
When Addison lays eyes on her history teacher, Mr. McKendrick, she knows that she has to have him. And she pursues him relentlessly, without any shame, using her entire arsenal of incredible looks, charisma and sexual temptation.
The story is told in dual first person POV. As much as I loved being inside Addison’s head, being able to see inside his head is what ultimately made this book. You feel his struggle to stay away from this girl. You feel how mcuh he fights it, how hard he tries, only to give into what you already know is inevitable.
“You’re all I fucking see, Addison. When I close my eyes, when I open them, when I’m teaching. You’re. There. All. The. Fucking. Time.
Sometimes I wish I’d never seen you.”
Reading about their relationship was like watching a car crash about to happen and being powerless to stop it. You know that the odds are stacked against them, you know that the relationship is doomed. But at the same time you have NO FUCKING CLUE how or when. But you know that it will.
The book is told in alternate flashbacks from present to past. Ella Frank took two broken characters and alternating between erotic and emotionally charged, weaved it into an unforgettable, keep you at the edge of your seat story of a forbidden love.
If you’ve read her books in the past, you know that she can write a ‘melt the panties right off of you’ love scene. And this was definitely no exception. The two of them together was pure scorching hotness.
I was stuck between trying to drag this book out as long as I can because I didn’t want it to end and not being able to put it down because I simply had to know what happens next.
It was simply perfect.
Life is full of ironies, because with him, I’d never felt more alive.
This is a book that I cannot recommend enough. It will steal your breath, capture your heart and break it all at once. It’s just one of those books that will stay with me for a long time. I feel the mother of all book hangovers coming on after this.
Ella, I may be running on 3 hrs of sleep and too much coffee and my nails might be chewed to shit with the amount of anxiety this story gave me, but DAMN, woman! I will now forever worship at the altar of your awesomeness.
A Women’s Silver Glitz Fossil watch – Tick, tick, tock…
A $50 Gift Card to Amazon
A $25 Gift Card to Barnes & Noble
2 Signed Copies of Veiled Innocence
5 Ella Frank eBooks (Winner’s Choice)
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