Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 76915 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76915 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
“Hungry?” I asked, as we approached the Western edge of Central Park. Walking through New York with her was like stepping into one of the many great romances set in New York City since the beginning of cinematic history. But I couldn’t think of another heroine with her sweetness, innocence, or charm. With her talent, inner beauty, and incomparable outer beauty, she was one in a million.
She was one in a billion. Or more.
Now that I had found her, I could not imagine my life without her.
“Are you hungry?” She asked me, eyes wide.
“I think we need a snack. Just humor me and try it,” I added as we approached the best hot dog stand in all of New York. In the world, most likely.
She laughed like a delighted child when she saw where we were eating. The sound reverberated in my chest, filling me with warmth and something else. Something fragile and new.
It was hope.
“Two please,” I asked the scruffy looking hot dog man. He had been here for decades, watching the seasons change and providing the world with tasty, hot, salty meat that had been neatly squeezed into tubes and boiled. I doubted he remembered me, but I had been there many times over the years. He greeted us with a warmth and kindness that surprised me. He reminded me a bit of Mishka’s father, truth be told.
The old man was responding to treatment, according to his doctor, who informed me before he shared any information with his patient or his progeny. I came first. I was paying for the treatment after all. And I wanted to protect my sweet girl from bad news, if at all possible.
Or at least soften the blow if it came to that. Thankfully, the doctors were working their magic, with a combination of chemo, radiation, and some holistic treatments that I was just now learning about. If there was anything left after six months, they would perform surgery. Sometimes that was done first, but in his case, it had been too widespread. And they actually felt that attacking the cause systemically throughout the body was the best approach regardless.
I accepted the first hot dog, handing it over to the stunningly beautiful, well-dressed woman beside me.
“Careful now. You want to lean forward. They tend to drip when you take the first bite.”
She waited for me to have my own hot dog. It was beautifully made, with a single stripe of mustard, another of ketchup, then a layer of saurkraut, topped with a sprinkle of dark green relish.
“Ready?” I asked. She nodded, then watched as I carefully took a big bite of one end of the hot dog, tipping forward slightly as not to make a mess. She giggled as I chewed, making a face of pure ecstasy.
“Try it,” I ordered and she complied. I loved that she did as I asked without question, most of the time. I also loved it when she challenged me. She was unpredictable in the best way possible. She knew her own mind. She was self-contained and mysterious.
The woman kept me on my toes, of that there was no doubt.
I was fascinated, entranced, and just a little bit off center when it came to her. I couldn’t really think about anything else. I knew, for the first time, how men felt when they had to hunt to live.
This girl was turning me into an absolute caveman and I loved her even more for it.
Mishka was the first thing in my life that was not handed to me on a silver platter, and it made me appreciate her to an astonishing degree. A man liked to work for something, once in a while, other than money. And Mishka was making me work.
More than that, she was making me change. Softening me. Breaking me apart and reforming me. Hardening me into a protector, not a predator.
I wanted to put a baby inside her, more than anything I had wanted in my entire life.
I watched her gorgeous mouth open and envelope the admittedly over laden hot dog. Her eyes widened as the flavors hit her mouth. We made eye contact as she chewed, somehow managing to do it daintily. I could see it in her eyes.
She liked it.
“That’s….”
“Mysteriously delicious?”
She nodded slowly, clearly enjoying her snack.
The girl was a fucking snack. Fuck, no, that wasn’t quite right. She was the whole meal. She was an opulent ten course five-star dinner. She was the only thing that would slake my appetite.
And I couldn’t fucking wait to taste her. I had imagined it a thousand times. Me, nestled between her thighs, touching her… tasting her… I could not wait to see her pink flesh up close. I could not wait to devour her.
I growled and reached out to wipe a smear of mustard from the corner of her lip. Our eyes locked as I put my finger in my mouth, and licked it clean. She looked mesmerized. The heat between us was palpable.