Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 100478 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100478 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Ah, Cash got out and headed here. I had to follow him?” I said, knowing I had just blown it.
“Is that what happened yesterday too?”
“Oh, um…”
Van appeared beside me. “Give him a break, Ava. You think I’d let him do anything? It’s the man’s house. He wants to look around, he can. Besides, he’s been a great help.”
“If he’s not doing anything, how is he helping?”
“He’s overseeing. In fact, Hunter, I was thinking it was time you took the project back. You’re great with the crew. I’ll check in if you need something, but you could oversee it.” He looked at Ava. “No work, just pointing. Making a few calls. Telling the men what to do. Like most of our foremen.”
That made her smile. “Not really.”
“No, but in this case, it works.”
Ava tapped her fingers on her arm, and she nodded. “We’ll discuss it at home.” She opened the door to the SUV. “You coming?”
Van turned to walk away and met my eyes. He winked, his gaze amused. “I suggest you do everything she says right now.”
“Right.”
I got in the SUV, Cash jumping in the back seat, his tail wagging hard. He loved being in a vehicle. For him, it was a new adventure waiting to happen.
For me right then, not so much.
“We agreed on this, Ava. It’s time.”
I was shocked to see her lips quiver.
“Hey, hey. What is this?” I asked, slipping my fingers under her chin and making her meet my eyes. “Everything is fine. I am not overdoing. I’m making sure the house is built the way I want.”
“I just worry.”
“You can stop worrying now. Soon, I’ll be one hundred percent.”
She huffed through her nose, making me grin. When she did that, she suited the nickname I gave her. I swore, if she could, she would breathe fire.
“Who said you were ever one hundred percent before?”
I laughed, the sound loud in the room. I tapped her nose playfully. “You got me there, Ava. You got me there.”
* * *
Ava
The crew made huge progress on the house. I walked around, taking it all in. The outside was complete, right down to the painting and trim work. Inside, plumbing and electricity were complete, walls were up, the new cupboards in, and work was almost done on the bathrooms. It was looking great. Another couple of weeks, it would be ready for paint and furniture.
I paused as a thought hit me.
What would happen then?
I heard his voice talking to one of the crew, its distinctive timbre carrying through the walls. I had heard the same voice groaning my name the past few nights.
With his recovery going well and his strength returning, so had his libido. On the weekend, he’d pulled me onto his lap, kissing me with all the pent-up longing and passion he’d been feeling. His tongue was demanding, his mouth hard on mine, and he roamed my body with shaking hands, fisting my shirt, delving his fingers under it to cup my breasts and play with my nipples.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” I protested halfheartedly.
He pulled me down on his erection. “Does this feel like I hurt?”
“Your ribs—”
“I want you.” He silenced me with another kiss that curled my toes.
We ended up on the bed, me hovering over him, our eyes locked as I slid down on his sheathed cock, inch by inch, until we were flush. I shut my eyes at the feeling of him inside me again. He gripped my hips, his voice pleading.
“Please, Little Dragon. Move for me. I need you to move.”
I wagged my finger. “Let me ‘do the work.’ You stay still.” I began to move—long, slow rolls of my hips. He cursed, holding my hip tighter, fisting the sheets with his other hand.
“You feel so fucking good,” he groaned. “We’re so fucking good.”
I rode him to an intense orgasm. He cried out my name, his hips arching to get closer, groaning in a combination of pain and pleasure. After, I lay beside him as he stroked my hair.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
He grunted. “More than okay.”
“It hurt?”
“A little. Well worth it. And I bet once we practice a little more, the pain will go away.”
And we’d been practicing daily.
We felt like…a couple. Sharing our days, sleeping close at night. Against his will, I was certain he was growing fond of my family—some members more than others.
Yet, the future remained up in the air. He hadn’t talked about leaving lately, and part of me dared to hope he no longer wanted to. That he would settle here and make a life—with me.
He walked into the room, catching my eye. Van was with him, and he kissed my cheek. “Hey, Ava. Place looks good, right?”
“Awesome. I love the reuse of the wood and the stone on the fireplace.”