Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 64948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
“Come on, don’t leave me hanging out here.”
Charlie’s smile is reluctant. She grabs a fistful of my leather jacket and tugs me inside, walking backward in the cutest possible way. I know, backward walking isn’t meant to be cute, but fuck—on this woman—it’s insanely adorable. I check out her bare feet. Her toes are polished in bubblegum pink and I make a mental note to suck every single one of them as soon as possible.
I pretend to mop my brow. “Whew. You had me sweating it for a minute there, and we don’t have much time. Come on.” I take her hand and tug her to the couch, where I sit down. When she hesitates, I reach for her waist and pull her onto my lap.
“Oh!” she exclaims, one of her cute bare feet kicking out.
“See what happens when you don’t trust?”
The scent of her arousal blooms as she squirms on my knee, catching hold of my shoulders to steady herself.
I’m dying to explore this position way more intimately, but there’s no time. Besides, I’m supposed to be proving I’m not here for a booty call.
I turn on my phone and flick open the email from Colonel Johnson, then click the link he sent me.
“What is this?”
“Just wait, angel. It’s coming.” The spinner spins on my screen as the teleconference loads. Then it brings up an empty screen.
Charlie looks at me. “I really don’t under—”
An image appears. A handsome but tired-looking young man in uniform blinks at the screen. “Charlie?”
“Oh my God, Chad!” Charlie covers her mouth with her hand, snatching the phone from my hand and surging up from my lap. She spins to give me exaggerated bug-eyes.
“Is everything okay? What’s going on?” Chad sounds alarmed.
“Yes! Everything’s okay! I don’t even know what’s going on. I was worried about you and...” —she shoots an apologetic glance my way— “I guess my friend arranged this for me.” She mouths the words, thank you at me.
I’ll be following up for more of her thanks later.
All fucking night.
No—no. That’s wrong. I’m not here to get my dick wet. I’m here to court Charlie. As if I have any clue what that means or how to do it. If she were a wolf, it would be so easy. One sniff and she would know she belonged to me. She might kick up a little fuss at being claimed—make me work for it a little, but there’d be no question that I would prevail.
But with a human female—fuck.
I don’t even know how to begin explaining to Charlie what she means to me. How I’m biologically required to mate with her, whether she likes it or not. I mean, of course, I’d make her like it. I’d devote my fucking life to ensuring my female was satisfied on every level.
But I don’t know how to smooth my way into this. Getting from Point A, post one-night-stand to Point B, claiming her as my lifelong mate, feels pretty damn daunting at the moment.
But at least I got this right. Charlie’s face is bright with emotion as she questions her brother.
“I can’t tell you that, either, sis,” Chad says when she asks where he is. “Everything’s classified, that’s why I haven’t been in touch. And Sarge says I only have two more minutes before they have to end this call, but I’m so glad I got to tell you happy birthday to your face.”
“Yeah, me too. Seeing you is the best birthday present ever.” Her warm gaze flicks to me, making my dick go rock hard.
“So who was it who set this up?” Chad asks.
Charlie blushes. “Um, this guy. My friend.” She sends me another look, this time with curiosity ablaze. “I don’t even know how he set it up. He’s former Special Forces.”
“Mmm, he’s got the inside hookup. Sounds like a bigshot. What kind of friend is this?”
Charlie turns her back on me. “None of your business,” she says tartly.
“Oh, so it’s like that?” Her brother chuckles.
“Time’s up,” a gruff voice barks.
“Sorry, sis, I gotta go. Tell Mom and Dad I love them. And you, too.”
“I love you, too. Take care of yourself, Chad.”
“Yep, I will. Bye.”
Charlie keeps her back to me for a moment and I rub the back of my neck, wondering if I should leave. When she turns, her eyes are bright with tears. “Thank you,” she says.
“Told ya you wouldn’t be sorry.”
She shakes her head. “Not sorry. That was really, really nice of you.”
I get up from the couch, because it’s not looking like she’s going to sit back down with me. I step into her space, slowly. Close enough to be suggestive, far enough away to stay respectful. I reach out and lightly rest my hand on the curve of her hip, savoring the feel of that band of bare skin under my palm. “You’re welcome.”