Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 46412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
“What kind of surprise,” I ask, around a mouthful of food. My grandmother would be mortified by my manners right now, but I’m too curious.
He pauses eating before pulling out an iPhone from the shiny bag. It’s the one that just came out. I’d been eyeing it for a while but refused to spend the money. He slides it over to me.
“Babe, just saying if you take a hammer to this one, we may fight,” he jokes.
I’m in shock. “You bought me a phone?”
“Yeah, you shouldn’t be without one. I programmed my number in, too. That way you can call or text me any time.”
“I can?”
“Yeah, feel free. Especially if it’s late at night and you don’t have clothes on.”
“King!”
“I’m serious, baby.”
His reply in his deep, rumbly voice makes my body tingle in all the right places.
“This is very nice of you,” I tell him, looking at the phone knowing that it costs way more than my last one. “But I can’t afford it. And you didn’t get it through my plan so I can’t make payment arrangements.”
“I bought it on my account.”
“I can’t—”
“It’s my business how I spend my money, Shelbers. If I want to buy my girl a phone, I will.” He goes back to eating like he didn’t just spend a fortune on me.
“Your girl?” I ask, liking that so much that I ignore the fact he used my nickname again. I realize now that he only does it when he’s joking with me or trying to make me laugh.
“Oh yeah beautiful, did I forget to tell you that part?” King says, stepping closer as he looms over me. He tilts my chin up with his finger.
I can’t seem to catch my breath as his chocolate brown eyes hold my stare captive.
“Shelby Rush, I’m claiming you as mine, baby.”
His lips are on mine and he’s invading my mouth like a Viking going to war and I can only go along for the ride.
Claiming me as his?
I’ve never been so happy.
Chapter 16
King
I study Shelby while I wait for her to finish eating the slice of chocolate cake I got her for dessert. She’s happy and she keeps touching her phone like it’s precious. I’m pretty sure that other than her grandmother, she’s just not used to people doing nice things for her. She keeps saying she shouldn’t accept it because of the cost, but I’m not going to leave her a choice. I plan on buying her a lot more than a phone. It’s just she needed this right now. She can’t be home alone without one. I still want to know why she broke her phone, but she keeps changing the subject. I normally wouldn’t let her away with that, but there’s something about Shelby that tells me she needs to be handled gently. I’ve never been one to be gentle, but for her I want to be.
After she’s done with her food, I notice there’s a bit of frosting on her lips. I brush it away with my thumb softly before leaning in to kiss her, sliding my tongue into her mouth as she softly moans. My cock is instantly erect, pushing at my jeans as the sound washes through me. She stands on the tips of her toes, grabbing my face, and deepening the kiss.
Green flag.
That’s the only sign I need to pick her up. She wraps her legs around my waist as I carry her to her room. I keep a firm grip on her ass, her skin branding me with a heat that settles into my fucking soul. I pillage her mouth, tasting every inch of it and committing it to memory. It feels as if I’ve waited for her for a lifetime. I can’t even break the kiss as we walk down the small hall to her room. Our tongues war with one another, our teeth clash and my lungs burn. With one kiss I’m consumed by her.
Shelby doesn’t know it yet but she’s claiming me as much as I am her.
I couldn’t tell you how I navigated the walk here, but I make it and that’s all that counts. I lay her carefully down on her bed, following her, bracing my weight on my arm, being careful not to scare her. I don’t want her to feel like I’m rushing it, but the way her body molds beneath mine is testing the limits of my control. God, she tastes so fucking sweet. I need to be buried inside of her. Yet, I know I can’t. Shelby has been hurt before. A man would have to be a fool not to see it—even if I didn’t know some of her past already.
Today, she was terrified when I first got here with the food and that’s just one sign of many. I saw the same reactions in my mother growing up, so I know how to read them—even if Shelby tries to hide it. I push those thoughts away for now.