Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 109562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
“Brush your teeth and put on your pajamas. I’ll wait for you to finish before I have a shower.”
My hands tremble a little when he closes the door to give me privacy. I don’t know what’s scarier, his arrogance or the fear that one day, I may give in.
For the two minutes I brush my teeth and wash my face, I contemplate what it would be like to be with a man like Saverio. He’s so intense in everything he does. I bet he’s also an intense lover.
I examine my body with a critical eye in the mirror. My stomach is slightly rounded, but I’m not showing yet. I suppose I won’t have to worry about his advances or my weakness when I’m sporting a baby bump. I’ll probably put him off when my belly is as round as a yoga ball.
When I step out of the bathroom dressed in the T-shirt and cotton shorts I wear to bed, Saverio leans in the doorway of the bedroom. He changed into sweatpants that ride low on his hips and a white T-shirt that stretches over his massive chest. His feet are bare.
With a shoulder braced against the door frame and his ankles crossed, his stance appears relaxed, but strain oozes from him. The atmosphere crackles with that underlying sexual tension from earlier in the car.
Hooking my hair behind my ear, I avert my gaze as I advance to the bed. As much as I pretend not to notice the tenseness in the air, my stomach draws into a tight ball. He’s proven himself to be virtuous as far as not jumping me goes, but he’s as unpredictable as a hungry tiger. A starving tiger. I may not look at him, but I can feel the heat in his gaze burning on me.
I’m acutely aware of him advancing toward me as I pull back the covers and climb onto the high mattress. The bed is so big I feel like the character from the Princess and the Pea when I settle underneath the soft blankets. The duvet is the lightest, fluffiest, warmest one I’ve felt. It’s as if I’m lying on a bed of moss, buried beneath a pile of feathers. No wonder I slept so well last night. Yet despite the luxurious comfort of his bedding, my pulse quickens when he pauses on the other side of the bed. The mattress is enormous, but not even that is a big enough barrier between us.
“Did you sleep well last night?” he asks.
When I meet his gaze, he’s still watching me with a fierce look, but the icy blue of his eyes is less chilling. Something warm creeps into their depths as his mouth curves into a half-smile.
“Yes.” I pull the duvet up to my chin. “Why do you ask?”
“You’re sleeping on my side.”
Surprise barrels through me. “Oh.” And then embarrassment. “You should’ve said so.”
I scoot to the opposite end, fighting my way through those puffy layers of cloud-like covers, but he stops me with a brutish, “No.”
Somewhere between his side and the middle of the bed, I freeze.
“By all means, stay.” His lips quirk. “If it makes you sleep better.”
“Don’t flatter yourself.” I ball the sheets in my fists, hugging them to my chest. “If I’d known it was your side, I probably would’ve had nightmares.”
Chuckling, he puts one knee on the mattress. The bed dips with his weight as he leans over me. I stop breathing as a whiff of that spicy, musky, manly scent hits my nostrils. My body goes rigid when he lowers his head ever so slowly while holding my gaze with a challenge in his. My heart misses a beat as traitorous anticipation builds in my gut. My lips remember the shape of his, and like his seductively comfortable bed, his kisses are heaven. Wrong. What I don’t need. What I shouldn’t want. What I don’t want. But then why is my heart pounding in my chest?
Get a spine, Anya.
Yes, I’ve already fallen into his bed but not by choice. Getting him off to repay the favor is one thing even though deep down, I know it’s a bad idea. A terrible idea. This isn’t a game we should take further. He might’ve forced me into his bed with threats, but I’m not going to fall into his arms. Just because I got myself pregnant on a one-night stand doesn’t mean I’m easy. He may be considerate and protective, but that’s only because I’m his alibi. When he no longer needs me, I don’t have a doubt he’d slit my throat.
The chilling thought sobers me. The cold, hard facts douse the flames that blaze in my belly.
I flatten a palm on his chest to stop him, to push him away, but the contact mocks me as the heat of his body burns me through the fabric and the hardness of the muscles underneath reminds me that I’m never a match for this man. I tense when he comes closer, but his breath merely fans over my lips before he presses a kiss on my forehead.