Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 45063 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45063 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
He loosens his grip slightly, then tightens his arms, like he’s correcting an instinct. His breath gets quicker, more savage, with more huskiness in it.
“What is it?” I whisper, thinking maybe the lust-filled animal in him is taking over again, the one that lost control the first time he laid his hand on my leg.
“You want to have my babies? You want us to be forever?”
His words stab into me.
I step away, turn, look down, and realize.
The notebook was open on the bed.
He’s seen my words.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Bryson
She turns back to me, my fragile and beautiful woman, with her hair still wet from the shower and straighter than usual. Her features are tight and make her look more vulnerable than usual, her eyes wide, shock rioting through her.
“I…”
“Don’t lie to me,” I growl, unable to keep the savageness out of my voice.
I’ve just seen words that tell me she wants everything I do.
Forever. Babies.
It was right there, in black and white.
I should think about Adam and what a mess this will be for him. That makes me wonder why he’d be so willing to leave us alone.
After the fight, after everything fell apart.
“I didn’t write this recently,” she says quickly, as though she thinks I’m angry. “This was years ago. This was when my obsession star—”
Started, but she cut herself off, her hand raised as if she were going to clamp it over her mouth. But then she lowers her hand, shaking her head like she can’t believe she just said that.
I remember what she said about me casting her hand when she was a kid. It meant nothing to me, but it meant a lot to her.
“Explain,” I tell her firmly.
She takes a step back, her hands raised. “Are you mad?”
I laugh because it’s the only thing I can do, the only outlet for these feelings raging inside me. To brand them mad would be like branding an entire storm, the wind and the fury and the churning of the clouds, as lightning, just lightning, but it’s everything.
My seed throbs, though I’ve done my best to calm that instinct since the men drugged her. The last thing she needs is the beast in me unleashing on her after what happened—what almost happened.
“Explain,” I say again.
She sits on the bed beside me. I switch off the hungry part of me. Or I try to.
It’s the part that says, now I’ve seen she wants my babies. I can’t waste any time making it happen. I’ve got to tear off her PJ bottoms, the material hugging those thick, delicious thighs, and take her eager pussy now.
I take a step away, biting down, turning to the icy window. As I stare at the sunlight making the ice sparkle, my woman talks in a low voice.
“It started when I was a kid. You were this huge figure, hardly even real. I used to dream you’d notice me, want me, pick me as special, and tell me you wanted me to be your wife.”
“I’d never want that,” I snap. “Or anything like that.”
“I’m not saying it was right. Kids get crushes all the time. It is up to the grown-ups not to act on it. I know you never would. I know you were—are—a good man, but it doesn’t change how I feel.”
My mind tangles as I try to make sense of this. “You called it an obsession.”
“Yeah.” She pushes the word out, voice breathy. “I guess there’s no point trying to hide it now. I was obsessed with you. I still am. I still want all those things. A marriage. A life together. Kids.”
I close my eyes, focusing hard as red pulses in my vision. It’s not anger or disappointment or anything negative. It’s the need to tell her I feel the same. The need to explain everything, when and how it started.
“I know you’ll never want the same,” she murmurs, almost like a challenge.
Opening my eyes, I spin on her. Before I know it, I’ve got her hands in mine. It’s all I can do as the release burns inside of me, trying to make me claim her. I pull her to her feet, close. I drive my body against hers so she can feel the hardness of my manhood, the solid ache in my body.
She makes that intoxicating noise when our lips meet, whimpering gorgeously. Our mouths open and for precious seconds, we forget about how messy this is. We kiss hard, Harper’s hands squeezing tightly on my shoulders.
“How do you know what you really want?” I ask, keeping my lips close to hers.
I’m ready to kiss her again if I need to, ready to silence any doubts from either of us.
“I know,” she says firmly.
“But how?” I say. “If I’m the only man you’ve ever wanted.”
Which is exactly what I want her to say. I almost say I don’t want her to think about another man. I need her to belong to me so completely, nobody else can ever get involved.