Total pages in book: 215
Estimated words: 217988 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1090(@200wpm)___ 872(@250wpm)___ 727(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 217988 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1090(@200wpm)___ 872(@250wpm)___ 727(@300wpm)
“You . . . you really think so?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” she asked.
“It’s just . . . sometimes I don’t feel very manly.”
“What?”
“I get panic attacks when I see spiders,” he confessed.
“So? I had a panic attack after seeing my exes.”
He gave her a wry look. “That’s hardly the same.”
“Brody, I just want you to be you. Because that’s who I care about. That’s who I enjoy having around. If you see a spider, call me and I’ll take care of it for you. If I need a cuddle I’m going to call you, because you make me feel happy.”
“You make me feel happy, too.”
“Then that’s all that matters, right?”
“And if you feel like you need a Daddy Dom one day?” he asked.
“I won’t.”
“You don’t know that. And I can’t give you that. I mean . . . I could try if you wanted me to.”
She shook her head. “You shouldn’t change who you are for anyone. It will just make both of us miserable. And what about you?”
“What about me?” he asked.
“What if you need a Daddy or a Mommy?”
He stared down at her as though that thought hadn’t occurred to him. He shook his head. “I don’t.”
“No? Are you sure? I mean, I could try . . .”
He cracked a smile. “You’re more submissive than I am.”
She went to protest before she thought about that properly. Drat. He wasn’t wrong. There was no way she could give him that.
“I don’t want to hold you back from finding someone—”
“You could never hold me back,” he said fiercely. “I don’t ever want to hear you say that, understand?”
She was taken aback at his tone.
“Uh, sorry. Didn’t mean to get all crazy on you.” He pushed his glasses up his nose. “Maybe someday, we might find someone to give us what we both need.”
“No! I don’t want to lose you.”
A strange look appeared on his face. “And if you didn’t have to? If you could have both?”
She stared at him in confusion. How could that possibly ever work? Unless he meant . . .
“You mean share someone?”
He shrugged. “I mean, I’ve heard of it. Not all relationships have just two people in them. If that’s something you need, I don’t want you to ever think you can’t tell me. Okay?”
“If you agree to do the same.” She held out her hand. “Spit oath.”
He grimaced.
“Without the spit,” she added with a grin.
He cupped her cheek with his hand. “Oh, I have a better way of sharing spit.”
She giggled.
“Sheesh, that was terrible,” he groaned. “It sounded so much better in my head.”
She shook her head. “Kiss me, Brody.”
“Thought you’d never ask.”
It felt a bit odd, agreeing to talk to the other person if they felt the need for something more in their relationship. But a part of her was also grateful to him for bringing this up now. How hard would it have been to talk about this later? Or to hold it in, feeling like neither of them could say something to the other one?
He kissed her. Ohhh. So nice. Excitement bubbled in her stomach. She hadn’t felt anything like this in so long. When he drew back, it felt like she’d been drugged.
“I don’t want you to feel you have to hide your Little from me. In fact, I’d like to meet her. I want to take care of you.”
“I want to take care of you as well.”
He brushed his lips across her forehead. “We’ll take care of each other.”
She sighed happily. That sounded so nice.
Brody touched her locket which had slipped out from where she usually wore it under her clothing. “Will you tell me about this?”
Damn. They were going to talk about all the deep stuff, huh?
“It was my mom’s. I inherited it after she and my dad died in a car accident.” She swallowed heavily. “It has a picture of her and my dad in it.”
“I’m so sorry, sweetie.”
“I went to live with my grandparents after they died. They were very old-school. Children should be seen and not heard. I had nightmares, cried for my parents, and they’d just come to my room and tell me to be quiet because I was disturbing their sleep.”
“Assholes,” he whispered.
“Ooh, was that you swearing?” she teased.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be. They were assholes.”
“My momma would whack my hand for swearing in front of a girl. Not that I haven’t messed up before. Lots.”
Oh, that was so cute.
“They had a lot of rules. I had to be quiet, get good grades, stay out of trouble. I tried to do everything they wanted so they didn’t send me away.”
“Oh, sweetie.” He held her against him. “I’m so sorry you didn’t have a good childhood.”
“You’ve never said about your dad. What happened to him?”
He sighed. “It’s not very nice and I don’t really like to talk much about it. He was shot during a car jacking. Just an innocent guy on his way home from work and some guy jacked up on drugs opened his car door at a red light and shot him.”