Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 108173 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108173 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
She groaned and shook her head, trying to rid herself of the image. But as the air hit her naked flesh, she couldn’t help but be aware of the brush of his fingers against the sensitive skin of her back.
And because she was so hyperaware of his touch, she definitely noticed that his fingers were starting to linger between each button. She shuddered when, after the next button, one long finger delicately stroked the line from one vertebra and to the next.
He stepped closer and her eyes lifted to their reflection in the mirror above the vanity. His head was bowed, hair falling forward over his brow, face taut with concentration, eyes half-mast as he remained focused on his task. His breathing was heavy and fast and she could feel it disturbing the strands of her hair.
He glanced up and caught her staring and she inhaled sharply at the expression in his beautiful eyes. There was no disguising the astonished look of stark desire she saw there.
He swallowed, and his palm flattened against her naked back, his hand so big it almost spanned the entire length of her spine. She moaned at his touch and he groaned in response to the sound. His hand slid under her bodice and around the front of her torso to cup one of her breasts. Her nipples had been hard since the moment he’d released the first button, but when his hand closed over one sensitive peak, they grew even more painfully engorged.
The sound that escaped from the depths of Lilah’s throat embarrassed her. It was somewhere between a squeak and a mewl and her knees buckled. His other arm clamped around her waist and he supported her between his body and the marble vanity.
Her hands fell from her bodice, and her palms flattened on the countertop of the vanity as she sought to maintain her balance. Without her support, the bodice gaped and revealed the tops of her breasts to his voracious gaze. The ruched borders of her areolas peeked over the top of the fabric.
He made an animalistic sound when he saw them. His supportive arm left her waist, and he lifted his hand to yank the bodice down, until her breasts were revealed to him in their entirety. Well, one of her breasts, the other was still covered by his cupped palm.
His hand looked big and strong against her delicate curves and soft contours and Lilah’s stomach fluttered at the contrast. His palm was rough and it abraded against the puckered peak of her breast. A deep guttural sound growled from his throat when her nipple swelled even more.
He buried his face in the curve of her neck and swept his lips up over the cord of her neck to her jawline.
“Lilah, turn around,” he urged, his hands dropped to the curve of her waist and applied gentle pressure in an attempt to turn her to face him.
Oh, God, what was she doing?
EIGHT
In Name Only
Lilah tensed and, before she could change her mind, she surprised Ben by shimmying out of his hold. She put a couple of feet’s distance between them before tugging her bodice back into place, and turning around to face him.
“I don’t want this,” she told him, hating the edge of hysteria she heard in her voice.
“What do you mean?” he asked, his eyes icing over and his voice going frosty almost instantly.
Still, despite the insta-chill, he couldn’t disguise the rapid rise and fall of his chest, or the impressive erection still surging against his zipper. An erection she was valiantly attempting to ignore.
“We’re never going to sleep together, Ben.”
“Lilah...” He used that insultingly reasonable tone of voice. Insulting, because it always made her feel like he was treating her like an irrational, hysterical child. “I acknowledge that maybe you went into this union under some kind of misapprehension but it doesn’t change the fact that we just got married. And there are certain expectations attached to that commitment. Expectations from both of us. Maybe you need some time to—I don’t know—process things… but never is a strong and overly-dramatic word, don’t you think?”
“I said what I said,” she insisted, turning her back on him again. “Now undo the rest of these and keep your hands to yourself this time.”
He hesitated for a moment, before stepping forward and making quick work of the rest of the buttons.
“Thank you,” she said over her shoulder and then dismissed him with, “Please shut the door behind you.”
“Not until we’ve cleared this up.”
She whirled to face him again, her brows lowered in a glare. “I don’t know how I can make it any clearer. This marriage won’t be consummated.”
He remained silent, staring at her through narrowed, angry eyes.
“It can be a marriage in name only,” she continued, hearing desperation and hysteria edge into her voice. “And after a decent amount of time has passed, we could quietly end it. I think that would work.”