Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
“So now we wait,” Grath remarked as he settled himself on the floor and leaned back against the wall.
“Yup.” She sighed pensively and he noticed she was looking at the stage at the far end of the room where the judges were seated.
“Worried about the judging?” he asked.
Madeline shook her head.
“No, I was just thinking. This is the same room they hold the Yule Ball in, you know? And that’s where Ethan—my brother-in-law—got down on his knees and proposed to Anna.”
“So it was a very public proposal,” Grath said, frowning. “What if she’d said no?”
“Oh, nobody proposes at the Yule Ball unless they’re sure of getting a ‘yes,’” Madeline said and sighed again. “I was kind of jealous at the time, you know—but I can’t help being happy for them. They’re just so right together.”
Grath saw that she was feeling melancholy—possibly because her sister had a mate and she didn’t—and he wanted to cheer her up.
“Come sit with me, baby—let’s talk,” he said, reaching for her hand.
“Okay. What do you want to talk about?” Madeline started to settle beside him but Grath pulled her into his lap instead so that her back was against his front.
“Oh!” Madeline exclaimed rather breathlessly. “What are you doing?”
“Just letting everyone here know that you’re mine,” Grath growled.
He knew he probably shouldn’t be doing this—shouldn’t be getting even closer to her. But somehow he couldn’t help himself. Looping his arms loosely around her waist, he pressed his cheek against hers and inhaled her delicious, feminine fragrance. “Mmm, you smell sweet—like that banilla stuff you used in the ball dough,” he remarked.
“That’s vanilla,” Madeline corrected him with a breathless little laugh. “And it’s a pretty common ingredient—you put it into almost every single cookie and cake recipe there is.”
“Well, whatever it is, I really like it,” Grath growled in her ear. “You smell good enough to eat, little girl. And I mean that fucking literally,” he added.
Madeline shifted against him and he could smell a new scent coming from her—the scent of feminine desire.
“Grath, don’t talk like that!” she protested, though he noticed she made no move to get off his lap.
“Like what?” he protested. “Like I’m your fiancé—your mate to be? Don’t you think we ought to be talking like that to each other all the time? We need to really inhabit these fucking parts if we’re going to fool your family.”
“Are you saying you ought to talk dirty to me so we can get into our parts better?” Madeline demanded, half turning her head to look back at him.
“Sure, why not? Don’t you think it would help?” Grath asked.
“Well…” She bit her lush lower lip, which made him want to kiss her again. “I guess it…it couldn’t hurt. But I’ve never been very good at dirty talk.”
“That’s all right, baby—I am,” Grath murmured. “Now let me see—the first thing I’d say if I was really your mate-to-be is how much I want to see you naked.”
“Grath!” she protested. “Really?”
“Really,” he assured her. “And if I could get you naked—with all your full curves exposed—then I’d want to touch you all over. Just to get you warmed up, you know?”
As he spoke, he ran his hands lightly up and down her arms, letting just enough heat radiate through his fingers to warm her up.
“Oh!” Madeline whispered and shifted in his lap again. Surely she could feel how hard his shaft was getting—her ass was pressed right against it. But she made no effort to move or to get off his lap. Instead, she wiggled against him, almost as though she was teasing him, Grath thought.
“And then,” he continued, still rubbing her arms lightly. “After I stroked your soft, curvy, naked body all over, I’d pay special attention to your breasts.”
“You…you would?” she whispered.
“Mmm-hmm,” Grath growled in her ear. “I’d want to fill my hands with them—I love how fucking full and ripe they are—and then I’d tease those tight little nipples I can see poking out against your sweater.” He nodded down at her breasts, where the taut outlines of her ripe buds were indeed poking against the fabric of her cranberry sweater.
“Oh, Grath!” she gasped and shifted against him again. “And…and then what?”
“Well, after I licked and sucked those sweet little nips of yours, I’d want to taste you somewhere else,” Grath murmured. “I’d want to take a little trip down lower and spread your thighs so I could get to that hot, wet little pussy I could feel pressing against my side this morning when we woke up.”
“You…you weren’t supposed to feel that!” Madeline protested, sounding alarmed.
“Couldn’t fucking help it, baby,” Grath growled. “You were so damn wet and hot. Tell me, what was making you that way?”
“Well…” She nibbled her lower lip again and half-turned her head to look at him. “Do you remember, you asked me if I had any more dreams last night after we talked?”