Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71348 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71348 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
He tightened his hold on me and took me with him as he sat down on the stone bench beside us. I stayed in his lap as the water ran over our bodies and his breathing returned to normal.
“I need to feed you. I’ve got to stop fucking you constantly,” he said. “But, damn, it’s all I want to do.”
I snuggled up tighter to his chest. He wanted me.
Blaise Hughes was a cold, terrifying killer. With me, he was different. I had a part of him no one else got. That should be enough.
But it wasn’t.
Ten
Madeline
I didn’t bother covering up the bite mark Blaise had left on me. Every time he looked at it, his eyes got territorial and possessive. He was downstairs, getting dressed to go to a gala at the club to raise money for a facility that cared for retired racehorses. He hadn’t brought up the fact that he was taking another woman with him as his date or tried to explain it to me again, and I hadn’t asked.
After I’d managed to eat some toast and berries at breakfast, I’d spent the day reading while he worked. But my mind hadn’t been on the book. I’d made a plan. I was going to deal with it tomorrow. I didn’t have the energy today. But I was going to get a job, and if that had to be at Hughes Farm again, I was okay with that.
I just needed an income. When I had enough, I was going to rent somewhere to live. I would tell Blaise he could help me choose a place since my safety was an issue. Although I didn’t know how his enemies knew about me since we were never seen together. But they did. The kidnapping at the theater had proven that. Regardless, there had to be a place I could live safely.
That was plan A. If he refused that idea, then I’d still get a job. I had to pay for my things. If he was going to just use me to keep him satisfied in his bed, then I couldn’t accept things from him. That would make me a whore. I was not a whore. I wasn’t going to act like one. I drew the line at that.
“Want a drink?” Gina asked me as she sank down onto the sofa across from the chair I was curled up in, secretly plotting my future while holding a book in my hands.
“I’m good, but thank you,” I told her.
She nodded, then raised her eyebrows when she saw my neck. I had put on a pair of black shorts with hot-pink polka dots on them and a hot-pink tank top today.
“Looks like someone got excited,” she said, grinning.
I smiled, but said nothing.
She glanced around, then leaned forward. “Seriously though, are you good with this? Tonight?” she whispered.
No, I wasn’t good, but that didn’t matter.
I shrugged. “I don’t think it matters.”
She frowned and leaned back with a sigh. “Yeah. Sucks though.”
“Yep,” I agreed, then dropped my gaze back down to my book.
I heard his footsteps before he appeared, but I didn’t look up. I feared how I would feel, seeing him in a tux, looking like every woman’s fantasy, knowing he was going to have another woman on his arm. He would touch her back and hold her while they danced. The jealous knot in my stomach was so twisted up that it hurt.
“Guys already left,” I heard Gina say. “Huck said he’d see you after.”
I still didn’t look up. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I knew how devastatingly beautiful he looked in a tuxedo. I didn’t want to be reminded. I was sure his date would be stunning, wearing a dress that would turn heads. While I sat here with my hair in a ponytail, dressed like a nineteen-year-old. Even my feet were bare.
“Madeline,” Blaise said.
I sighed, knowing he was going to expect me to speak to him. After all, I’d acted fine all day. I’d fucked him in the shower, eaten beside him at the table. I was fine with all of this, like a good little girl, I thought sourly.
Forcing myself to appear pleasant, I lifted my gaze from the book and looked up at him. It was hard to breathe. His blond hair was pulled back in a bun, and the tuxedo made him appear like the Greek god I was sure he’d descended from.
“Yes?” I asked with a smile I hoped looked real.
He stared at me a moment, then walked over to stand in front of me.
“You leaving?” I asked as if I didn’t care.
“Yes,” he replied with a frown between his eyebrows.
“Have a good time,” I replied.
His gaze went to the bite mark he’d left on me. I felt goose bumps cover my arms and wished they hadn’t. He’d see them too. Dang it.