Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 51281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 256(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 171(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 256(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 171(@300wpm)
“I’m going to drive you home,” I informed her, not bothering to tell her I was basically fucking stalking her ass.
“I’m fine. I . . .”
“You are not driving in this condition. Come on,” I said, guiding her to the passenger seat. I buckled her in then climbed in, trying to adjust the driver seat for my enormous frame. Claire had a compact car, so it wasn’t easy.
She needed a new car, too, I decided. When I went car shopping, I was getting two.
“What about your bike?” she asked as I handed her the paper bag with a hard look. She shivered a little bit at the look in my eyes. She was right to be nervous. I was having a hard time controlling my emotions.
“I’ll send one of the guys for it.”
I didn’t fucking care about the bike. That was what I wanted to say. She was worth more to me than any hunk of metal.
That would have been blasphemy a few shorts weeks ago. But now it was true. Nothing mattered to me more than the pretty girl sitting beside me with the tearstained face.
“Where are we going?” she asked as I pulled out into traffic, heading for the coast.
“Taking the long way. You need some air. And then we’re going to talk.”
“Talk?”
“Yes. Drink some water,” I instructed as I took a series of shortcuts. It might be the long way home, but I didn’t want to take too long. I rolled down the windows so the ocean air could blow in, taking the time to calm myself down and clear my head.
She didn’t need to see the primal beast that was just below the surface, ready to demand that she have my baby, be my woman, and let me do all sorts of unspeakably filthy things to her body.
Fuck. I got instantly hard thinking about having her available at all times. It was better than the fury I had felt when I realized my woman had been getting the morning after pill.
Her body. Her choice. I knew that.
But my body said differently. I wanted to crush the pills. Toss them. Burn them.
I was calm but ragingly turned on by the time I pulled her car into my driveway. I texted Vice to get someone to pick up my ride. And then I opened the door for Claire and guided her to my front door.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Claire
I stared at the hulking man in the living room. Hunter was big enough to block the sunlight. We hadn’t spoken at all during the long drive home.
He had followed me. It had taken me a little time to figure that out after he appeared and insisted on driving me home. I wasn’t even surprised by that. I was coming to realize that Hunter did and said whatever he wanted, social niceties be damned.
He took what he wanted and asked questions later. And judging from the look in his eyes, he wanted me.
Maybe it wasn’t an act. Maybe he wasn’t the playboy I’d imagined him to be. He might look the part, but he certainly wasn’t acting like Don Juan.
He was acting like he cared. Maybe more than he wanted to. Which was exactly how I was feeling.
He just stared at me, breathing hard. I shivered, suddenly imagining that he was about to rip my clothes off. But what he did next took me totally off guard.
Without a word, Hunter held out his hand. I took it. Seconds later, I found myself face down over his lap.
“Hunter!”
“Be still, woman.”
I froze, shocked by what was happening. I felt his hand smooth over the thin denim of my worn-in jean shorts. Then he slapped my ass. Hard.
“What are you doing?”
He smacked my ass again.
“Hunter!”
“Will you listen? Really listen?”
“Yes,” I choked out after the third smack, absolutely mortified. I’d never been spanked in my life. First of all, I was a well-behaved child. Second of all, no one other than Gran would have ever dared.
And Gran was more of a ‘go to your room but I will bring you cookies’ type of disciplinarian.
He lifted me up and turned me so that I was sitting in his lap. We were so close, just inches away from each other. There was nowhere to hide my embarrassment.
“You belong to me now,” he said. I opened my mouth to argue with him, but he shook his head. “And I belong to you. Partners. That means when you have a problem, you come to me.”
“Well, you knew about the problem!” I blustered, totally thrown by the whole ‘you belong to me’ sentiment. I was flustered and surprised and secretly pleased by his declaration.
“Yes. I knew you were surprised by what happened, but I thought you would take a couple of days to think about it. I meant it when I said that I wanted a baby with you. More than one. As many as you are willing to give me.”