Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 73880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
I stand in front of her and trace my finger along her jaw. She shivers, her eyes fluttering closed as I slowly run my fingers down her neck to her collarbone, her skin pebbling beneath my fingers.
“You’re right,” I whisper. “We can’t go back to just being friends.”
I know why I've held back, and I know why I want more. And I know that if I unleash myself… if I open that cage… I'm going to destroy both of us.
Starla’s eyes flash open.
“As if we were ever just friends.”
I can’t stop myself.
I brush my lips against hers.
I cup her jaw and kiss her again, deeper this time, as her lips part and she melts against me.
I’m woefully, completely unprepared for what happens next.
It’s like two stars colliding.
A supernova.
A fusion of light and energy and need, an intense connection that’s irrevocable and transformative. A full and total culmination of desire, emotion, passion, and love kindled with so much more.
Longing.
Tenderness.
The fulfillment of utter completion.
Time stands still as I lose myself in her. My fingers tangle in her hair. Her hands are around my waist, her perfect body flush against mine. We deepen the kiss, our moans mingling, and the need to claim her suffuses me. I grip the nape of her neck and hold her to me while I kiss her, a silent branding of my mouth to hers.
There’s so much I want to tell her that I can’t speak with words. I’m not even sure how anyone could express to another human how deep and powerful fully surrendering to loving another truly is. What it truly means.
I slide my hand down the length of her back and kiss her again, relishing the softness of her lips. Her delicate flavor. The feel of her in my arms.
Panting, she pulls her mouth from mine.
“Timeo,” she whispers before she drops her head to my chest.
I stroke her back. “You okay?”
Starla lifts her head and begins to laugh. God, she’s beautiful, her face alight with humor and joy and relief. “Am I okay? Of course I'm not okay. You made me feel alive for the first time in my entire life, and then… I lost you.” Her voice cracks.
I kiss her again and love how she kisses me back. Time loses meaning until we pull away for breath. My hands are tangled in her top and hers are gripping my ass.
Shit.
“How’d I do?” she asks, wriggling her brows at me.
“Not sure,” I say on a groan, because my fucking dick has a mind of its own. I want her. I fucking need her. I can’t think beyond making her mine in every way possible.
“I’m not sure,” I repeat, my voice low and husky. I hold her chin and bring her gaze to mine. “Maybe we should try again.”
Her phone vibrates. It's on the floor beside us.
“Leave it,” she says, shaking her head, but when she kicks her phone to the side like it’s a pesky fly, I can’t help but think she’s hiding something again.
I want her. I need her.
I lean in to kiss her again.
“You and I are gonna have a talk about what you’re hiding,” I warn her, holding her gaze.
I love the way she bites her lip. I love that demure look she’s giving me.
“Oh, will we?” she asks seductively when I lean into her. I brush my lips against hers.
A loud crash tears us apart.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Starla
Are you even kidding me right now?
Fuck.
I thought my heart couldn’t beat any faster.
I was wrong.
“What was that?” I ask, as a mask falls over Timeo’s face and he’s all business again. When he’s making me laugh or flirting, it’s hard to imagine who he really is— one of Boston’s most notorious, feared by the richest and most powerful people in the world.
Right now? That’s pretty easy to imagine.
“Good question,” he says with a scowl that makes my hair stand on end. “I’m about to find out. You got a weapon or no?”
“You know I don’t—”
“Here.” He shoves a gun into my hand. He knows I know how to shoot because he was the one that taught me. “Get behind me and do not shoot unless it’s absolutely necessary. You got that?”
“Of course,” I say excitedly, holding the weight of the gun in my hand with a little thrill. I love how this feels.
“I hope it’s necessary,” I whisper under my breath. I mean, I don’t want to kill anyone, but it feels like magic when you pull the trigger.
“What was that?” he says over his shoulder.
“Oh, nothing.”
That earns me a grumble, but he’s too intent on figuring out what that noise was to push it.
The studio is clear, which comes as no surprise. No one’s up here but us.
The main area of the club, though, now that’s another story.
“Do you know the layout of the club?” Timeo asks, his gun poised as we walk in unison.