Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
“I’ll die before I hurt you again, Khloe. I swear on every living cell in my body that I would’ve never done this had I remembered you.” She sniffles again but doesn’t say a word. I can feel her withdrawing from me again, and it tears my heart apart. “Can you forgive me?”
“What about next time?” she asks, her voice muffled by the fabric of my clothing.
I force her to sit up and look in my eyes. “Sweet Girl,” I say softly. “There won’t be a next time.”
She cuts her eyes back out to the lake, avoiding my gaze. “You don’t know that.”
“Then next time you don’t listen when people tell you not to approach me. You come up and drag me away.”
Her spine stiffens, and she turns her anger back on me. “Don’t you dare blame this on me. I did what the doctors instructed everyone to do. I didn’t want to make things worse for you. I didn’t have the right to stop a grown man from making his own, although extremely misinformed, choices. Do you know how hard it was for me stand there and watch you walk out of the fucking room with that woman? It gutted me.”
“I know,” I say reaching out for her.
“No you don’t, Kid. The sight of you holding her hand and walking her to your room, her answering your door half-naked plays on a constant loop in my mind.”
“I’m not placing any blame on you, Khloe,” I offer. “You said you didn’t have the right to stop me. I’m telling you right here and now that you do have that right. I’m not kidding, Khloe. Just like that necklace says.” I touch the silver heart hanging at her throat. “I’m yours, forever. Never doubt that.”
I see her soften. The tears that are falling now have little to do with the horrid memories of her parents and my betrayal. She’s looking at me with love for the first time since I returned from Vegas.
I run my thumb down her jawline. “I never would have left you if I’d had a choice.”
I lean in toward her mouth but stop just shy of my lips touching hers, giving her the chance to tell me no. Her eyes dart to my lips and back up to mine. I don’t see an ounce of hesitation when she leans the rest of the way in and places her lips on mine.
I can’t help the sharp intake of breath at the feel of her lips willingly on mine. She moans softly at our connection, and I use the opportunity to slide my tongue between her parted lips. Our mouths don’t duel or fight each other; rather our tongues dance in perfect synchronicity.
The sun has fallen below the horizon, leaving us in a romantic haze of sorts. I couldn’t have asked for a better backdrop to our reconciliation. Her hands dive into my hair at the nape of my neck, occasionally tugging at it. The burn at the follicles shoots straight to my cock, even though this isn’t about sex. This is about love and hope for a future together.
“Khloe,” I admonish when she climbs over me and straddles my lap. She pulls her shirt over her head and throws it to the dock.
“Touch me,” she begs.
I shake my head no. “That’s not why I’m here. I didn’t say all of those things so it would lead to this.”
“Do you want me?” she asks softly, her cheeks reddening with embarrassment at my refusal.
“More than my next breath,” I answer honestly.
“Then touch me,” she says again before covering my mouth with hers.
I reach behind her and deftly unsnap her bra, feeling her magnificent breasts fall heavily against my chest; the heat from her skin immediately soaking into my shirt. Never taking my mouth from hers, I reach between us and knead them, loving the way her nipples harden at my touch.
She whimpers against my mouth, and I can’t help but wonder if I’m the first man to touch her like this. The thought thrills me and terrifies me at the same time.
Her hips begin to rotate against mine. My cock weeps at the sensation of her body finally touching mine this way.
“Fuck, Khloe. Stop.” I gently pull my mouth from hers and calm her hips with a firm grip on her thigh.
She looks disappointed, but I ease the denial by nuzzling my cheek along her breast. She arches her back, forcing them harder against my face.
Looking down at me with hooded eyes. “Please, Kid.”
I wrap my lips around one puckered bud, moaning at the phenomenal way her pebbled flesh feels against my tongue. I move the hand on her thigh further up, allowing it to breach the hemline of her shorts. She moans her approval when my fingers caress her over her clit. She’s soaked.