Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 83970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
A split second decision on Diego’s part when he saw Bobby hit me in the dark hallway at Drifter’s set into motion the events that would lead to my eventual freedom. For years, I was held captive by the abuse and threats of what he would do to me if I ever told anyone, or worse yet if I tried to leave.
Freedom.
A simple word so many people take for granted. Seven letters, that to someone who never had theirs threatened, mean absolutely nothing.
I hold him tighter as I begin to wonder what the next step is.
“What happens now?” I ask softly without pulling my head from his chest.
“Now we begin our lives, Emmalyn.” He hooks his finger under my chin and caresses my face with his thumb as I look in his eyes. “Together, Em. We begin our lives together.”
“You still want me?”
He laughs and shakes his head, my question apparently the craziest thing he’s ever heard.
“Absolutely.”
He leans in to kiss me, and I part my lips instantly when his warm mouth touches mine. His tongue is soft and coaxing as it sweeps across mine. This kiss isn’t one that leads to sex; this kiss is a promise of what’s to come. It’s a hint of the love we will share as the days, weeks, and years come and go.
“Shower with me?” He asks running his hands up and down my arms.
I stand from his lap and make my way to the bathroom, stripping unceremoniously out of the clothes as I walk.
My head is firing ninety to nothing, and I can’t keep track of all of the thoughts as they invade at a rapid speed. Technically I’m a widow, and I don’t even know what that entails. Diego, although protecting others, pulled the trigger on the gun that caused Bobby’s death. I have no idea what that means as far as prosecution. He’s not acting like a man who thinks he’s going to be arrested, but that doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen.
As much as I want to get into the details of what happened tonight and what it means for our future, I have no intentions of asking. I want to be in this moment with him. I need to hold him tight, knowing that even though I have the ability to go and do anything in the world I set my mind to, I choose to stay right here, with him.
I step into the shower before the water has time to warm. The shock from the cold is instantly abated when Diego wraps his arms around my waist and holds me against his warm chest.
“Wash me?” He asks reaching for a sponge in the caddy hanging below the shower head.
“Of course,” I say, turning his arms after squirting a liberal amount of masculine shower gel onto the sponge.
I gingerly wash over his chest, paying close attention to the pressure I apply to his injured area.
“I want a lifetime of this,” he says as his eyes flutter closed.
I bite my lip as I wash down his abdomen. “What? You want someone else to bathe you?”
“That wouldn’t be too bad, either, but I want a lifetime of moments like this with you. Moments where absolutely nothing else in the world matters but you and me.”
He groans when I brush against his growing erection on my way down to wash his thighs. What was a moment of just being together is quickly turning into sexual need, and not just for him.
The sight of his naked body reacting to my touch is enough to cause my body to prepare to take him inside of me. I grow slick and my hands begin to tremble slightly, but I don’t engage. I wash him and tell my own body that there will always be time for us to be together like that, and the last thing I want on my first night as a totally free woman is to have shower sex.
I deserve better, and I can feel that he senses it as well. He retrieves the sponge from my hands, rinses it, and adds my fruity shower gel and returns the favor. He groans and I whimper as the sponge cleans my most erogenous areas, but we take it no further.
“I want you to come home with me tomorrow,” he finally says as he rinses the suds from both our bodies.
“I’ll go wherever you want me to,” I tell him, my mouth pressed gently against his wet chest. “I love you, Diego.”
“I love you, Emmalyn,” he says against the top of my head.
Chapter 44
Kincaid
I’m very appreciative of the kids that have been staying here the last couple of days. Waking up this morning I can actually pay attention to my girl, rather than having to take Ollie out to use the restroom. They’ve been keeping him with them in their room. I get the feeling that Axe is going to give me hell because I know their family is going to grow by one when those sweet girls beg him for a puppy.