Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 145091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
“Pay back is going to be fun, baby.” He picked her up and started for the bed.
Chapter Fifteen
Taylor could still taste him, the salty essence of his sex on her tongue and coating her lips. She’d wanted to get her mouth on him. He’d brought her so much pleasure with that talented tongue of his. No one could accuse Drake of being a selfish lover, and she’d wanted to pay him back.
He crossed the small living room, moving to what looked like the bedroom.
Was she really going to stay here with him? Was she diving in?
Yes. You are diving in, and the water is going to be deep and you’re going to be okay no matter what happens because nothing at all can happen if you never take a chance.
No life. No love. Only more numbness and darkness.
There was no joy without risk.
Her father would want her to live, to find love, to build a family. He would want her to look to the future and not the past. He would want her to try and fail and get back up and try again. She’d fallen into darkness for a bit, but now it was time to find the light.
“Baby, are you okay?” He set her on her feet, close to the bed.
She had to ask, had to put the question to him, look him in the eyes and decide if she was going to believe the man she was rapidly falling for.
He was going to press her back against the bed and make love to her, and no one would stop them this time. She couldn’t fool herself and say she was using him or that this was casual.
So she had to ask, and if it ruined everything, then at least she would know.
“Drake, I have to ask you a question. I promise you I’ll only ask it once.”
He seemed to understand that this was serious for her. His hand cupped the nape of her neck. “Ask me anything. I promise I won’t lie to you. I know you don’t believe me, but I didn’t lie then and I won’t now. I’ll tell you the truth no matter how much it hurts me.”
He was so beautiful to her, standing there wearing nothing but his own glorious skin. “Did you have anything to do with my father’s death?”
He sighed as though relieved, and she knew they’d needed to get this out in the open, to drag it into the light. “No. Baby, no. I promise you that I didn’t know what Julia was doing. If I’d had even a hint… I’m so…”
She shook her head and went up on her toes, stopping the apology with a kiss. “No. It’s over and we move on now. It’s over and we don’t look back.”
If she was going to be in, she would be all in. She wasn’t sure what would happen tomorrow, but she would face it.
Drake’s mouth came down on hers and she felt the moment he totally took control. Like he had when she was sucking his cock. He’d let her play for a moment, and then his hands had tightened and he’d led her. It shouldn’t have been so hot, but it was. This was the man she’d fallen for. Drake was a partner who knew what she needed in the bedroom and trusted her out of it. He was a man she could build a life with.
He stepped back, his naked body such a work of art to her. “Take off your clothes.”
“Why don’t you take them off me?” she replied in a saucy tone.
His lips thinned to a flat line. “That’s not what I told you to do, Taylor. Are you going to play with me tonight? More importantly, are you going to do the job that scares the fuck out of me? I’m going to support you, but I feel out of control, and when I do and it concerns the safety of the person who means the most to me in the world, I’m going to need something to soothe me.”
She could handle that. Everyone needed something comforting. Drake’s comfort simply came from filthy, glorious sex he got to control. She would get something she needed, too. An orgasm. Connection to him. She kicked off her shoes. “Do you want me to go slow, Sir?”
“Drake. Call me by my name. I need to hear it so I know you’re with me.”
Because he had to give up his name so often. He had to become Mr. Black or Mr. Brown. Some spectrum of Agency-approved names to obscure who he really was. He’d probably used it so often it would be hard to remember who he was.
He needed a place where he could simply be.
“Drake, you want me to go slow? Do you want me to show you everything I’m offering you?”