Total pages in book: 156
Estimated words: 158829 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 794(@200wpm)___ 635(@250wpm)___ 529(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 158829 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 794(@200wpm)___ 635(@250wpm)___ 529(@300wpm)
Real smooth.
Apparently, while I was too busy focusing on not doing anything stupid, my hand went straight imbecile on its own.
I should drop her hand now.
Pretend it never happened.
Mutter something pathetic about how it’s a bad habit and leave it at that.
But she isn’t pulling away, is she?
Quite the opposite—her little fingers curl around mine like she’s begging me to stay. To touch her just a few more seconds.
Goddammit.
If I push her away, she’ll be offended for sure.
Why double down on dumbassery?
And if I’m being honest, I enjoy her warmth too much, the way her nails press lightly into the meat of my hand.
What’s truly pathetic is that this is the closest thing I’ve had to a genuine date in years.
Managing an empire as big as Winthrope doesn’t leave time for much more than shallow hookups where you’ve barely traded names in some upscale bar before clothes start falling off.
“Wow,” Piper whispers, stopping at a break in the brush and palm trees to study the sky.
It’s such a clear night, and the stars are truly brilliant.
I can’t help tightening my hold on her hand.
I’m here so often I take this view for granted.
“It looks like a movie or something,” she says, inhaling sharply. “You don’t get skies like that back home. And it hits different here. It’s not like New Mexico or Utah where I’ve seen some pretty cool night skies.”
I offer her a smile.
“Now you know why so many astronomers set up shop in Hawaii. This way.” We’ve arrived at the rock garden so I pull her along the curling manicured paths.
Not that it matters.
This lightning bug of a woman won’t stay on the path to save her life.
She breaks away from me, pulled toward the rocks like a magnet. They glow dark purple under the full moon.
She makes a game of hopping from one large moss-covered stone to the next. After a few near acrobatic jumps, I’m not sure she’ll keep landing on her feet with catlike grace, so I catch her midair.
Her eyes go wide, but she doesn’t complain as her arms curl around my neck.
“Why’d you have to ruin it?”
“Because you must be the only guest who’s ever used a world-renowned Japanese artist’s creation as her personal playground,” I say with a snort.
“Got it. You should just put up a No Fun sign then. It’d be less disappointing.” She flicks her tongue out.
This hard-on will murder me.
I look up and see Jupiter glowing brightly overhead, this massive star blasting through the night. They say it’s the closest it’ll be for another hundred years.
The added light only enhances Piper’s dreamlike glow.
“Woman, you might resemble a pixie, but you don’t fly. Keep your feet on the ground. You shouldn’t be jumping around with your foot healing, I’m sure.”
“Whatever, bossypants.” Her emerald eyes drop from my eyes to my lips. “Also, my feet aren’t touching the ground right now, and I’m very content.”
Oh, fuck.
Oh, fuck.
It’s like those words seal our cursed fate.
I don’t think a boulder to the head could keep me from kissing her hard enough to take her soul.
“Miss Renee?” I rasp, moving my face painfully close to hers.
“Yes?”
“I lied about my favorite part of the day.”
“You...you did?” She blinks like she senses what’s coming, her soft smile fading in a mess of giddy nerves.
I nod slowly. “My favorite part was spending the whole day with you. We won’t see each other again, but you made me wonder what it might be like to travel with someone. To share the world and know they’d always be there. This is the life I’d lead if I could be someone else. I’d spend all my days with someone like you.”
Her arms tighten around my neck.
She closes her eyes and sighs, this nimble creature in my arms, mine for the taking.
It’s a sound that splits me in two.
My entire body throbs. I want to brush my lips over hers very lightly, teasingly, but this feral growl trapped in my throat doesn’t let me.
When we collide, it’s all violent sparks.
Pure delirium.
Her mouth is a fever, burning to my very bones, and there’s only one cure.
I slide my tongue past her whimper, firm but gentle.
But her tongue moves against mine with a pressure I have to match.
Fuck, it’s too much.
Too good.
Too blinding.
My vision reddens as I suck at her mouth, devouring her, everything turning frantic. My fingers dig into her hip before I tear myself away.
“Back on your feet now,” I whisper raggedly, my brain howling with disappointment.
Every last bit of me might be screaming to fuck this girl right here, but I can’t give in.
I can’t undo the repairs I’ve made today, even if walking away from another taste of her kills me.
She whimpers as I set her down and she finds her balance.
“You just had to go and make this difficult, didn’t you?” she whispers sharply, still smiling.