Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 51525 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 258(@200wpm)___ 206(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51525 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 258(@200wpm)___ 206(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
“Right.” I shake my head before dropping my eyes back to my book.
“Are you ready to talk to me?”
My eyes go to his once again. “No.”
“Right.” He smirks, and something about that expression makes me want to both kiss him and smack him. I curl my hands into fists, and his eyes drop to my lap, his smirk turning into a smile like he knows exactly the contradictory thoughts I’m having.
“Why are you here?” I repeat.
“I think you know that answer.” He wraps his hand around my wrist. I drop my gaze and watch as he forces my hand open to lace his fingers with mine. “We need to talk.”
“We don’t.”
I try to pull away, but he tugs on my hand, pulling me closer to him. “How did you feel yesterday when I drove off?” At his softly spoken question, my body freezes, but my blood starts to rush hard through my veins, causing a swoosh, swoosh sound to fill my ears. “You didn’t like it. I know you didn’t.”
“Let me go.”
“No,” he growls with a shake of my hand, and I look into his eyes. “You don’t want or need me to let go. One of us needs to fight for this, Bre, and until you’re ready to start fighting, that person is me.”
“Den—”
He cuts me off again as his eyes drop to my mouth. “Tell me you’ve had a kiss like the one we shared. Tell me you’ve had that with someone else.” I swallow as I watch his lips move. If I said that, it would be a lie. Gabe and I never shared a kiss like that, ever. “I’ve never had that before, Bre. I’ve never felt what I feel for you with anyone else, and I know.” His hand squeezes mine. “I fucking know, down to my fucking gut, that this… this is worth fighting for. This is worth everything.”
Tears start to fill my eyes, and I as I drop my head forward to hide them from him, he stops me, touching his forehead to mine and keeping our eyes locked.
“I know you’re scared.”
“Stop,” I whisper, closing my eyes and cutting him out the only way I can. “This is…. This can’t happen. I care about you, but we can’t do this. Ly will suffer, and that isn’t fair to her. She lost Gabe. She never knew him but misses him. Losing you would devastate her. She’s attached to you, and….” I was going to say I can’t risk losing him either, but I’m not ready to be that honest.
“I love her too. I’m not going anywhere, and I would never let anything jeopardize my relationship with her.”
“This is too much too fast.” I close my eyes then open them when I feel his body start to shake. Seeing he’s laughing, I frown. “Why are you laughing?”
“You said this is fast.” He laughs harder, dropping his face to the crook of my neck and laughing there loudly.
“This is fast. And I still don’t know why you think that’s funny.”
He pulls his face from my neck and his expression sobers instantly. “Four years, Bre. Four fucking years I’ve been waiting for my shot, and that time does not fucking include the years before that.” My breath leaves on a whoosh as he releases my hand and captures my face between his palms. “This? This is not fast.”
“It is.”
His gaze roams over my face, and then his eyes stop to my mouth, my stomach muscles tightening in anticipation as he shakes his head. “Not fast enough,” he mumbles, right before he pulls me forward and places his lips against mine. Just like the last time he kissed me, he demands for me to “open.” Unlike the last time, I don’t fight it.
My mouth opens, and when his tongue slides across mine, I whimper. He still taste like the ocean and sunshine, but instead of cherries and mint, his taste is mixed with something richer, like chocolate and coconut. When he pulls back to nip my bottom lip, I nip him in return, feeling his chest vibrate as his deep growl rolls across my tongue. I don’t put up a fight when he pulls me from my chair and onto his lap. My body that is already buzzing becomes a livewire as his hand slides up my outer thigh, over my hip and the curve of my waist, stopping just under my breast. I arch into him, wanting to feel his touch, needing it more than my next breath.
The slide of his thumb across my nipple causes me to gasp, my core to flood with wet heat, and my pussy to spasm. I’m so turned on that I roll my hips into his, and beg “please” against his mouth without thinking of anything but getting more of his touch.