Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 66859 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 334(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66859 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 334(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
I pause and look up at him, the light from the television is still on, though nothing is playing, just the blank screen waiting for us to make a selection. I meet Beckett’s eyes and he looks down at me with a look that makes me weak at the knees. His hand moves and he swipes a piece of hair from my face, tucking it behind my ear. I take a deep breath in, holding his gaze in a way that is making me feel more than a little shaky.
We shouldn’t be doing anything, not with the situation we’re already in.
Yet, when his hand slides around to the back of my neck and he leans in, pressing his lips to mine, I find myself unable to do anything but kiss him back. And kiss him back, I do. Our mouths come together with an explosion that has him hauling my body on top of his so I’m straddling him. My arms slide around his neck, his hands find my back and begin rubbing, lower and lower, as our kiss depends.
I take handfuls of his hair in my hands and moan as he grinds my pussy against his already hardening cock. I can’t stop myself; I need him and I need him now. I reach down between us, jerking his pants down and freeing him, then I begin to stroke as his kiss becomes frenzied. He growls and reaches for my hand, stopping me by closing his around it and pausing my stroking. “We can’t do that,” he murmurs, his voice tight and husky. “Got no protection.”
For a moment, for a small moment, I thought he was going to reject me again. My entire body had stiffened, my heart started racing and my mind swam at the very idea that he might tell me I’m not good enough once more, or that he’s in love with someone else and can’t.
I didn’t even think of the protection, which is childish of me considering I only just took the morning after pill and I should be a whole lot more onto it than I am.
He’s right, though. We have no protection. I don’t just carry condoms around, and it’s obvious he doesn’t either because if he did, I’m sure we’d be into it right now.
I release his cock and whisper into the darkness, “It’s not because of Becky?”
He exhales. “Not goin’ to lie to you, Pop-Tart. It has somethin’ to do with Becky.”
Fuck.
That hurts.
It hurts a whole lot more than I expected.
I roll off him and land on my back with a thump, my heart racing, my shame making my skin prickle. Of course it has something to do with Becky, he’s in love with her. Their situation might be complicated, but he can’t just turn off his feelings for her.
“Don’t get hurt on me,” he murmurs, rolling toward me. “It’s not because I don’t want you, because fuck, I do. It’s because I don’t want to be a fuckin’ rubbish human being. I need to figure shit out with her, before I start fucking you. I can’t be doin’ both. Two women at once.”
Oh god.
That makes me feel sick.
Of course he’s fucking her. Of course he is.
“I’ll make it easier for you,” I say, sliding out of the bed. “Stay with her. This isn’t going anywhere between us anyway.”
I stand and walk toward the bathroom.
“Pop-Tart,” he calls, but I don’t look back.
I’m an idiot.
Once again, I’m the one left broken.
Always me.
Will I not learn?
“EVERYTHING IS GOING as planned,” Mateo says, striding up and down like he’s instructing a camp of war criminals to go out and fight. He’s straight backed as he walks, his head held high, like nothing can touch him. He owns the room, and he knows it. Riggs and his guys stand, arms crossed, listening to him. Even he has them captivated. That’s how he works. “My guys are planning the hit, but we can only play this out once. We don’t have the option to do it twice. If it goes wrong, we’re fucked, so we need to make sure when we do it, we do it good.”
“You got eyes on Rocco?” Riggs asks.
Mateo nods. “Yeah, we’re trackin’ his every move. He attends a club every Tuesday night, gets a woman, has a fuck, and leaves around midnight. Been doin’ this for a good long time. That’s when we’re hopin’ to hit him. He takes his second in charge, it’s like a fuckin’ bromance or some such shit. Either way, if we play our cards right, that’ll be when we complete the task.”
“You’re just going to run up and kill them?” I ask, because, honestly, it seems like a stupid plan.
Mateo looks to me with those wild, passionate eyes. “No, baby.”
He doesn’t tell me how he is going to do it, of course he doesn’t.