Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 77335 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77335 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
The third time I woke up, the digital clock on the side of the bed said 2:00 a.m., and I knew I needed to go home. I carefully slipped out of bed and gathered my things.
“The bathroom is right there,” Reid murmured sleepily, pointing behind him. “That is the only door you are allowed to go through right now.”
“What?”
Reid sat up and yawned. “If you need the restroom, it’s right there. If not, get your ass back in this bed.”
“I need to get home.”
“You really don’t.” He gave me a deadpan look.
“But my father.”
“We will deal with all of that in the morning. Get back in bed.”
“But I need to…”
“You need to get your ass back in this bed and go to sleep where I know you are safe.”
“If I don’t?” I asked, raising an eyebrow as I dropped my dress and shoes back on the floor, knowing I was standing in front of him completely naked in a shaft of moonlight.
His dark gaze raked over my bare flesh, leaving a trail of heat over my skin.
“If I have to get out of this bed and drag you back here, then so be it. But I will be spanking that ass a cherry red before I tie you to the headboard. Then, who knows if I will ever let you go. I might just leave you naked and bound, ready to be fucked whenever the mood strikes me.”
In a rare moment of brazenness, I asked, “Is that supposed to entice me to get back in the bed or make a break for it?”
He launched out of the bed, stark naked, straight for me.
A high-pitched scream of excitement escaped my lips as I scurried away from his grasp.
I ran into the living room, and he had me inside his arms in five seconds.
He picked me up and carried me back into his room.
Just being in his strong arms made me feel safe, his skin warm against mine.
I liked the feeling of our skin-to-skin contact more than I would have thought.
It made me realize how touch-starved I had been my whole life.
I pushed that thought out of my head and added it to everything else that had to be dealt with tomorrow.
As if reading my thoughts, Reid growled, “Tomorrow, we will deal with the rest of the world, but tonight, you’re mine and only mine.”
A somber chill entered my chest, knowing tonight would be all we had.
Tomorrow, the dream ended and reality would return with a terrible vengeance.
CHAPTER 24
REID
“Good morning.” Charlotte walked out of my bedroom, looking like a gift from God. Her hair was a mess, there were little smudges of mascara under her eyes, and her lips were swollen, slightly bruised from my kiss.
She looked freshly fucked and somehow more comfortable in her own skin. More importantly, she looked more comfortable in nothing but one of my white undershirts.
I stared at her for a moment, just taking her in, wondering who I would have to kill to make sure this was the sight I was greeted with every morning.
Suddenly, I understood what Hunter had meant when he’d griped about settling down in one place. I could just see living my life here in the city, doing private security, or maybe back in Texas, spending my days working on the family ranch.
My evenings would be spent listening to her play at home just for me and in front of crowds at the Philharmonic. Then every night would be spent burying my cock in her tight little body until she became swollen with my baby.
“Good morning, princess. How did you sleep?” I asked, shaking myself out of my daydream stupor.
“I don’t think I have ever slept that good in my life,” she admitted with a blush coloring the tops of her cheeks. “But I did wake up a little sore.”
“That is to be expected.” I nodded and shook out a few ibuprofens from a bottle I kept in the kitchen cabinet right next to the coffee. It made it easy to find when I was hungover. “Have a seat. I’m making breakfast.”
“Okay,” she said and sat on the bar stool on the other side of the counter, where I placed her cup of coffee made with the flavored creamers I knew she liked.
I had woken up a few hours ago and decided that when my princess rose, she would have a breakfast worthy of her, and we would discuss what it would mean for her to be mine.
I’d ordered the groceries and had them delivered about twenty minutes ago.
She would still have rules to follow, but now they were much more strict.
I would still be with her every moment until the threat on her life was dealt with, but now there would be much fewer clothes involved when we were in this apartment.