Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 46461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
There was a time when I’d thought it made me less. It was what motivated me through rehab and physical therapy after the attack in Afghanistan. I wanted to be worthy of a family. The strong protector I’d always been. I’d had to work to be that man again, and it made me bitter and angry when someone looked at the prosthesis and saw me as less than a warrior. Less than a man. When I’d shown Emmanuell my leg, she hadn’t looked at me with pity or even tried to say how sorry she was that I’d gone through something like that. She’d simply taken it all in. She hadn’t thought our trials equal, but there was no pity in her gaze. That encouraged me. Made me believe that maybe I could convince her to throw her lot in with me.
I had a bench installed next to the shower so it was easy for me to get my leg on quickly without needing crutches to get from the shower to a place where I could strap on the device and dress easily. It had been so many years now I did it without thinking. As long as I was home. When Cain sent me out on missions, I had to plan for shit like this. Which was why I was never in the field. When I couldn’t work from the Bane clubhouse, I stayed in the base we set up in whatever country we were sent to. Wasn’t always easy, but I insisted. I was still an incredible asset to ExFil. Thankfully, Cain recognized that. So did my brothers. It had taken me a while to realize it, but they all respected me and my capabilities. Both mental and physical.
Once dressed, I opened the bathroom door and paused, giving Emmanuell time to realize I was coming out. When I stepped out into the bedroom, I found her at my bedside, the table drawer open and an unopened box of condoms in her hand. She raised her eyebrow. “I take it you have visitors often.”
I grinned at her. “Nope. I don’t bring women here.”
She looked perplexed. “So, you have men here, then?”
That made me laugh. “No, sweetheart. I don’t have men up here. I’m completely heterosexual. But I don’t bring women to my room for sex.” I shrugged. “Or for any reason. This is my private space.”
“Yet, I’m here.”
“Exactly, Emmanuell.”
“Then, why the box of condoms?”
I shrugged. “They gotta go someplace. I have a box in the glove compartment of my truck, too, but I’m never in the thing so they’re probably outdated by now.”
She placed the box back in the drawer and closed it. “You have quite a setup over there.” She indicated my computer gear. Yeah. It was extensive. Four monitors with two keyboards and networked systems. I could work and play at the same time.
“You should see the setup in my office. This is nothing compared to that.”
“I bet no secret is safe from you.” She smiled, genuinely amused.
“Just you remember that.” I pointed a finger at her warningly. “I’ll know about all your speeding tickets and delinquent library books.”
For the first time since I’d met her outside the gates of Salvation’s Bane, Emmanuell laughed. Not a giggle or a soft chuckle. She barked out laughter, her eyes twinkling with merriment. By God, her whole face lit up. The whole fuckin’ world lit up.
“Defender of libraries, huh? I like that.”
My breath caught as she continued to smile up at me. Before I realized what I was doing, I’d crossed the distance to her. She still smiled up at me but looked adorably confused. Like she had no idea what she was fucking doing to me.
“You’re a stunningly beautiful woman, Emmanuell,” I whispered. “So fuckin’ lovely.”
When I bent my head to graze her lips with mine, she sighed into the light kiss. Her hands went to my shoulders to rest there like little butterflies against me, her touch was so light. I lapped at the seam of her lips carefully, not wanting to scare her or make her think I intended to take more than she was ready to give. She trembled slightly but didn’t back off. In fact, she darted her tongue out to brush against mine, and I shivered.
“Mmm…” She moaned into my mouth. The woman seemed like she was starved for a man’s touch. My touch.
“Yeah, baby,” I said as I continued to kiss her. “Taste good.”
Emmanuell sighed and slid her arms around my neck, clinging as we continued to kiss. Lips and tongues clinging and tangling the longer we continued. I could taste her need, feel the desperation for relief in the way she held me to her. There was so much she was trying to tell me in that one kiss. I heard her. But now wasn’t the time.