Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
“You good, baby?” He brushed damp hair off my face gently, urging me to look at him.
“Better than good.” I smiled. “Roman, I…”
When I couldn’t finish the sentence, he gave me a quizzical look. “What is it?” A little sob broke free before I could stop it. His eyes widened, and he stroked my cheek again. “Talk to me, Winter. You have to talk to me.”
“I love you, Roman.” I couldn’t hold back the words any longer. Until moments before, I hadn’t realized the emotion was there. “I’ve never loved anyone other than my sister. But I love you.”
He took a breath, then let it out, a slow smile gracing his lips. “Yeah?” All I could do was nod. “Good. Because I love you, too. I think you had me first time I saw you at Black Reign. Didn’t want to admit it, but I loved that you couldn’t seem to take your eyes off me.”
“Really? You sure it wasn’t my sister you noticed?”
“Oh, no, baby. It was all you. She only watched me when you told her to. You planned on leavin’ with me exactly three days after we got there.”
“There’s no way you could know that.” I wanted to be outraged, but an overwhelming sense of relief drowned it out.
“Do so. We’d just come from a meeting with El Diablo and Shotgun. It was right after Shotgun and Esther had located the transfer of Iris’s sister to that fuckin’ warehouse. You snuck into the meeting right under everyone’s nose. You crouched behind the couch where you had a good look at me and you just… watched. Knew then you were up to somethin’. Also knew it was gonna be me who helped you. When you didn’t make a move, I assumed you’d changed your mind. Then you turned up in my ride.” He chuckled. “And you think you’re not brave. You saw what you wanted and took it. A poor man like me never had a fuckin’ chance.” He grinned at me, still stroking my cheek.
With a glad cry, I pulled him to me, rolling so he was on top. Then I kissed him, wrapping my legs around him, so he had to stay right where he was.
“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Roman. This is the first time I’ve ever felt desired. I could see it in your eyes. You really wanted me.”
“Still do, baby.” To emphasize the point, he slid back inside me, rocking his hips gently. He pushed himself off me, careful not to trap me. The wonderful man remembered. He remembered I didn’t want to be pinned down, even when I’d been the one to put him in this position.
Tears slid from the corners of my eyes down my temples. “You’re so wonderful, Roman. I’m so lucky to have found you.”
“I’m the lucky one.”
Roman made love to me in slow, tender movements. Eventually, I pulled him down to blanket my body and was surprised not to feel the panic I expected. Instead, wonderful pleasure enfolded me. Just like his arms. He took me over the edge three more times before once again emptying himself inside my body. Afterward, he cleaned me up, then pulled me against him and pulled the covers over us both. I lay with my head on his chest, clinging to him like he was my lifeline.
“Just relax, Winter. I ain’t goin’ nowhere.”
“If I doze off, you’ll be here when I wake up?”
“I swear it.”
Those must have been the words I needed to hear, because I took one last deep breath, then promptly passed out.
* * *
Roman
I never thought I could feel so complete as I did when I was with Winter. The next few weeks taught me how much I’d been missing in my life. It also taught me how much I now had to lose. The more I got to know Winter, the more in awe of her I became. Not only was she kind, gentle, and the most fantastic lover I’d ever had, but she was wicked smart. And had more than a bit of a mean streak to her. Especially when it came to her sister. If Brick decided to take on Serelda -- and it was looking more and more like he might -- God help the man. If he ever did anything to make Serelda cry or piss her off, he’d have more than one woman to deal with. Add to it the fact that Winter had already proven she would cut a bitch, and Brick was definitely going to have his hands full.
Like I didn’t.
“Roman.” I turned to see Winter hurrying in my direction. I’d left her napping after a particularly intense round of sex so I could make plans for dinner. She was fond of Blaze’s grilled burgers. It was still a bit chilly outside, but I’d conned Blaze into grilling for us. He did something special with his burgers that had Winter making all kinds of sexy sounds as she ate. I got hard just thinking about it.