Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 39046 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 195(@200wpm)___ 156(@250wpm)___ 130(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39046 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 195(@200wpm)___ 156(@250wpm)___ 130(@300wpm)
Fuck Rurik for this. He was backing me into a corner, and I fucking hated it.
Growling under my breath, I pushed myself up into a sitting position and scrubbed at my face. Dropping my hands to my lap, I peered up at the bed. Rurik hadn’t moved for a while, and his breaths were even, but I didn’t think they were deep enough for him to actually be asleep. Which fucking sucked because he would know the moment I got into that bed.
I didn’t want to give in to whatever fucked up plan he had in his head, but if I wanted sleep, I couldn’t remain on this floor. And since I had no idea what Rurik had planned for tomorrow, I needed to be well-rested. I couldn’t exactly protect either of us if I was tired and sluggish.
Protect either of us.
Fucking hell. I did want to protect him. While Rurik rode every fucking nerve I had and I didn’t want to give into the temptation he presented, I knew I’d rip this entire world apart if something happened to him.
How had I come to this point? Mere hours alone with him and I was caving. Did I not have any willpower at all?
When it came to him, apparently fucking not.
Scowling, I pushed myself from the floor and snatched up my pillows, placing them on the bed. Rurik opened his eyes, watching me, but I pointedly ignored him. I didn’t want to see the smug look on his face or the glimmer of triumph I knew would be in his blue eyes.
Stiffly, I laid down on the bed, staying as close to the edge of the mattress as I could without falling off. I heard Rurik sigh behind me, and I stiffened even more, my muscles so rigid, it kind of hurt. Why couldn’t he just leave me fucking be?
“You’re going to fall off the bed,” Rurik grumbled from behind me, his voice low and husky. I hated the way it made my body come alive, and I detested even more the image that came to mind—him between my thighs as he slid inside of me and used that same tone to tell me how good I was being for him.
Fucking hell. I didn’t even bottom. I was strictly a top.
“I’m fine,” I grumbled, crossing my arms over my chest when the air conditioning in the room turned on. Seriously, it was cool outside. Why was the damn AC on?
I heard Rurik shifting, and then, a moment later, the sheet and comforter draped over me. I clenched my jaw, but I wasn’t stupid enough to complain. I was getting cold, and between the blanket and Rurik’s body heat radiating from beneath the covers, I was going to warm up quickly.
“At least don’t freeze half to fucking death,” he muttered before laying back down.
I didn’t respond—just closed my eyes and tried willing myself to sleep. But it didn’t work. While the bed was much more comfortable than the floor—at least the hotel had sprung the money for a comfortable mattress—having Rurik behind me and in the same bed with me made it extremely difficult for sleep to come.
“You’re so tense, it’s making me tense,” Rurik complained with a huff as he moved again. “Relax, Malik. I won’t bite… unless you ask me to.”
“Oh, fuck you,” I snapped, glaring at the wall in front of me. “You just can’t help yourself, can you? You always have something—”
Suddenly, his arm banded around my midsection, and then, he was yanking me across the mattress until his chest was flush against my back and his knees were tucked right behind mine. I sucked in a sharp, surprised breath when his hard, thick cock pressed against my ass, and mine thickened in response almost instantly.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I snapped, hating how breathless my voice sounded.
“Cuddling you,” Rurik said as if it was the most normal thing in the world. “You’re tense, and neither of us will get any sleep if you keep being all rigid.” He slid his hand under my shirt, and I couldn’t contain the shiver that rolled down my spine as he slid his rough palm up my abs to my chest, pushing my shirt up as he went. When his hand settled over my heart, he lightly tapped his index finger in time with my rapid heartbeat. “Relax, Malik,” he murmured against the back of my neck.
“Hard to do when you’re—” I cut myself off, refusing to finish that sentence. Being this close to him was making my tongue loose—too fucking loose.
He hummed and tightened his arm around me, still tapping that index finger over the center of my chest. My heartbeat was slowing, and even if I didn’t want to, my body was relaxing back against his.
Damn him.
“Hard to do when I’m what, Shadow?” he asked, his voice low. Soft. I swallowed thickly. “When I’m holding you?” He pressed a kiss to my shoulder, and I closed my eyes, another shiver racing down my spine at the shockingly tender kiss. “Don’t think so hard about it. Just let me hold you. Go to sleep.”