Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80399 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80399 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
‘But you’re right about me being a hypocrite,’ he murmurs. ‘Because I did watch.’ His fingers still, his dark eyes on the sliver of my cleavage. ‘By Christ, did I watch. I tried not to out of loyalty to you.’ His expression ripples with a mixture of emotions I can’t process right now. ‘Which is a first for me,’ he says, his gaze rising, hitting mine honest and true. ‘Because I want you. I want you now, and I wanted you in that back lane. It’s like an addiction. I’m like a fucking junkie, Ella, and it’s not safe for you here tonight.’
‘I don’t believe you.’ I keep my voice soft as my pulse begins hammering. ‘And this isn’t a kindness I’m offering you. I’m not trying to placate or pay you a compliment. Call it a dare, Mac, or a call to action, because those feelings you mention? We could write a list and compare.’
‘I mean it, Ella,’ he growls again.
‘I know you’ll always take care of me.’
‘Always,’ he whispers fiercely. ‘But I din’nae think I could help myself right now.’
‘What if I don’t want you to?’
He huffs some semblance of a laugh. ‘Then you’re probably a bigger masochist than I am.’
‘Or maybe it means that I love you.’
From pained to stunned in an instant. There’s no ambiguity in his expression right now. And no happiness.
‘Don’t say it if you don’t mean it,’ he growls, his expression faltering for a moment, before it solidifies. Becomes serious. And God help me and my treacherous clenching thighs. ‘Maybe you should come back tomorrow and tell me then.’ His fingers fall away as he steps back. I step into him because, where he leads, I’ll follow.
‘I mean it, Ella. I’m not good company tonight.’
‘If I’d wanted company, I’d have stayed with Jules, my friend. I’m here for what you promised me. I don’t want to come back tomorrow. I want to tell you I love you tonight. I want to show you.’
‘You’re playing with fire, little girl.’ As he growls those words, he allows me to step flush into him, our lips just a kiss apart. My nipples pebble under the weight of my hoodie, yearning for him to slide the zipper just another couple of inches.
Aching for his eyes on me, I crave him like nothing that can be good for me. Crave him like the air I breathe.
‘Maybe I deserve to be burned.’
He kisses me then, his lips soft, but his kiss still punishing. A kiss of flicking tongue and grazing teeth. Of fingers hard against my hips. It’s a kiss of possession, and as he fucks my mouth with his tongue, I moan like only a woman who loves it can.
‘I can’t get enough of you.’ His breath blows against my neck, hoarse and raspy. As he pulls back, his chest rises and falls steadily, the muscles in his shoulders taut and defined under the fabric of his white shirt.
One hand still on my hip, he lifts my hand between us, kissing my fingertips before he twirls me away from him to pull my body flush against his.
‘This is your last chance, little girl.’
‘I want this.’ Like a defiant child, my whisper is demanding as a pulse beats between my legs. I want this. All of this. I want his anger and eyes. His hate and his love. His cock between my legs.
His hands slip around to my front, pulling the zipper the rest of the way, and with every click of teeth, fire rises in my veins.
‘You must be a glutton for punishment.’
‘Maybe I am.’ My tone is provocative. Sultry. ‘Or maybe I’m just a glutton for you.’
‘I think you’re greedy for attention, desperate for the eyes of an audience to caress your skin.’ His murmurs are harsh in my ear, sandpapery promises whispering against my skin. ‘Were you wet when you walked off the stage? I bet you were, little girl. I bet you were dripping.’
This isn’t about revenge. This is a game. A game with no losers, only winners, and as his fingertips trail between my breasts, I take my chance.
‘I danced for you. Imagined you were in the room. I touched myself with your eyes on my body as my need for you made me wet.’
‘You wanted people to watch you.’
‘Us,’ I whisper hoarsely. ‘I wanted people to watch us fuck.’
‘Show me, little girl.’ Our gazes connect through the darkened window, the lights from the street below casting the room behind us into darkness. My heart rate spikes as Mac wraps his hand around the length of my ponytail, pulling my head to the side. As he licks the soft flesh of my neck, my eyes roll closed.
‘Keep them open.’ There’s a feverous tone to his words as he pulls my head back, our lips meeting in a frantic kiss.