Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77118 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77118 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Turning my head, I found him beside me, his face more relaxed than I’d ever seen it.
A small, sexy smirk toyed with his lips as he looked at me.
“Why the fuck haven’t we done that before?” he asked.
It was those words that finally had me shocking back into the reality of the situation.
“Uh oh,” he said, reading the panic on my face as I pushed up, reaching back to yank my skirt back into place as I climbed off the bed.
Getting to my feet, I reached down my top, pushing my tits back into their car seats since they’d tried to make an escape for it with all the hard banging.
“Regretting me?” he asked, and there was just the tiniest hint of vulnerability in his voice as he said it.
That sliced right through me, making the panic fall away a bit.
“No,” I told him honestly. “No,” I repeated more firmly. “It’s not that. It’s not regret.”
“What is it then?” he asked, folding up to a seated position.
“It’s… complicated.”
“Okay,” he agreed, and I took that for his invitation to explain further.
“I just… I can’t be fucking someone in Shady Valley,” I said.
“Why not?”
“It’s just… it could get messy when shit doesn’t work out,” I said, lying through my teeth, but I had been doing it for so long that he didn’t detect a bit of untruth in the words as I turned to walk into the bathroom, seeing the mess of my makeup. Racoon eyes. Smudged red lipstick all over.
I didn’t expect him to follow.
In my experience, guys were usually eager to head out after some no-strings-attached sex.
But when I looked up into the mirror after getting some water on a washcloth, there he was behind me, watching me as I started to wipe at the makeup.
“You made a mess of me,” I told him when he just kept watching me, saying nothing.
I mean, Slash wasn’t exactly a big talker. But he’d just had his dick inside me. He could say something.
“It’s fucking hot,” he decided as I moved from my eyes to my lipstick that must have mostly gotten smudged from sucking him off. That shit was supposed to be life-proof. I felt a review coming in my future.
Color is great. But if you want to suck a cock and still look pretty, this ain’t the lipstick for you.
I said nothing because, quite frankly, I agreed with him. It was hot. And as I got all the lip tint off, I could see little bruises from his teeth on my lower lip. A part of me thrilled at the idea of having that little secret with me for the next few days, carefully concealed beneath some heavily-tinted lipstick, but there.
“Fine. It kind of is,” I admitted, looking up at him. “But we can’t do it again.”
“Give me one good reason. ‘Cause I know you enjoyed the fuck out of yourself.”
Damn him, I had.
And I wanted more.
I just… couldn’t.
“Alright. How about a compromise?” I suggested.
“Compromise?” he asked, tone and face dubious.
“We can do this. But we can only do this when we aren’t in Shady Valley,” I told him.
“The fuck kind of plan is that? What? You don’t want dick when you’re home?” he asked.
I did.
Especially his.
But it was… complicated.
And I damn sure wasn’t getting into it with someone who was going to be a fuck-buddy.
“That’s the deal I am offering. Take it or leave it.”
I sounded so blasé.
But, God, my insides were shaking at the idea of him turning me down when I wanted more.
His gaze held mine in the mirror, likely trying to find a crack around the edges that he could use to peel back and break my resolve.
But he didn’t know who he was up against. Not really. There were no cracks. Not that anyone could see, anyway.
“Fine,” he said in a tone that suggested he wasn’t happy about it.
“Don’t look so annoyed,” I said, shaking my head. “You go out of town all the time,” I reminded him. “And I make a lot of these trips out to see my aunt these days. Give me your phone,” I demanded, then waited for him to get it, unlock it, and put it in my hand.
“Axel?” he asked as he looked at the contact I’d added in.
“As in Rose,” I told him. “You know… from Guns ’N Roses?” I added to his perplexed look. “Axel… and Slash,” I added, watching as his eyes warmed a bit at the idea that my mind didn’t immediately go to his name being about his scars.
“So what are you putting me in as then?” he asked.
“Rose,” I told him. “It’s better than Bar Guy From Vegas,” I added, shrugging it off.
“Guess so,” he agreed, and I sensed a guard going down, a wall being built between us.
I should have been happy.
We needed those forms of protection.