Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 71275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
“He gave me my … he stopped by today. I was due for a checkup. I’m fine. Just a bug or something.”
Maeme hadn’t said anything about a checkup. That was odd. Why was I just now hearing about it?
“What kind of checkup?” I asked.
“The … woman kind,” she replied, and some color came back to her cheeks.
I stilled. “What do you mean, the woman kind?”
She took in a deep breath, as if she was exasperated with my questioning. “You know, the kind a woman has done once a year. I was overdue.”
My nostrils flared as I inhaled sharply, jamming my phone into my pocket. “Tell me what he did,” I demanded.
Her eyes widened. “You want details?”
My teeth were clenched so tightly that I wasn’t sure I could open them to speak. I nodded.
“A Pap smear, okay?” she said.
No, he fucking didn’t. I moved past her, stalking toward the door. I hadn’t been told Drew was going to lay her on a goddamn table and open her legs.
“KING!” she cried out, and I paused, trying to get control of the rage rolling through me like a tidal wave.
She had set her glass down and was rushing after me. “Where are you going?” she asked.
“To kill a man,” I replied honestly.
She grabbed my arm so tightly that her nails bit into my skin. “NO! Who?”
My eyes dropped to her tiny hand that held on to my biceps as if she had the strength to stop me. “The doctor.”
“What?!”
I lifted my gaze back to hers, trying to will myself to calm down, but the image of her lying on a table with her legs open in front of him was fucking with my head.
“No man …” I said, holding her gaze. “NO MAN looks at or touches what is mine.”
The panic on her face was the only thing keeping me grounded.
“King, it is normal. Women go to the doctor. It’s for my health and to make sure I’m okay. I needed a checkup.”
I shoved my fingers in her curls and fisted the caramel locks in my hand. “Then, a woman doctor can do it.”
She let out a sigh and closed her eyes for a minute. The pale color was back, and I was torn between picking her up and carrying her up the stairs or going to find Doc D and ending his life.
“It’s fine. Maeme was there. He kept me covered with a gown. It was quick and over. Please, don’t go. I don’t want you to leave.”
Fuck. I took several deep breaths and kept my eyes on her as I fought off the need to murder. He’d still touched her. Been where no one belonged but me. I stood there, staring at her as she watched me, waiting for my next move.
Mine. I’d claimed her without thinking. Called her mine. I wanted to see Doc D bleed out because he had touched her. This wasn’t me, and it wasn’t like anything I’d experienced before. The painful grip on my chest, the insane possessiveness.
“Okay,” I said, knowing I couldn’t leave her after she begged me not to.
I wasn’t sure I could do anything she didn’t want me to do. That was … eye-opening.
Her grip on me eased, and she rubbed where she had been holding on to me so tightly. “Thank you.”
The tightness in my chest wasn’t letting go though.
Then, she laughed. A soft, musical sound that felt like a balm over the monster that had possessed me. Calming him.
“Why are you laughing?” I asked, unable to keep the smile from spreading across my face.
How was it that she controlled my mood?
“You were going to kill a doctor for giving me a much-needed checkup,” she said, then shook her head. “You’re crazy.”
Her color was back. The rest of the tension inside me eased. She was okay.
“I thought you’d already established that,” I said. “Last night.”
She laughed again and then gave me the sweetest fucking smile in the world. “Yes, I guess I did.”
Backing her up until her back hit the wall, I caged her in. “I’m gonna need to make sure I stake my claim now. Remind you who you belong to.”
She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. I reached up and tugged it free before lowering my head and covering those full, pouty lips with mine.
• Seventeen •
Y’all might come in different wrapping, but inside, you’re all the same. Smart, calculating, and you wield your pussy like a weapon.
Rumor
She was the first girl he’d tied up and whipped. That kept replaying in my head.
Even with his arm around me as he slept, I stared at the wall, unable to do the same. He would be leaving with her in two days, and since yesterday, when I’d overheard Thatcher talking about Scotlin being King’s first and him not being able to keep his dick out of her, I had felt dread slowly seeping in.