Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 84065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
His arms wrap around me, and he drags me inside, kicking the door shut. I’m walked into a wall as a hand slides behind my neck, fingers into my hair where he grips tight.
Almost as if he’s afraid I’ll push him away again.
But I won’t.
His lips travel to my jaw, along my neck, and my fingers dig hard into his chest.
I’m spun around again, walked backward into the living room, and I’m somehow flat on my back on the couch with Stone stretched over me.
His leg wedged in between mine, his weight held up by his hand pressed into the cushion, he kisses me hard and deep and possessively. The kiss is so erotic, it lights something inside me I never knew I had.
Desperate to touch him, my hands snake under his sweater, roaming warm skin over hard muscles that jump under my fingers. Stone’s hand works at the button on my pants, and when I feel him tugging at the zipper, my hips lurch upward—a silent demand for him to get my clothes off.
But he halts and pulls his mouth from mine, staring at me, eyes sizzling with hunger. “Condoms.”
“Yes,” I huff breathlessly. “That would be good.”
Stone’s lips curl into a smile, but he shakes his head. “I mean, I don’t have any.”
“Well, I don’t have any,” I growl. “We need some now.”
“God, you’re fucking cute,” he says, bending back down and crushing his mouth to mine.
But it’s a swift kiss because he’s up and off me, and I’m left with my head spinning.
“I’ll run down to the pharmacy,” he says, nabbing his phone from the coffee table.
I scramble off the couch. “I’ll go with you.”
“You don’t have to,” he says. “Stay. Get naked.”
“No,” I insist, pulling my zipper up and buttoning my pants. I then smooth my hair and lift my chin. “We’re cohorts together in sex. I’ll make the illicit run with you.”
Stone laughs, shakes his head, and grabs my hand. “Then hurry up and let’s go.”
I can’t begin to process how his easy laugh touches me. Knowing how much this man has changed in just a few weeks, and all thanks to his brother’s journals.
We practically run out of the condo, holding hands down the stairs, and as soon as we step out onto the sidewalk, we realize the rain has restarted.
Neither one of us has a coat nor do we have an umbrella.
“Shit, that’s cold,” Stone says as he pulls me back under the awning that covers the main entrance.
“So what?” I exclaim, eager to buy the condoms so we can get back and get naked. “Let’s run. It’s only a block down.”
“And half a block over,” he points out. “Go back upstairs… I’ll go get them.”
I release his hand, step out into the cold rain, and hold my arms aloft while grinning. “Cohorts in sex, remember.”
Stone stares at me a moment, as if he doesn’t understand. I like that I confound him.
I think he needs that in his life.
Then he steps out into the rain.
Grabbing my hand, we start a brisk walk, almost a trot, staying as close to the other buildings and their awnings as we can.
“At least my hard-on will be gone by the time we get there,” Stone grumbles.
“I’ll get it back,” I promise him solemnly. “Don’t worry.”
And we both laugh as we run through the rain.
CHAPTER 20
Harlow
Condoms in hand—extra-large box—we race back to the condo, up the stairs, and when we reach Stone’s door, he pushes me against it and kisses me like a starved man. I’m soaked to the bone, and just seconds ago, I was so cold my teeth were chattering.
But the instant his mouth is on mine and his body presses into me, an inferno rages.
Lust, heat, desire. A deep yearning to get as close to him as possible.
I manage to rip my mouth from his and gasp, “My place.”
“Too far away,” he grumbles and kisses me again.
While I’m eager to get naked and learn this man inside and out, his kiss is so consuming that I want to drown in the pleasure of it.
When his mouth hits my neck, I gasp with need. “Odin.”
Stone’s head jerks up, and he looks at me with a cocked eyebrow. “You call out your dog’s name when I kiss your neck?”
Laughing, I shake my head. “I mean… if we’re going to do this, and I assume this is going to be an all-night, sleepover thing…” I stop a moment, consider what exactly this is. “Is this a sleepover thing?”
Crowding into me, Stone puts a hand at the side of my neck and dips his head close. “Once I’m in your bed, not sure I’m ever going to leave.”
Shivers run up my spine, having nothing to do with our cold, soaked clothes and everything to do with the promise of this being more than just physical attraction.