Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 135378 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135378 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
She stands with an axe in each hand, then inspects the round shield hanging on the wall. “There are pegs on the shield like maybe it could hold something.”
I don’t say anything, just watch as she tries a couple of different ways and finally fits an axe on the pegs on each side to form a V across the shield.
A magnetic click sounds as the connected lock disengages and a key falls out of a chute hidden in the knotted wood wall.
Gasping with excitement, she holds up the key and turns to show me. “I found it! I found the key to the next room!”
Her excitement is adorable.
She runs over and uses the key to unlock the next room.
This one’s the storeroom. Now that she has more of an idea of what she’s supposed to do, she opens the chest to search for items, presses on a round carving in the wall, and lifts the fur rug on the floor, providing me with a lovely view of her ass bent over in those little jean shorts.
Eventually, she gets to the clue—letters carved into the lamps that, if opened and read together, give the combination to the lock on the door.
In no time at all, we’re in the third room.
The third room is neat. It has a bench to lounge on while I watch her search, a mural of cliffs and water painted on the wall as if we live by the sea.
“Why don’t you like kissing?”
Perhaps surprised by my question or the casual ease with which I asked it, she answers guardedly. “What makes you think I don’t like kissing?”
I smile faintly and look over at her. “You begged me not to kiss you.”
Her cheeks turn pink. “I don’t think I begged. Maybe politely requested.”
I can’t help but laugh. “Fine. You politely requested that I didn’t kiss you with the tremoring fear of a virgin right before her first fuck.”
Her cheeks flame even more, and she looks away from me. “Did it ever occur to you that maybe I just didn’t want to kiss you?”
“No,” I answer honestly.
She rolls her eyes. “I see your ego is immense.”
I smirk. “It is, but that’s not why. I’m not the only person you’ve been tentative with tonight. I’ve been watching you all evening. You’re as apprehensive with everyone.”
“Maybe I don’t want to kiss anyone,” she says, but I can tell she knows her argument has lost weight.
“If you don’t want to kiss anyone, it stands to reason you don’t like kissing.”
Sighing, she shoots me an annoyed look. “If you’re not going to help us get out of here, could you at least stop distracting me?”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Is that any way to speak to your master?”
“You have more audacity than any man I’ve ever met, and believe me, that’s saying something.”
Her comment stirs my curiosity. She has the feel of prey that’s been caught in a snare before but managed to escape. That’s why she tries to manage me instead of telling me to fuck off when I take liberties I have no right to. A woman who has never been prey wouldn’t have jumped so quickly to a soft, “Please don’t,” when encountering the danger I presented.
And then there was that near panic attack.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” I ask, even though I’m sure she doesn’t.
“Shouldn’t you have asked that before kissing me senseless in the hall?” she murmurs primly.
A helpless grin splits my face. “Kissing you senseless, huh?”
She knows I’m just fucking with her, but she still flushes. “I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.”
“What if I do have a boyfriend?” she asks.
“Then I’ll have to get rid of him.”
“Even if I love him?”
“Especially if you love him.”
She catches her bottom lip between her teeth, but the expression on her face is unreadable. “No, I don’t have a boyfriend.” Suddenly, her eyes widen with horror. “Oh god. You don’t have a girlfriend, do you?”
Smirking faintly, I shake my head.
She breathes a sigh of relief. Probably because she didn’t want to make out with someone else’s boyfriend, but maybe a little bit because she senses that I’d make her mine regardless, and she’s not up for all that drama.
Her instincts about me haven’t been terrible so far.
“When I see something I want, I take it,” I say to confirm her suspicions. “Doesn’t matter what’s in the way.”
“That’s hardly reassuring,” she murmurs.
“I’m not trying to reassure you.”
“Then what are you trying to do?”
I shrug. “Just being honest with you.”
She looks back at me over her shoulder. “Why do I feel like that’s a privilege you don’t always offer people?”
I smile. “Because you have very good instincts.”
She doesn’t smile back. “Why me?” she asks soberly.
“Just feel like seeing how it goes. Now, tell me about this other guy.”
A frown flickers across her face. I catch sight of it before she focuses her attention on searching for clues, but really, she just wants to avoid my gaze. “I told you, there’s no guy. I don’t have a boyfriend.”