Total pages in book: 184
Estimated words: 188108 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 941(@200wpm)___ 752(@250wpm)___ 627(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 188108 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 941(@200wpm)___ 752(@250wpm)___ 627(@300wpm)
“I guess so.”
“You’ll always be safe with us. And I can’t imagine us wanting you out of our sight.”
Her eyebrows rose and he realized what he’d just said.
And how possessive and controlling it sounded.
“Ahh. I probably shouldn’t have said that out loud.”
“Probably not,” she agreed. “I am going to have to go some places by myself eventually, you know.”
“Like where?”
“I don’t know. The gynecologist?”
“Why wouldn’t we go to the gynecologist with you?” he countered.
“You want to go with me?”
“Yes. Next appointment, let me know. I’ll go with you.”
“What if you’re working?”
“One of us will make ourselves free. Roman can always shuffle his schedule around. See? Where else would you need to go?”
“I, um, well, I’m sure there will be somewhere. I can protect myself.”
Nope. He still didn’t like that. But he didn’t say anything, because he really didn’t want her going anywhere alone.
He opened the door. “In you go.”
Curiosity filled her as she stepped into the punishment room.
Ominous name.
She glanced around, taking it all in. “Huh.”
“Something the matter?” Salem asked as he closed the door.
“Well, punishment room sounds so scary. Like there should be torture devices inside.”
“Torture devices?” he asked as he rolled up the sleeves of his shirt.
Wow.
He had the sexiest forearms. And his hands.
Man.
She could feel her body tingling in awareness as she stared at his hands.
“You okay there, Little one?” he asked, sounding amused.
What?
Oh crap. She was staring at his hands like a stalker instead of answering the question.
Wait . . . what was the question?
Dear Lord.
Was this going to be her downfall? Sexy arms?
“You thought that something called the punishment room would be filled with torture devices?” he reminded her.
“Oh yeah.” Right. That’s what she’d been talking about. She wandered around the room, touching the leather sofa against one wall, then the wooden chair facing the corner. Odd placement. Finally, she moved to the large cupboard.
“I was just expecting chains from the ceiling, maybe a rack, some power tools, even a bit of blood, you know?”
She turned to find him staring at her in surprise.
Was it something she’d said?
“You have an active imagination,” he told her. “What movies have you been watching? Or is it those books that you and Roman read? Maybe I should be paying closer attention.”
“Uh, no, those books don’t have anything like that.” She watched him carefully as he walked toward her. “Just an overactive imagination.”
“Hmm.” He cupped her chin, tilting her head back. “I don’t want you watching or reading anything that will give you nightmares.”
“I . . . I . . . won’t.” She swallowed heavily. When had anyone ever cared if she got nightmares?
Never.
Well, not that she could remember, anyway.
“If you have any nightmares, I want you to come to me, understand? You trust me to keep you safe, don’t you, Little one?”
She was entranced by him.
He should have been a hypnotist not an MI6 agent. Tamsyn swallowed heavily.
“Yes, Daddy.”
And she didn’t even have to fake the sincerity in her voice. That was the scary part.
Because she wanted to go to him with her nightmares . . . only she knew she wouldn’t.
Tamsyn would never want her nightmares to touch someone as amazing and wonderful as Salem. He didn’t deserve that.
None of them did.
“I don’t like the look on your face.”
“Sorry. Is this better?” She scrunched her face up and bared her teeth.
“Oh, much better.” He smiled and her heart melted more.
It was impossible not to fall for these guys. Not when they showed her day after day all the ways they would take care of her if she was theirs.
And she really, really wanted to be theirs.
“I can handle your nightmares, Little one,” he told her, rubbing his thumb over her cheek. “I promise you that. I can see you want to hold them all back, probably to protect me. But that’s not the way I work. My woman lets me protect her, understand?”
“You’re starting to sound like Alexei.”
“Hmm. Disturbing. But did you ever consider that perhaps Alexei is starting to sound like me?”
“That’s even more disturbing,” she said. “Because that means on the outside you look like a normal guy but on the inside you’re a living, breathing caveman.”
“Not sure I’d use the word caveman. But when I want something, I get it. And when something is mine, I protect it, I take care of it, and it does what I say.”
“It? I’m an it?”
His lips twitched. “No, you’re definitely my Little one, my Pet, my baby. Notice there was one word I said a lot there?”
“My.”
“Yep. Mine.”
“So what you’re saying is that you’re just as bad as Alexei, if not worse, but you just hide it better.”
“Now she gets it.”
“That’s disturbing.”
Leaning in, he kissed her.
And, oh boy, what a kiss. She didn’t know how he had the ability to make her melt in seconds, but he did.