Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 56378 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 282(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56378 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 282(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
“Nothing,” he says. “Just lie here with you. Just be with you. What time do you need to go home?”
“I texted Mom earlier and told her I’d be staying at Lilly’s. So I can be here all night. In the guestroom. Or maybe…”
He looks up at me, his eyes burning with green, hungry fire. I’ve never felt so wanted, so desired. I never knew a woman could even feel this way. “Technically, I’m still your uncle,” he murmurs. “Dominic’s man works fast… but not that fast.”
“Technically,” I say. “That’s an interesting word. To me, it might as well mean, ‘not really.’ You and Aunt Lucy were never together.”
“My life is one of titles. Uncle, Savior, Nightmare, Barbarian.”
“You don’t have to be any of those,” I tell him. “Tonight, you can just be with me.”
“I can think of some other titles,” he says. “Lover, boyfriend, husband. Father.” His tone gets wistful. “I know I’m rushing ahead. But the world doesn’t seem so dark when I think of myself with those labels.”
I lean down and kiss him on the lips. He groans and sits up, pulling me closer, kissing me passionately—heat blossoms between us.
“What about my nicknames, huh? I can’t just have angel.”
“Lover, girlfriend, wife. Mo…”
I kiss him before he can say, Mother. I know why he needs to talk like this. He wants to imagine a future far brighter than the present, a world where he can be normal. I can’t let him say it, though. I can’t commit to that. Even committing to the other stuff is something I’m not sure about.
“Okay, then,” he says, his warm breath tickling over me. “What about Snapshot, my perfect photographer? That’s what you gave me when I first saw you—a snapshot of what my life could be.”
I put my hand on his chest. His heart has never pounded so hard. He’s clearly still in fight-or-flight mode from what he’s had to do tonight. “Snapshot sounds perfect.”
“Let’s go to bed,” he says. “Don’t worry. I won’t pounce on you. I just want to hold you. When I take your virginity, it won’t be with this shadow hanging over us.”
I try to hide my natural response—unfair hurt. Doesn’t he want me? He’s been through so much tonight. It’s not fair for me to expect anything. But I feel closer to him than I ever have before. He’s crossed a line for me and Aunt Lucy. Nobody but my savior ever would.
“I want to be held by you,” I whisper, standing and taking his hand.
CHAPTER 24
NICO
Iwasn’t being totally honest with Arriana before.
I told her I just wanted to hold her, but that was only because of the way she was looking at me. I’m not even sure she realized there were flecks of fear in her gorgeous eyes, a tic of terror in her perfect lips.
Lying awake, I cradle her, sliding my hand through her hair. She breathes softly. Lying like this with her, with her warmth pressed against me and the shape of her mounds tempting me through her shirt. I can almost forget. She’s taken off her bra. For comfort, I guess but it’s driving me wild.
When I close my eyes, I see the events of tonight. I hear their screams. They were terrible men. Dominic proved it at the end by saying all those twisted things about Lucy. She’s been through a lot for me, my best friend, risking everything so I could be with her niece.
I kiss Arria’s forehead. She moans sleepily and wriggles closer to me, her hand resting sleepily on my bare chest. A tickle of tension moves up my rod, stiffening me and awakening my desire.
Opening my eyes, I look down at her hair across the pillows. It’s so much better than confronting the shadows inside. When I’m with her, the past, the future, nothing and nobody else exists. She’s exactly what I called her earlier—my Snapshot, making the bright light of the camera, the moment, the only relevant thing.
Tomorrow, disaster might strike. Perhaps someone witnessed my disposal of the bodies. Her father might make her choose between her family and our relationship. She could disappear on her travels, somewhere without cell service, where we can’t coax our flames with texting.
Tonight, somehow, miraculously, everything is perfect… with her.
I went overboard when we were in the living room together. She recoiled slightly when I called myself ‘husband’ and ‘father.’ She doesn’t want to commit to something so drastic, so quickly. I’m not sure I want to, either. It’s been a high-stress night, to put it mildly. But when I said it, it felt real. I felt sure. I can’t deny that.
She wriggles against me, her hand sliding over my stomach. Every nerve in me blazes with desire. My arousal aches as she slides her tempting touch over my abs. My cock, unlike my mind, isn’t confused about anything that happens between us. Lust surges through me.