Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22390 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22390 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
Again he opens my door for me, and again he takes my hand and helps me step out of the car. The buzzing in my stomach has turned into butterflies as he pulls me through the front door into his home.
My heels clack on the marble of the enormous foyer. I look up to see an enormous crystal chandelier overhead, lit by countless candles.
“Impressive.” I nod, spinning as I look up and doing my best not to lose my balance.
“Not bad, right?” Blake asks.
“You’ve really set this place up to be a chick magnet,” I tease.
“I told you, Anna,” he says, his face firm. “I don’t do this with women.”
“Just me?” I ask. Part of me doesn’t believe him at all, but part of me wants to desperately.
“Just you,” he says with a smile.
He steps closer, this time the sound of his shoes echoing across the foyer, until he reaches out and takes my waist in his hands. He really is strong. I feel like I couldn’t go anywhere with this grip around me.
He drags his eyes down my body without shame, taking in every inch of me. “You know what I love about this dress?”
“What?”
“The fact that I bought it for you,” he replies. “Which means that I get to take it off you.”
His words shock me. There’s no question what he wants right now—what he brought me here to do; he wants to take my virginity.
I immediately start trembling. Am I afraid? No. Blake has done a good job making me feel safe. It’s something else going on inside me.
Excitement.
I’m actually excited about this, and I really shouldn’t be. Losing my virginity to a gangster? To the gangster? That’s crazy talk, and I should be looking for a way to get the hell out of here.
But that’s not what I’m looking to do. In fact, I’m thinking different thoughts entirely right now. Like how I feel when I’m with him and how it would feel to be by his side forever.
Safe. Protected. Cared for.
I’ve never felt that way before in my life. Not truly. But in the brief time I’ve known Blake, he’s made me truly feel this way. And I know he may not be a saint, but if it takes a devil to touch my heart, well then, I guess I’ll take the devil.
“Anna.” Blake’s voice nearly startles me as he speaks. I’ve been daydreaming—probably looking off into space like an idiot.
“Sorry!” I blurt out. “Yes?”
“I can’t hold back any longer.”
“Hold back?” I’m really starting to tremble now. There’s no way he doesn’t feel it.
“I have to kiss you,” he says. He’s so sexy. Even his voice is sexy. “If I don’t, I’m going to go crazy.”
9
Anna
Blake moves closer. I swallow hard as his lips approach mine. I can feel the heat from his muscled body and the strength from his hands as he holds me.
This is not how I thought this was going to go.
And then his lips meet mine. My first kiss. With the most feared gangster of the city.
My heart rate increases again. I should be shaking with fear, but I’m not. I’m actually excited, wondering what he’ll do next.
His kiss is passionate—almost sweet. Who would have thought this man would have a gentle side to him? He pulls back, and I find myself looking up into his eyes once more.
“That was incredible, Anna,” he says, his voice low.
Just my kiss? The butterflies in my stomach storm into a vortex like a tornado, causing me to go all giddy inside.
“R-really?” I stammer.
“Oh, yes.” Blake nods, looking at me like a hungry wolf. “You do things to me inside, Anna.”
“I do?”
“Yes,” he says, the slightest smile on his lips. “Now come with me.”
He takes my hand and leads me across the foyer toward the stairs. As we walk together like this, a silly thought comes to my mind. And for some reason, instead of just keeping it to myself, I voice it.
“This reminds me of that scene in Beauty and the Beast. Where they dance, you know?”
I feel stupid as soon as I’ve said it of course, but Blake actually looks at me and chuckles. “You know, that’s actually not too far off. You are a beauty, Anna. And many would describe me as a beast. Or maybe a monster.”
Well, that’s for sure. And I should be afraid of this man, but he’s got me seeing only the good sides of him—the sides of him I guarantee the rest of the world doesn’t even know exist.
He leads me up the enormous staircase and takes a right. There’s an enormous door at the end of the hall with a thumbprint scanner on the wall. He presses it, and the door opens to the most gorgeous bedroom I’ve ever seen in my life.
There is a canopy bed at the center of the room, and surrounded by it are tables of candles which have already been lit. On the wall closest to us is a fireplace, which Blake lights with the simple touch of a remote that he picks up from the mantle near him. And the opposite wall is all glass that looks out onto a massive landscaped garden that I bet looks beautiful by daylight.