Total pages in book: 206
Estimated words: 192184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 961(@200wpm)___ 769(@250wpm)___ 641(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 192184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 961(@200wpm)___ 769(@250wpm)___ 641(@300wpm)
I wanted this beautiful moment to be real. I wanted my life to be a life, not a life sentence. I wanted this man who would not hesitate to be a human shield to keep me safe from gunfire. I wanted this big, strong, beautiful man who would fight scary dudes with big guns because they tried to hurt me. I wanted to feel the safety of his arms, the insane pleasure his body was capable of giving me. I wanted to dance in the moonlight with fireflies; I wanted him to be mine.
I fell down into his arms and wrapped my limbs around him. He pulled me close to him, so close it felt like he was trying to absorb me.
His hands went under the shirt and gripped my bare back as he buried his head into my chest and just held me and let me hold him for what felt like a really long time. I rested my cheek on the top of his head and melted into him. After a while just staying like that, he lifted me up as he stood, like I weighed nothing, and I was about to wrap my legs tighter around his waist but he hoisted me over his shoulder, making me squeal in surprise. He tossed me onto the bed and then playfully pounced on me.
Then, he made love to me, tenderly, sweetly, his eyes liquid with unshed tears. When Tommy brought me to climax, I held onto him for dear life, wanting to freeze the beauty of that moment in time. I cried afterwards, a different kind of crying. A big cathartic release and he held me tight, caressing me. We were both shaking. It felt so real and so, so right.
Flickering light danced through the dim loft amid the sounds of crickets and frogs. And wow, the way he looked at me? He looked at me and touched me like I was the most precious thing to him. It was beautiful. I fell asleep wrapped around him, ready for possibilities, because feeling like this felt like a priceless gift.
I woke up alone. I sat up and looked around.
Birds chirped and there were other noises coming in via the still-opened doors. The sky seemed alive with noisy birds, butterflies, and the sun was beating through the screen with intensity. The bathroom door was closed. I knocked and there was no answer so I opened it, finding it empty, but with a steamed up mirror, meaning he’d very recently showered. I got out of his shirt and got into the shower, washing and shampooing with his all-in-one hair and body wash. I used his damp towel as it was all there was, then I put yesterday’s clothes back on, minus the underwear, which had a large rip straight up the back of them, rendering them an ass-less piece of scrap material.
I dashed down to get my pajama bag out of the Jeep from yesterday, figuring I could hand-wash my sleeping shorts and let them dry so I could use them as undies for now, but when I got down the stairs and out into the middle of the barn, no Jeep. The door was closed, but I wasn’t locked in. I frowned, but then remembered that the iPhone was in my jean skirt pocket.
I lifted it out and saw it was 9:25 am. I swiped over to contacts and there were just Tommy and his brother listed there. I dialed Tommy and it rang once but then went to voicemail, so I went back upstairs and sat down on the sofa, which was facing the doors, and watched out the back. The phone only had 19% power remaining and I didn’t have a charger, so it wouldn’t last for long.
I needed caffeine. And underwear! There was a fridge here and a sink and microwave but no stove, no coffee maker. No coffee supplies. I looked in the armoire and fridge. The fridge had the remnants of last night’s dinner, our untouched fruit salad, and some bottles of beer, bottles of water, a sports drink, and a vitamin water. The cupboard had some odds and ends, mostly. Some tools, a flashlight, lantern, lamp oil, bug repellant, guitar strings and picks, and a box of bullets. No coffee or tea or sugar). There were a few t-shirts of Tommy’s and a pair of jeans. There was also a half-eaten, but not closed properly box of Sugar Crisp. The clothes were all folded and clean-looking but no underwear. I’d have even settled for a pair of his right now.
I opened the vitamin water and then made the bed and then lay down, deciding to wait for him. What else could I do?
Two hours later he still hadn’t come back, and I’d spent enough time in my own head. I was about to wander outside just out of boredom but then I heard a car pull. I heard voices, so I walked down the stairs and peeked outside through a window in one of the stalls and saw that an older couple were standing in the gravel driveway right beside the barn (despite it being a few hundred feet from the road) looking at a map, and loudly discussing the right way to get to some town I hadn’t heard of.