Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 57237 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57237 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
I shook my head unhurriedly. “I told you, little one. This is no laughing matter to me.”
He clenched his jaw. “You can’t call me that if you don’t fucking mean it, Payne.”
Yeah, he had to be mine. For however long he was interested. Because the second he got defensive, I wanted to be there and promise him I wasn’t going anywhere. He was terrified to trust, even more terrified to let himself believe. And I got it. It was soon. It’d been a twenty-four-hour whirlwind. But if we allowed ourselves to look at each other from a purely professional perspective…with years and years of learning how to profile and read people, he had to know as well as I did that whatever this was… We were at least worth a shot.
“I don’t say things I don’t mean, Danny.”
I wanted to throw caution to the wind. Go all in and see if we could spice up the months he’d be under my care. A year, maybe? Before he went off on his adventures.
“If you want me to keep my hands to myself, I will.” I was serious. The last thing I wanted to do was make him uncomfortable—in an unpleasant way. “If not…take a couple steps closer so I can see you.”
Danny wasn’t modest by any means either. He’d been standing stock-still because he hadn’t dared to take the next step on his own. I understood him. He struggled with feeling exposed emotionally.
He wasn’t standing stock-still anymore, though. He moved closer to the beach and shifted the soap south to wash his privates the moment they emerged from the water.
I planted my elbows on the armrests and pressed my knuckles against my lips.
He was too fucking beautiful. Sexy, stunning, all male, so much strength, abs I wanted to lick and come all over, and…beneath that hardened, scarred, tough exterior…was a boy who should be smiling all the time.
Danny gave me what I wanted. Time slowed down as he washed himself. We didn’t speak, and we didn’t look away from each other. I stared hungrily when he focused on his ass. It was all right that he didn’t turn around. I could do with some teasing too. For a few seconds.
I cleared my throat and rose from the chair. “Finish up.” Then I picked up his towel off the ground.
I wanted him out of the water before his lips turned blue.
His shudders were hard to miss.
He tossed the bar of soap onto the beach before he went under, and he shook himself like a dog. Too bloody cute. Those were the glimpses I wanted more of. Hell, all of them. Around me, he should be able to relax completely. That was my goal anyway.
He’d been brave in putting on a show for me, no matter how briefly. In his eyes, everyone was a potential threat. Someone who could hurt him and make him feel more alone.
We’d work on that.
I held up his towel as he came out of the water, his eyes revealing he was probably a little unnerved. Maybe he wondered what would happen next. I had no plan to make him wait.
Come to Daddy.
The second he was within reach, I used the towel to haul him against my body. Jesus, he was a popsicle. I wrapped him up tightly in the fabric, then dipped down and captured his mouth with mine. He shook and shivered, to the point where I got worried. His soft lips were a little cold too. But he didn’t seem to care about the towel. He sucked in a quick breath and threw his arms around my neck, and I caught the towel right before it could fall to the ground.
We deepened the kiss at the same time, our tongues meeting teasingly, gently, as I covered him with the towel and hugged him hard.
“We gotta get you warm.”
“I’m feelin’ warmer already. We’ve been through worse.”
Right. Always fun with hypothermia exploration in Alaska, but those were different circumstances.
I couldn’t bear to focus on anything other than kissing him, though. Besides, we were in the sun. Nothing should warm him up faster, right? The sun and my body heat. I tightened my hold further and withheld a groan. He felt so goddamn good against me. He clung to me as if his life depended on it, and his kisses were too intoxicating. Slow, seductive motions with his tongue, needy little sounds…
I cupped his face in my hands and managed to slow things down a bit. Reluctantly. But it would do me no good to rush this. Danny wasn’t a one-nighter I brought back to my hotel room, nor was he a community member I planned on having a quick scene with.
I swept my tongue alongside his and brushed my thumbs over his soft jaw.
He shivered, his breaths coming out in quick puffs against my lips.