Total pages in book: 204
Estimated words: 193115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 966(@200wpm)___ 772(@250wpm)___ 644(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 193115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 966(@200wpm)___ 772(@250wpm)___ 644(@300wpm)
“No.” She’s looking at me like I’ve lost my mind. I haven’t. But if she doesn’t wear this jumper, I might. There’s no way I can leave here while she’s looking like that. No way. I push it forward with a warning look that I know she’ll ignore. “Put the jumper on.”
“No.” She swipes it from my hand and chucks it on the bed, and I watch as it lands, munching on my lip, wondering how the fuck I’ll get her in that jumper. It doesn’t even need to be the jumper. A robe will do, but since she’s being so fucking unreasonable about it, it has to be the jumper.
I turn my narrowed eyes onto her, and the face on her, the challenging, defiant, annoyed face, only makes me more determined. She’ll learn, just as I’m learning. It’s time for us to find out what happens on zero.
“Three,” I say, loud and proud, watching in nothing but delight as her mouth falls open.
“Are you winding me up?”
No, baby. Not at all. “Two.”
“I’m not putting the jumper on.” She laughs, though it’s nervous. Because she knows what’s coming.
“One.” I’ve never met such a willful, difficult woman in all my life, and I doubt I ever will. But she’s my willful, difficult woman. And I love her.
“Do what you like, Jesse,” she goads. “I’m not putting that jumper on.”
Wrong. “Zero.”
She stares at me, straining to appear strong, but she’s unable to conceal her uncertainty. Oh, this is fun. I shake my head at her, breathing in, and I watch as her body engages, ready to bolt. I move fast, and she’s off on a yelp, diving across the bed. I laugh and grab her ankle, dragging her back to me.
“Jesse,” she yells as I spin her over, climbing on top of her and pinning her down. “Get off.” Her hair is in her face, hampering her view, and I just manage to wipe my shit-eating grin away when she blows it away, using her last scrap of breath.
“Let’s clear something up.” I shrug myself out of my jacket, giving me more unrestricted movement in preparation. It takes everything in me to keep my amusement at bay. She looks like she could punch me in the face and take the greatest of pleasure from it. I grab the cream jumper and hold it up. “If you do what you’re told, our lives will be a lot easier.” Her jaw is about ready to snap. “All of this”—I squeeze each nipple in turn, but she doesn’t flinch or buck or yell— “is for my eyes only.” She’s playing a dangerous game, because the more she tries to demonstrate power, the more I’ll prove otherwise. But, make no mistake, she holds all the cards here. Not that I’ll ever admit it. I grab her hip and dig my fingers in.
“No! Please, no.” Her yells turn into laughter, and it’s such a sight to behold. It’s also an opportunity. I use my free hand to start feeding her arms through the jumper, constantly tickling her, using her flailing limbs and uncoordinated moves to my advantage. She throws her arm out, I get one sleeve on. She tries to hit me with the other, I seize her hand and get the other sleeve on. I have another dig of her hip, and her head flies up on a cry. I slip the neck of the jumper over her head and yank it down her body.
Done.
“That’s better.” I admire my work. She looks adorable in wool. I lean down and move her hair from her face, waiting for her to find me. She’s knackered. Out of breath and sweaty. Beautiful. I give her a hard kiss. “You could have saved us both a lot of trouble if you’d have just put . . . the . . . fucking . . . jumper . . . on.” But I can’t deny how much fun that was. And how much I needed to simply laugh. Wonderful, infuriating woman.
I get up and slip my jacket on while she searches for breath, pulling herself up. She looks down her body. Growls like a tiger. A death stare. How I manage to restrain my smile, I’ll never know.
“I’ll just take it off,” she declares fiercely.
My amusement can no longer be hidden. “No, you won’t.” She’ll sleep in it all night and remember our amazing lovemaking, how the jumper got on her body, and who has the power. She stamps out of the room as I fix my tie, my smiling eyes following her.
“You’re an unreasonable arse.” The door to the bathroom is slammed with such force, the house shakes. Me? Unreasonable? After everything she’s put me through, I’m the unreasonable one? I laugh but stop the moment my eyes land on her mobile, wondering what ringtone I’ll give myself today. I smile as I change it and make my way to the kitchen, finding Kate and Sam all over each other.