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)
“Hey,” she yelps, covering her boob. “I need to take my grips out. They’re digging into my head.” She slips one between her teeth and starts feeling at her head again. I have an overwhelming urge to help her, so I sit up, taking the grip from between her teeth with mine and spitting it out. Now, back to the boobs. I hold her around her back and haul her onto my face, closing my eyes in bliss. I could stay here with her soft, warm skin all over my face forever. But . . . hairgrips. I begrudgingly pull out and give each nipple a peck before turning her around on my lap, letting her settle between my bent legs.
“Let me.” I start feeling through her hair, pulling out the little metal things one by one, locks of her hair tumbling down with each grip I remove. “How many have you got in here?” I ask, dropping another into her palm.
“A few. I have a lot of hair to keep up.”
“A few hundred?” I ask on a light laugh, finding more and more. I massage her scalp, ensuring I’ve caught every one. “There, I think I got them all.” I relieve her of the grips, leaning over to place them on the nightstand, and then pull her back to my front, encasing her completely in my arms, ensuring she can’t go anywhere. Her hands land on my shins and start stroking, her head limp against my shoulder. God, I love how she touches me. Her breathing pattern has changed. She’s tired, but she still strokes me, and it makes me realize that it’s been years since I’ve been touched with such gentleness and care. It’s not a touch to incite sex, just gentle movements.
“How old are you?” she asks sleepily, and I laugh softly, wondering if she will ever let this go. Probably not. The fact she’s asked twice in an hour is evidence that it’s playing on her mind. And that hurts. It really does matter.
“Twenty-three,” I reply quietly, running my hand through her hair, the silky, soft strands slipping through my fingers easily. I look down at the back of her head, swallowing, breathing in, trying not to think it.
But it’s inevitable.
I’m terrified she’s going to slip through my fingers. Walk away and take everything I’ve always craved with her.
Peace. Calm. Serenity.
Please don’t walk away.
I reach down and pull the covers up over her waist before wrapping myself around her again, my nose finding its place in the crook of her neck.
And I decide here and now, with her warm in my arms, I need to do everything in my power to guarantee she doesn’t slip through my fingers.
12
I’ve woken up with plenty of women in my bed. I’ve woken up and cringed my way from under the covers. I’ve woken up and mentally shot my brain out. I’ve woken up and been desperate to get out into the fresh air to clear my head.
But I have never woken up with a woman in my arms. I’ve never woken up and immediately smiled. I’ve never woken up and thought fuck it to my morning run. Actually, I’ve never woken up and not felt like I needed to run.
This. Is. Unprecedented.
She’s still, peaceful. I’m peaceful with her.
Bliss.
But then I feel her shift, and my arms lock down of their own volition. “Don’t even think about it, lady,” I mumble. I’m not moving, not for a long while, and neither is she.
“I need to use the bathroom.”
“Tough,” I grunt, probably unreasonably. But this is so nice. “Hold on to it. I’m comfy.”
“I can’t,” she says, somewhere between laughter and exasperation, trying to pry my arms from around her.
I shrug her hands away with ease. I’ll always win. She needs to get used to that. Especially when she is the prize. “I’m not letting go of you.” Not ever.
Sensibly, she relents, and I smile on the inside, placing a kiss on her cheek before relaxing back again, my eyes closing. I could stay here all day. This is unbelievably amazing, just . . . being, but I feel her body solidify. She’s going to try and escape me again? When will this woman learn? I move fast, spinning her onto her back, kneeing her thighs apart, and nailing her wrists to the bed.
Job.
Done.
Well, almost.
I push my groin into her, feeling the corners of my lips twitching. She’s breathless. Staring up at me in wonder. One touch and she’s mine. I mentally file that knowledge away and get down to the business of maintaining our bliss, as well as keeping Ava in her blindsided frame of mind. I’m lacking many things as a man—we won’t go into details—but one thing I have on my side is my talent in bed, and I will wield that power to my advantage when I need to, no apologies. Like now when she needs to pee. She’ll soon forget that.