Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 94513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
“You screamed his name. More than once,” he said, not turning to look at me.
I didn’t remember screaming any name in my dream. Just the running and then seeing … I tried to block that image out.
“I won’t go back to sleep,” I told him. “I’m sorry I woke you.”
He didn’t move. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he seemed focused on something outside the window. “You woke the entire house,” he finally said.
It wasn’t like I could control my nightmares.
“I’m going to leave. Your uncle, or whatever Linc is, was very nice to want to help me, but I was never meant to be in Crosby’s life. I know that now. He had other plans. I can find a job and somewhere to live. I have plenty of time before the baby comes.”
His head swung around to look at me. Even in the darkness, I could see his glower. “You’re not leaving. I thought I’d made that clear.”
This man and his attitude were wearing on me.
“You don’t want me here. Crosby never planned on me being in this part of his life. I don’t belong here.”
He said nothing for several seconds, then walked over to where I’d discarded the extra pillow and sat down with his back against the wall, using the pillow for padding behind his head and back.
“Go to sleep,” he said gruffly.
“What are you doing?”
He closed his eyes. “What the fuck does it look like? You need sleep. You’re pregnant. And I don’t want to run up and down the motherfucking stairs all night.”
Was he serious?
I tightened my hold on the covers. “I can’t sleep with you sitting there against the wall.”
Without opening his eyes, he replied, “Why don’t you shut up and try?”
He was really going to sit there like that.
“You can’t sleep like that,” I pointed out.
This time, he opened his eyes and turned his head in my direction. “Neither of us can with you continuing to talk.”
I sat there as he adjusted the pillow and closed his eyes again. Lowering myself back onto the bed, I was sure I’d not sleep a wink, but arguing with his stubborn ass was pointless.
At some point, I must have fallen asleep again. When I opened my eyes, the sun was streaming brightly into the room, and Bane was no longer sitting on the floor. I felt some relief. Talking to him this morning wasn’t at all appealing. It was a miracle I’d actually slept with him in here.
There wasn’t a clock in the room, so I didn’t know what time it was. I wanted a shower and something to drink. My mouth was dry. Finding the kitchen again might be a task, but I thought I could figure it out. If I got lost, I’d eventually make my way back to the stairs or run into one of the many men who lived here and get directions.
Getting up, I made the bed, then took the things I needed before going to the bathroom.
I had a bit of a learning curve with adjusting the hot and cold water, then turning the showerhead on, but I managed with some trial and error. The water pressure was powerful, and I took longer than I normally did.
Once I towel-dried my hair and dressed, I made my way to the stairs. Yesterday had been emotionally draining, but then so had the day before. It seemed each morning brought another layer of heartache. I wondered if Carina and the boys were thinking about me and if Nick had found them. Was he even going to try? With my thoughts on my family who had left me behind, I managed to remember the path I’d taken with Than last night to the kitchen.
I wasn’t hungry, but I knew I had to eat something. Pausing, I looked around. It was clean. All the food that had been out last night was gone, and the countertops were shiny. I wondered which one of them had taken the time to put everything away.
The fridge was three times bigger than the one we’d had at our rental house. I hadn’t realized they made refrigerators this big. Perhaps they needed one this size because so many males lived here. I touched the dark screen on the front, and it lit up, causing me to jerk my hand away. What the heck was that? It had the date, time, weather, a video of the outside of the front door, a photo of a beautiful black horse, and a television screen. Holy crap. Why did someone need all that on their fridge? What happened to magnets? Too basic for them?
Shaking my head, I muttered, “Rich people,” under my breath and opened the other side panel that didn’t have a high-tech screen lighting it up.
This wasn’t what I’d expected. Just like the surprisingly clean kitchen, this was shocking. Ares had never even taken his dishes to the sink, and most of the time, he’d forget to put the milk back in the fridge.