Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 154037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 770(@200wpm)___ 616(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 770(@200wpm)___ 616(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
I piled food onto our plates, and she grabbed the silverware and our drinks before we headed out the door.
Raven let go of a tiny moan as we stepped out into the late afternoon light. I tried not to equate it to the same sounds she’d been emitting last night.
Hard as fuck, but somehow I kept it tamped and instead focused on the streams of sunlight that blazed through the spiked tops of the trees, painting the sky in blazing pinks and oranges. In the break of the woods, the lake was visible low in the distance.
There was a little round table set up in the perfect spot to take it all in, and we each took a seat.
Raven sighed as she looked out over the view. “I don’t think I’ll ever get over this place, Otto. It has to be the most gorgeous land in all of Moonlit Ridge.”
“That’s what you said then, too.”
A soft smile edged that delicious mouth as she took a sip of her wine. “You remember?”
My brow pulled into a disbelieving frown. “How could I forget? You standing basically in that very spot with your arms hugging your chest as you gazed out on the lake. You looked at me and said, This is it.”
If it was it for her, then it was it for me.
Redness flushed her cheeks. “I didn’t mean to sway your decision.”
It was times like these when Raven would get modest. Like she didn’t know the effect she had on me. The influence. Like she didn’t get that she could ask anything of me, and it was done.
Still, I let playfulness ride into my expression. “You didn’t mean to sway my decision? Don’t act like you wouldn’t have pouted and stamped those cute little feet if you didn’t get your way.”
Amusement danced across that stunning face, and it twisted my stomach in a knot of greed. “What can I say? I just have really good taste, and I wouldn’t have wanted you to make any mistakes by purchasing different land. It would have been a tragedy.”
A light chuckle rolled out of me. “Definitely a tragedy.”
“Which is why you should always listen to me. My advice is impeccable.”
“That so, huh?”
“Oh yeah,” she said right before she took a bite of her chicken marsala. She groaned. The sound went straight to my dick.
My mouth watered and it didn’t have a thing to do with the food.
I leaned over and took a bite like it might cover the reaction. Like it would actually suffice. Like it could stand the chance of sating the desire that thundered through my veins.
That damn vision still right there, bubbling right under the surface, ready to erupt and take over.
“As far as I’m concerned, you can do no wrong, Raven Tayte. So, you just keep giving me all the friendly advice, and I’ll keep right on taking it.”
She dipped her face like she didn’t want me to see whatever ideas played through her eyes. A blush striking her cheeks. Fuck. Didn’t think I’d seen Raven act shy in a long, long time, and I knew immediately where her thoughts had gone.
She was right back in that room with me watching down on her as she fucked herself with that toy.
I cleared my throat, doing my best to suppress it.
I took a sip of my wine since apparently she’d made me fancy like that, and I eyed her over the glass as I searched for a change of topic that would keep us in a safe zone. “Any progress on the apartment hunting?”
Frustration filled her sigh. “Not really. There was one place on the far end of Culberry Street, but the bathroom was so small I could barely stand in the shower, let alone find a way to shave my legs. It was not going to work.”
And there I went, out of bounds, my mind racing right back to the obscene.
Apparently, no subject was safe when it came to her.
My jaw clenched as I fisted the stem of the glass a little too hard.
Discomfort pinched her face.
Shit. She thought I wanted her to leave. Thought I was itching in my chair due to entirely different factors than what really had me shifting in discomfort.
“I’m sorry it’s taking so long. I really am trying to find a place,” she said.
I reached over the table and set my hand on her forearm. Fire licked at the connection. “Told you, you’re welcome here for as long as you want.”
She narrowed that raven gaze, the darkened depths sparking like diamonds beneath the glittering rays of the sun. “I think you’re just being nice, Otto Hudson. What man wouldn’t want to sleep in his own bed at night?”
A groan got free.
Fuck me, she was trying to destroy me, words right there on the tip of my tongue, treacherous ones stating that I definitely wanted to sleep in my bed, but I wanted to keep her in it while I did.