Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 89331 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89331 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 447(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 298(@300wpm)
I move harder, grinding against him, reveling in the way he grips my body, in the sounds he’s making.
“You feel so good,” he groans. “So fucking good.”
He thrusts inside me, and I rock my hips down to meet him, needing every inch of him. “Fuck, that’s it,” he whispers, his hands on my hips, guiding me.
“Harder, Eros, please,” I plead. He gives me what I want, and we fuck each other hard and fast, the intensity of what we feel exuding between us.
The harder I grip him, the harder he thrusts back. He begins to quiver, and I know he’s getting close.
“Come for me again, baby girl.” His voice is low and seductive. “I want to feel you coat my dick with your cream.” His words are my undoing, and my body tighten as I come once more. He groans as he releases, his body shuddering against me.
He stays inside me as I collapse against his chest, both of us breathing hard. We lie there, wrapped in each other’s arms, not talking, just savoring the moment.
His lips are at my neck, and I shiver. “Perfect. Just perfect.”
He wraps the blankets around us, his arms tight around me. I feel safe and protected, like nothing could ever hurt me again.
“Are you ready to tell me what’s wrong, Athena?”
I shake my head, but he grabs my chin and looks into my eyes.
“Baby, what just happened between you and me changes everything. You are mine now. Something primal, animalistic and raw surged through me. I have one goal from now on. You. I will keep you safe. I will take care of you. But to do that, I need to know who I need to make suffer.”
In a moment of weakness I crack, the tears flow. I tell him how I don’t give a fuck about the money anymore. I wasn’t even planning on keeping it. I had planned to use it to honor my mother’s memory. After reading her diary, I thought it was loneliness and neglect that killed her, but now there is evidence saying she could have been killed. I’m pacing the room like a caged tiger, blurting out everything, rarely taking the time to take a breath.
“Your father?” Eros asks, his voice shaking. I look into his eyes, and I can see his heart is breaking, too. He loved my mother.
“No, my P.I. thinks it was one of you.”
“He’s wrong.” Eros pulls my head back down to his chest, sweeps me off my feet, and sits on the bed with me curled on his chest. “We would never hurt her.”
“She got these letters threatening her, demanding money,” I explain. “My father doesn’t need money from her. He was the only one from her past that knew she was still alive.”
“You don’t know that. Maybe he made a bad investment, or there was a revenge plot for everything the Godwin family has done to their enemies,” he tries to explain.
I shake my head. “No. Absolutely no one knew she was alive. Everyone, including her children, thought she jumped off a cliff and died. Yes, many questioned if she really jumped or if, in fact, she was pushed off the cliff. But regardless, she was dead,” I explained.
“So, it wasn’t your father.” He sighs. “But that doesn’t mean—”
“Doesn’t it?” I grab my phone and show him the picture the P.I. sent me of one of the letters. I can see the moment Eros realizes it’s true.
“Fuck.” His eyes are wide, and his face grows pale. “It can’t be.”
“It is. Who did this?”
He just shakes his head.
“Eros, who took my mother from us?”
“I don’t know,” he says, barely above a whisper. “But we will find out.”
“How?” I ask.
“When do invites for the next event go out?” he asks.
“Tomorrow. Why?”
His face breaks into a smile that would be scary if it wasn’t so fucking hot. “Don’t send them. Only send them to Freya’s boys. We are going to catch ourselves a rat.”
Chapter
Twenty-Three
Eros
Athena is asleep, still naked and cuddled in my arms, and I can’t bring myself to move and risk waking her. Normally, I would be out the door with my pants still at my ankles minutes after my partner has come, but it’s different with Athena. It’s more than just sex. It’s having her trust me enough to turn to me when her heart is broken and then give me something she has fiercely guarded her entire life. Athena giving me her body means something. Though I didn’t take her virginity, I know she has given me her heart and soul. She gave it to me.
Who knows? Maybe I’ve earned it.
Which isn’t something I ever cared to do before with another woman.
I am falling for Athena Godwin, and there is nothing I won’t do to keep her safe or make her happy. Nothing. I won’t even stay loyal to my found brothers if it means hurting Athena.