Total pages in book: 235
Estimated words: 224334 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1122(@200wpm)___ 897(@250wpm)___ 748(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 224334 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1122(@200wpm)___ 897(@250wpm)___ 748(@300wpm)
Her mouth opens, closes, opens again, yet no words come out, but her hand appears, and that confuses the fuck out of me. Until I see the ring. The ring? Is she kidding me? All this over a little diamond? “You found it then?” I sigh, my heart settling to a less dangerous pace. “You took your bloody time. Jesus, Ava. I had a thousand heart attacks.” She looks at me like I’ve just landed from Mars as I kiss her hand, smiling up at her. “Do you like it?”
“Oh God.” She looks down at the sparkling gem, then gasps, reaching for her neck.
“It’s in the safe,” I say quickly, seeing panic flare. I bring her hand back down. “Tell me,” I push. “Do you like it?”
Ava shakes her head, frowning. It’s not a no. It’s disbelief. “You know I do.” She admires it for a moment, and my heart sings with joy. She loves it. It’s hard not to, really. “Wait there a minute,” she says. “When did you put this on my finger?”
“Right after I cuffed you.”
“That’s rather confident of you.”
“A man can be optimistic.”
“You call it optimistic; I call it pigheadedness.”
I am many things, but I am not pigheaded. Quite the opposite in fact, but if it makes her happy . . . “You can call it whatever the fuck you like,” I say, claiming her and taking her to the bathroom floor. “She said yes.” I get her on her back and lose myself in her naked chest, wriggling my face, like some fifteen-year-old virgin who’s just encountered his first pair of tits.
“Stop!” She giggles, making no attempt to stop me at all.
“No. I’m marking you.” I suck her flesh into my mouth and peek up at her, seeing a woman in her element, calm and relaxed. Happy. I smile around my mouthful of boob and get back to my task, sucking the blood to the surface of her skin. And she lets me. It’s beautiful. “There.” I release her and check the perfect dark circle. “Now we match.”
“Happy?”
“I am.” On cloud nine. “You?”
Her smile lights up my world. “Delighted.”
“Good, my work here is done. Next job, feed my temptress. Up you get.” I stand and get her off the floor. “Are you coming down anytime soon?”
“I’ll be five minutes . . . ish.”
“Ish,” I whisper, nipping her ear and smacking her bum. “Be quick.” I’m looking forward to being stuck to her for the rest of the weekend. No interruptions, no outside forces infiltrating our bubble, nothing.
I’m smiling again as I head down the stairs, but my contentment is short-lived when I arrive back at the island, my stomach dropping when I’m greeted with a text message from Mikael. “Fuck,” I whisper, reading Van Der Haus’s words—a reply to yesterday’s barrage of warnings I left on his voicemail.
Now why would I do that?
Fuck.
38
I swallow, looking at the ceiling. Why should he back off? “Because I’ll be up for fucking murder if you don’t,” I growl, forgetting myself for a moment, looking over my shoulder. “Shit.” I drop my phone on the counter, losing my face in my hands. The anger is brewing. I’m keeping a lid on it, and it’s an effort, but if I release the pressure, I’m going to fucking explode, and I can’t have that while Ava’s around.
I swipe up my mobile and stalk into the laundry room, releasing a suppressed yell the moment the door’s closed behind me. “Fuck,” I hiss, my fist balling, crushing my mobile in my hand. I read the message again, like it could have morphed into a different message. Anything non-threatening. Anything that’ll lessen the fury.
Nope.
He's still telling me that he’s about to ruin me. Ruin Ava. Ruin us.
I rest against the washing machine, concentrating on getting my temper under control before Ava comes down and detects something’s wrong. Sweeping a stressed hand through my hair, I check the time as my mobile rings in my hand. Sam. I take a few needed, calming breaths and answer as I leave the laundry room, going to the fridge and plucking my peanut butter from the shelf before settling back on the stool.
“Worst thing I’ve ever done,” he says, sounding fraught. It brings a small smile to my face, my own woes lifting for a moment to listen to Sam’s.
“So you did actually do it?” I ask. Interesting. I was putting my money on it being halted before Drew had a chance to make Kate privy to his famous piercing.
“Yes, we did it. And you know what?”
“What?”
“I could tell she didn’t want to, not that Drew’s not sex on legs, obviously, but because she likes me.”
I pause with my finger in my mouth. “And do you like her?”
“Don’t ask me stupid fucking questions, Jesse. Whenever have I stayed at a bird’s place? Whenever have I had lunch with one? Gone out on the town with one? Baked fucking cakes with one? Of course I like her. She’s a cool bird.”