Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 134531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 448(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 448(@300wpm)
So I was done.
“Screw this,” I said to my bedroom ceiling, throwing off my covers and stomping toward the living room.
Summer had come back with a vengeance, one last hurrah before fall gripped us. The nights were hot, and I liked to sleep with the windows open, so I was wearing as little as possible. And because I was hoping that Swiss would catch a glimpse of the short silk nightie and reconsider this whole ‘friends’ deal.
The TV was a low hum, and the lamp in the corner illuminated Swiss on the couch.
He was shirtless. And he was not asleep.
His eyes went to me immediately, flicking up and down my body, focusing on where the lace was sheer enough to see my hard nipples.
His low hiss echoed through the room. I felt it in my pussy.
“You were right that day,” I said, going to stand in front of him, my hand on my hip. I didn’t miss the way it bunched the silk over the curve of my ass, nor did I miss Swiss’s eyes traveling to that location.
My body thrummed with need, but I had shit to say. “I have had men making decisions for me for almost two decades. Before Preston, was a stepfather who stole precious, priceless, irreplaceable things from me.”
I could feel Swiss’s anger as I mentioned Hal. We hadn’t spoken about him since that night, just like we hadn’t spoken about his daughter and wife, but all three still lingered like ghosts.
“And before him was a mother who hated me for being born,” I continued, nowhere near done. “I have not lived a life without pain, without being controlled in one way or another, without walking on eggshells.”
I watched Swiss as he got up from the sofa. I fought the urge to drool at his sculpted torso, the jeans he wore that did not hide his need for me.
I held up my hand. “You’re not going to say anything or touch me…” My eyes skated downward. “Yet,” I finished before my eyes roamed back up to meet his stare.
“I appreciate what you wanted to do, what you were giving me when you took a step back. What you were trying to give me.” I stepped forward, and his entire body stiffened.
I ignored that.
My fingertips ran down the naked skin of his chest. “I understand that you were trying to be the good guy.”
Swiss’s breathing was rapid, his body shaking as I toyed with the waistband of his jeans.
He wasn’t wearing anything underneath them. Swiss was a commando guy.
“But you’re not the good guy,” I licked my lips as I looked up at him. “I knew that the moment I laid eyes on you. And I wasn’t looking for the good guy. I don’t want the good guy. I know my own mind, and I’m not having anyone, even you, tell me I don’t. So I know what I want. I want you.”
“Thank fuck,” he growled so loudly my bones seemed to vibrate. Before I knew it, I was up in his arms, my legs wrapping around his waist on instinct more than anything else. “I was about to lose my fuckin’ mind,” he bit out as his hard cock pressed against my lace panties.
He was walking us in the direction of the bedroom. Our mouths were millimeters apart.
“You were about to lose your mind?” I teased. “What are you talking about? I thought you wanted to be friends.”
Swiss stopped in his tracks. “No way in fuck did I want to be friends with you, Countess,” he ground out. “I’ve tasted your pussy. I’ve fucked your ass. I’ve watched my cum drip out of you.”
My body jerked at his words, my nipples hard, and my limbs already tightening in preparation for climax.
“Make no mistake, I want to be your best friend,” he added. “But one who fucks you senseless on any given day of the week.”
I blinked through the fog of my desire. “What have the last three weeks been about, then?”
Swiss grinned wickedly, showing gleaming, white teeth. “It’s been about that,” he hissed. “That fire inside of you. Those claws. The fuckin’ wildcat I know is inside you that can take control. It’s been about you findin’ your voice and usin’ it to get what you want.” He started walking again. “And I’ll admit, you had me worried for a minute there, that it wasn’t me you wanted. Us. But thank fuck you used it tonight, Countess. I wasn’t gonna be able to function much longer.”
He leaned in to kiss me, and although it was hard, although it felt downright insane, I pulled back.
Swiss let out a warning sound in the back of his throat, jostling me so his cock rubbed against the most sensitive part of me.
I let out a low moan but narrowed my eyes. “Are you telling me that this has been some kind of fucking… test?”