Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 108988 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108988 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Her bottom lip fell open. “What?”
“Use your body to manipulate me.”
“I’m—” She snapped her mouth shut and stewed. “That’s not my intention.”
I smoothed both of my hands around under her leggings, dipping down so I could cup her ass. A surprised sound squeaked from her as I lifted her up and then repositioned her, higher on me, right on top of my dick. “This entire exchange has been a manipulation.”
“I—” She wanted to argue.
I waited, interested in how she could protest.
She closed her mouth. “I wasn’t thinking of it in that way. I just knew that I needed to get you alone, and I don’t want you to leave, so sitting on you seemed the best option.”
I gave her knife a pointed look. “At knifepoint?”
She gave me an embarrassed look before closing the knife.
I palmed it from her.
She gave me a questioning glance.
“It’s better if they find it on me than you.”
Understanding flared. She leaned in, nipping at my lips. “But they’re more likely to search you than me.”
I growled. “They wouldn’t dare.”
Her smirk was triumphant. “Exactly.”
I was enjoying this. This banter between us. I wanted more of it. I wanted to bicker with her until the day my heart stopped.
“I—” She cut herself off, then regrouped. Her shoulders rose and fell back. She straightened on my lap. “I need you to tell me what you’re intending to do to Marshall.”
I grew cold.
“Don’t do that.” She touched my mouth.
“Don’t do what?”
“Look at me that way. With that icy smirk.”
I blinked, shifting it away. She flinched again, and I cringed internally because I knew that instead I was giving her my “dead” look.
“That’s even worse,” she murmured under her breath.
My hand tightened on her ass. “You keep bringing up another man’s name when you’re sitting in my lap. And you don’t want me to murder him?”
“Yeah. Okay. I get that, but please answer me. What are you intending to do with him?”
I toyed with my answer.
“The truth, Creight. Do that for me.”
“I would do anything for you.”
She scoffed, but the corner of her mouth tugged up. “Would you carry me over a mountain if it were in my way?”
“I would blow up the mountain for you.”
She went still in my lap. “You’re serious.”
“Of course.”
She remained still, holding my gaze for a longer beat. I didn’t know what she was looking for. Whatever it was, a softness came over her, and her mouth gentled. “Where are my lines with you?”
“What do you mean?”
“I keep pushing and pushing, and you always let me. Everyone has a line. Where’s mine with you?”
My gaze fell to her mouth. “It continues to surprise me that you don’t get it.”
“Get what?”
My hand returned to her throat, and I traced a finger up to the tip of her chin, raising it so I could see into her again. As our eyes met and held, her entire body trembled. “You challenge me. I never want you to stop challenging me.”
I’d surprised her. “Why?”
My hand splayed out over the side of her throat before moving to the back, where my fingers sank in, anchoring her in a grip. “Because I need it. You stand in front of me, and you have a hook growing through my chest. You keep pulling me toward you. With each challenge and each yank, you are daring me to become a better man.”
“A hook? Sounds bloody.”
“The bloodier the better.” I pulled her head back, knowing I hadn’t given her the answer she wanted. “You told me I couldn’t physically harm your housemate. My plan is simple. I’m going to torture him until he harms himself.” Beautiful. Simple.
Physical pain would heal. Emotional pain could endure forever.
She blanched, and her mouth dropped open. She fisted my shirt in her hands. “God. No.”
I leaned to her, my mouth grazing over hers. “He hurt you.”
She flinched, turning away. “Only for a moment.”
“No.”
Her gaze returned at my vehemence.
I almost snarled at remembering. “Being called trash wouldn’t hurt me. Or Levi. He knew that. He used that word to hurt you. You’re the easier way to get to me. He knew this. He miscalculated, and he will learn that truth. Do not take that from me. I will never stand aside and let someone hurt you.”
“Eight—”
“You wouldn’t stand aside for me.”
She stopped. Her eyes held mine. Those words got through to her. She was wavering.
Her hands lifted, taking hold of my shirt again. Higher up. They sunk in, fisting once again. “Yeah. Okay. I get that, but I can’t handle that. I can’t. Knowing you would beat him down until he harmed himself? I will not have that on me. Do not put that on me. You don’t want me to ask you not to protect me or hurt back for me, then return the respect.”
“What are you asking for?”
“Scale back. Don’t go to the extremes you do. Not everyone is the same. There’s a difference between someone robbing me and someone who said a word that hurt my feelings.”