Total pages in book: 180
Estimated words: 168121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 841(@200wpm)___ 672(@250wpm)___ 560(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 168121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 841(@200wpm)___ 672(@250wpm)___ 560(@300wpm)
“Oh, Charlee. So many blanks in the puzzle. What would you give me for the answers?”
What could she stomach? “A kiss?” He’d kiss her regardless. Could she kiss him back?
His tongue burrowed inside the opening of her pants and found her clit through the barrier of her panties. “A real kiss.”
That was too easy. “Yes, Sir.”
“Your bodyguard planted a hack in the recording software for me, disabled the GPS, and he drove the bus away.”
Her stomach twisted, and saliva rushed through her mouth. “Who?”
His exhale blew a sick heat over her groin. “Colson was easily bought. Three kids in private universities and an ex-wife who continues to drag him to court for more money. He couldn’t turn down the paid tuition and the quieted ex.”
“But how?” Her head throbbed to make sense of it. “The bus was on fire, the engine destroyed.”
“My shooters tapped the engine blocks on all the vehicles but this one.” He raised his head and propped an elbow on the cushion between her bound legs. “Colson laid the smokescreen with a phosphorus grenade and chased your friends off the bus with a warning of explosion. The distraction allowed him to pop the needle in your arm and hide you in the bathroom.”
She closed her eyes until she could wrestle down her heart rate. “How did he drive with all the smoke?”
“Thermal imaging goggles and a gas mask.” He gestured at the head gear tossed on the galley counter.
“That’s a far-fetched story. The protective team wouldn’t have evacuated without me.” Jay had been an arm’s length away. He wouldn’t have let her go unless something happened to him. Dread squeezed a fist around her throat, crushing her ability to breath.
His lips twitched and her stomach dropped. “Don’t look so sad, Charlee. Nathan Winslow and Maryanna Tony didn’t abandon you. Colson told them he’d hidden you safely in the nearby woods.” A tic jumped in his cheek. “They might still be searching for you there if Mr. Mayard hadn’t created such a disturbance.”
The blood in her veins turned to ice. “Where is he?”
“An hour away. Soon, he’ll be an ocean away. How does Italy sound, my beautiful girl?”
Panic shook her body. Her blood pressure elevated with every breath. “You will not kill him.”
“No.” He traced a line from her pubis to her bra, dragging her shirt up with his invasion. “I’ve made mistakes in the past. Some unforgivable.” He stroked her flesh, rising goose bumps across her belly.
Her molars scraped, grinding in her ears. “Oh, you mean Noah, my father, the guard, and his niece? Did you rape her?”
The skin around his mouth tightened, and his eyes flicked down and back up. The air congealed around him. Dense and oily, it crept the distance between them and trickled over her skin, chilling her from head to toe.
His hand moved from her chest to her face, cupping her jaw. The movement was deliberate as though he were forcing himself to do it slowly. He bent above her, his face lowering, his eyes glazing over. “I’ll collect that kiss now.”
Her pulse beat a ringing drum in her head. She held herself immobile as his mouth covered hers, his tongue piercing through her lips and his fingers digging into her cheek. She tongue lay limp, her stomach rolling.
The grip on her face controlled her jaw. He was ruthless in the way he kissed her. His teeth sliced her lips. His tongue whipped and slashed.
When a sharp, pained cry escaped her throat, he sat back, lifted his hand, and smacked her. “Kiss me like you kiss Jay Mayard, and I won’t harm him, his band, or their careers.”
The heat from his strike rippled over her cheek, but the prick of his words was worse. How many times had Roy watched her kiss Jay through the hacked cameras at the estate? The violation was too much. No more. This ended now.
The clamor in her head narrowed, concentrated into a plan. Intent pumped through her blood and strengthened her limbs. “Promise his safety.” The promise wasn’t needed, but it was an expected thing to ask.
He studied her face with his uncanny ability to see everything, and his eyebrows lowered over hard eyes. “Not just one kiss, Charlee. Every kiss from now on. As long as you continue to give me that, I promise his safety.”
Resolution settled around her heart. She nodded, knowing it would only be one kiss, because she would not be walking off that bus.
Leaning forward, he sought her mouth, and she gave him what he wanted, a kiss she’d never given him before, one that would knock him off balance long enough to execute her plan. She drew in his bottom lip and nursed it tenderly. Licking and nibbling, her tongue pliable but demanding, she stroked deep into his mouth, tried to touch the innermost part of him.