Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87618 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87618 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
I spent most of the day getting unpacked. That was kind of fun, actually. Brenden helped out a little bit, but when he left, Alexan lurked around, grumbling and glaring at every little thing. I put out a few decorative plants, some of my nice pillows on the couch, and my favorite impressionist landscape painting of an old Maryland fishing boat. Each new item made my husband grimace and wince like I was stabbing him with rusty forks.
All things considered, a very successful first day in my new home.
At least until night came. He disappeared into his office to work and slammed the door, which left me to wander around our room. I hung clothes in the closet, put stuff in the drawers he cleared out for me, and kept flinching whenever I thought I heard the murder drone floating around. And all the while, I kept thinking about the bed, the shirt, and his voice urging me to get myself off.
“Don’t be a coward,” I say and force myself away from the mirror. I adjust my messy red bun and nod to myself. “He’s just some guy.”
I open the door and step out into the bedroom.
But he’s not just some guy.
Alexan looks over. He’s got glasses perched on his nose and a book in his hands, some history thing about the Roman Empire. I stare at him, heart hammering in my chest, as I look at all his tattoos: vicious wolves, bloody roses, dozens of gang symbols, and more than a few tears down his biceps.
“I didn’t know you could read,” I blurt out, which isn’t what I meant to say at all. “I mean, crap, I mean I didn’t know you needed glasses to read.”
His smirk suggests he knows how uncomfortable I am right now. “They’re just cheaters. I’m getting old.”
“You look good in them.” I don’t know why I say it, but it’s true. The contrast between his hard, scary, muscular tattooed body and the intelligence dancing behind his eyes is intoxicating. I know this man is deadly, but he’s obviously smart, too.
“You look good too.” He closes the book. “You’d look better in my shirt, though.”
“Get over it,” I mutter and throw myself into bed. I pull the sheets over my head. “Lights out whenever you want.”
“Lights out,” he says, and the lights turn off.
“Now you’re just showing off.”
“A little bit.” I can hear the smile in his voice. He adjusts himself, rocking the whole bed. My body rings, and my heart judders as he gets into position. I swear, I can feel heat rolling from him, even though we’re on opposite sides with plenty of room between us.
“Right. Goodnight.” I close my eyes and try to think sleepy thoughts. Trees in a breeze. A babbling brook. Alexan bathing naked in a lake. Shit, that’s not helping.
“I thought we should talk a little bit,” he says, shifting closer to me.
“Easy there.” I roll onto my back and frown. My vision hasn’t adjusted yet, and he’s just a blur in the dark. “Don’t cross into my territory.”
“All this is mine, if you’ll recall. And maybe you forgot, but you and I have business.”
My mouth goes dry. My core spasms with the thought of his dirty lips against my throat. I hate how badly I want to have sex with this guy, even though he’s nothing but an ice-cold prick.
Only right now, under the covers, he’s deadly hot.
“It’s our first night together,” I whisper, cheeks pink. I’m thankful he can’t see me right now; otherwise, he’d know I’m mortified, and that my nipples are also rock hard with excitement.
There’s a short silence. Then a low, throaty chuckle. “That’s not what I meant, baby, but I’m happy to know where your head’s at.”
“What else could you mean by business?” I say, annoyed and frustrated.
“The watch.”
I resist a groan. Right, of course, the watch. I’ve been so busy trying to transition to this new life that I keep forgetting the life-or-death trouble I dragged us both into.
“Look, you know I didn’t mean to cause all this, right?” I ask him.
“I know that,” he admits, which is actually kind of nice. “But we still need to figure out how we’re going to appease Mantis while also making sure they don’t want to kill either of us.”
I chew on a lip, considering, but I’m having trouble thinking. “What do you suggest? Since I’m guessing you have some ideas.”
He grunts slightly and shifts again. Getting closer to me?
“First, I want to find out what’s on the hard drive. Once I can figure out why they want it back, I can come up with a plan to deal with it.”
“Okay, great, that should be easy, right?”
“Wrong.” His voice is inches from my ear now. Definitely closer. “The drive is encrypted. It’s totally useless right now, at least until I can figure out how to decrypt it.”