Series: Cobalt Empire Series by Krista Ritchie
Total pages in book: 234
Estimated words: 226965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1135(@200wpm)___ 908(@250wpm)___ 757(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 226965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1135(@200wpm)___ 908(@250wpm)___ 757(@300wpm)
“You’re breaking mine.” I swallow hard. “It’s in your hand. I gave it to you at the start. Remember?” Tears begin to fill her eyes, and I add more forcefully, “You know me. I’ve never lied to you. Am I the kind of person who’d manipulate someone over the course of months just to make them feel pain?”
“No,” she says immediately, instantly, and I release a breath. “That’s why I’ve been sitting in here going out of my mind. I’ve lost it, dude. Like, I can’t think straight because all my deepest insecurities keep piling, and I’m choking on them.”
I barrel toward her on instinct as her face crushes in hurt, but she’s not ready to be touched. She recoils a little, and I stop beside the tallest cymbal. “Why do you think I would’ve tricked you?”
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
What is going on? “That girlfriend would be you…if I wasn’t leaving.” I suck down raw, blistering pain. I want to stay. “I only want to be with you, and I mean that. I’ve meant everything I’ve ever said.” Why…why does she think I have a girlfriend? “If you heard something—it’s a lie. They lied to you, Harriet.”
“I saw it.”
My lips part. “There is no way.”
“You were like this close to that girl.” She puts her palm up against her face to demonstrate. “In that study room with the fireplace.”
“Oh my God,” I gape. “Harriet.”
“What?” She goes still, seeing my widened eyes.
“That was Vada.”
Her scowl is a confused wince. “The girl squad girl?”
“Yeah, and she’s related to the Hales and Meadows. She might not be my family by blood, but she is still practically family. I’ve never liked her like you’re implying. Never will.” She’s taking bigger breaths, so I keep going. “I was upset when I saw she was at a college party, and we were arguing about it. Apparently, she came here to spy on me, as requested by my little sister. To see if I have a tragic demeanor.” I rest my hands on my waist like I’m embodying Peter fucking Pan. Eliot would be proud. “What do you think? Tragic or not?” I begin to slowly smile.
She’s chewing the corner of her lip, emotion still flooding her eyes. She’s almost smiling off mine. Almost. We’re nearly there. To the good place I want to be with her.
I chase after her runaway gaze. “Fisher. Talk to me. Because you haven’t taught me CPR yet, I can’t save your life without your help.”
“I’m a jealous freak, Friend,” she chokes out, her nose flaring as she tries not to cry. “Like why would you even want to be with someone who went from zero to a number that doesn’t exist?”
“Unknown numbers are cool. I love weird people. I love you.” It just comes out. The truth. Her breath hitches, but I add, “And I’m not all there, Friend. I’ve felt like I’m losing it…all the time. The only thing I’ve known is that when I’m with you, the confliction, confusion, whatever I’m thinking just doesn’t matter. I can breathe. I can admire. I can love.” I cradle her gaze. “So if this is your attempt to run me off early, you’ve failed because…” I lean forward and cup her cheek over the drum kit. “I’m still here.”
Harriet takes staggered, uneven breaths, gripping fiercely to my gaze. “Say it again.”
I glance at her lips—and I kiss her. It explodes us together. I crash into the fucking cymbal. She elbows a snare drum as our lips meld with a desperate heat. I need to be closer. The craving screams at all my muscles, and to avoid breaking the drum kit, I pick her up and haul her over the instrument and into my chest.
A moan ejects out of her mouth, and I want to devour the pleasured sound. I crush my lips against hers, one hand tangled in the back of her hair, the other cupping her ass. My tongue glides against her tongue, loving the sweet taste of her, loving her vulnerable, overwhelmed reactions to my hands, my lips. I can feel the building heat of her pussy against me, her legs split apart around me. It’s a primal urge to want to slide inside her right now, but I don’t.
I just kiss her. But it’s not really just a kiss. It feels like I’m being lit on fire. I’m burning and burning. And I’m not in search of water. I want to fan these flames. I buck her up higher on my body, and a whimpering cry leaves Harriet—a sound I’ve never heard her make.
Blood rushes to my cock.
Aroused flush coats her cheeks, and she clutches my neck. Hanging on to me as our gazes cling. I hold her at eye-level. Next kiss, I carry her to the wall. Resting her shoulders against it. Then I trail kisses down her cheek, her jaw—spending a longer, hotter beat at her neck. She full-body shakes.