Total pages in book: 248
Estimated words: 236036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1180(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 787(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 236036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1180(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 787(@300wpm)
His gaze lowered to her lips, and Sage forgot how to breathe. Did he mean what she thought he meant? Because, if he did, she saw herself making a lot of challenges in the future.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke. The swing creaked softly beneath their weight as Grady’s arm stayed wrapped around her shoulders, heavy and warm. His thumb brushed slow, gentle circles against her upper arm, like he didn’t even realize he was doing it.
The last rays of sunset painted his strong features in deep golds and shadows. He was so beautiful it hurt.
“Grady…” she whispered.
“From now on, you call me Daddy, Wildfire,” he growled.
Then his hand slid into her wild curls, gripping just tight enough to tilt her head back, and his mouth crashed down on hers. What he gave her was no sweet, gentle kiss. It was a kiss filled with years of pent-up hunger, raw need, and fierce possession all at once.
Grady kissed her like a man who had been starving and had finally found the only thing that could satisfy him. His lips were firm and demanding, claiming hers with a dominance that made her toes curl and her tummy flip.
Sage whimpered into his mouth, her hands fisting in his shirt as she melted against his broad chest. He tasted like coffee and sunset and pure, masculine heat. When his tongue swept inside, stroking hers with slow, deliberate possession, a helpless little moan escaped her. Her whole body lit up like fireworks, every nerve singing with desperate want.
Grady rumbled low in his throat—a deep, primal sound that vibrated through her—and pulled her closer, one big hand splaying across her lower back as he angled her exactly how he wanted her. He kissed her harder, deeper, like he was trying to brand himself onto her soul.
This, her Little whispered happily. This is what I’ve been waiting for.
Sage’s head spun. Her bottom tingled, her nipples tightened, and heat pooled low in her belly as Grady devoured her. He nipped her bottom lip, then soothed it with his tongue before diving back in, deeper this time, like he couldn’t get enough.
Sage whimpered again, pressing herself closer, wanting more. Needing more.
“Pa?” Rose’s sleepy voice called from just inside the front door.
They broke apart, Grady’s breathing ragged and his eyes dark and wild as he stared down at her.
Sage’s lips felt swollen. They tingled, her whole body trembling with unfulfilled need.
They scrambled apart, assuming the position of two people having nothing more than a friendly chat. Grady looked over the back of the swing toward the door, where Rose had just walked into view. “What is it, Rose?”
“Pa, can you get me some water?”
At Rose’s words, Sage began a happy dance right there on the swing. She might have gotten a bit overly exuberant because Grady put a hand on her knee and squeezed. When she looked at him, he smiled down at her, his eyes filled with just as much joy and excitement as she felt at the progress Rose was making.
In a remarkably calm voice, Grady said, “Of course, sweetie. Be right there.”
Grady looked down at Sage and pressed one last hard, possessive kiss to her forehead. “Thank you.”
“Go on,” she said, knowing he was thanking her for his daughter’s voice. Sage kept her voice low and, though it sounded slightly strained, it also resonated with happiness at Rose’s progress. “She’s waiting.”
Once he’d gone inside, Sage sagged in the swing, her heart still racing. She had a Daddy. Well, temporary Daddy. She could handle that without getting her heart broken.
Kiwi looked up at her, skepticism in her eyes.
Who was she kidding? Kiwi was right. She was in so much trouble.
But like he said, she was his trouble, and she’d never wanted to be in trouble more in her entire life. Everything was perfect. Temporary, but perfect. What could possibly go wrong?
Chapter Eight
Staring at the single googly eye still stuck to the side of his coffee cup, Grady replayed the last few days in his mind and allowed the unfamiliar weight of something dangerously close to contentment to settle in his chest. Things had shifted fast, and for once, he didn’t mind.
Becoming Sage’s Daddy had been inevitable from the moment she’d looked up at him with those bright sapphire eyes and called him by that title. And damn if it didn’t feel right.
Too right.
His chest tightened every single time she said it, not to mention his cock.
As he topped off his coffee, her voice drifted in from the living room where she sat with Rose, reading that damn dragon book for what had to be the thousandth time. If she’d read it once, she’d read it a hundred times a day. He didn’t care. It made him smile every time Rose responded to one of Sage’s prompts.