Total pages in book: 168
Estimated words: 169013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 845(@200wpm)___ 676(@250wpm)___ 563(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 169013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 845(@200wpm)___ 676(@250wpm)___ 563(@300wpm)
King
Can’t wait to touch you again. Mark myself a little deeper.
My thighs trembled.
Me
I’ll be waiting with eager anticipation.
Was I really so readily admitting it? But there was a whole lot of peace in surrender.
Me
I’d better go. I need to finish getting ready. It’s almost eight.
King
And just where do you think you’re going?
Me
Work. I need to pay my dues for my stay, remember? Someone once told me I’m quite the handful, and that office is still a mess. I have yet to fully work my magic on it.
Flickers of fear from yesterday licked in the periphery.
But I tamped them down.
I wasn’t going to allow myself to become trapped again. Wouldn’t let some deranged villain set me back to start.
Not when I was finally starting to feel free.
A response immediately blipped through.
King
Not a fucking chance that you’re stepping foot in that office again.
A huff of indignation puffed from my mouth, all while my stupid heart pattered with his care.
God, I really was weak when it came to him. But sometimes you had to whittle yourself all the way down to the nub to give way for healthy growth.
Me
I’ve got news for you, King. I’m not going to be a prisoner in this room.
I might as well have stamped my five-inch heel.
My phone immediately vibrated in my hand.
King
And I won’t allow you to be in unnecessary danger.
Me
Tell me there aren’t at least three men now guarding the gate?
I sent it with the full force of a challenge.
King
Gates are locked up tight. If someone wants in, they are going through security first.
A little relief hit me at the confirmation, not that I expected anything less.
Silas was clearly not to be toyed with, and I knew that trespasser from yesterday had put him over the edge.
Broke something in him, too.
Me
Exactly as I thought.
King
Doesn’t change a thing.
Me
Sure it does, King. And this girl isn’t conceding. There’s work to be done.
A surge of determination rolled through me, and I set my phone aside, dug through my makeup bag, then leaned forward to apply pink gloss to my lips.
I sat back and took in my reflection.
Eyes bright and curls barely tamed.
And for the first time in years, I was almost able to recognize myself.
FORTY-TWO
BRINLEY
It took all of five minutes for that energy to enclose behind me. A blanket of red-hot severity engulfing me where I leaned forward at the desk, flipping the lid on the laptop and pressing it on.
There was no question that it was Silas who came to stand just inside the door between the office and shop.
I could feel him standing there with his sinewy arms crossed over his chest.
Oozing that special brand of volatility.
An inferno of irritation and barely tapped lust.
He would have beaten me there had Brody not given me a ride over in his truck.
I guess Silas had taken my response as a challenge.
A duel.
Or maybe I’d just delivered it as one.
Maybe I wanted to fight it out with this temperamental, infuriating man because there was something about doing it that exposed the remnants of who I used to be.
Something about it that made me feel real and raw and important.
The first time in years that I wasn’t the only one fighting for myself.
Some might call it counterproductive.
A contradiction.
I figured anything that made me feel this alive should be considered therapy.
The one thing I knew for sure as I stood there facing away from him was every hair on my body stood on end.
My body hewn in anticipation.
Shivers raced far and fast, and my heart catapulted into warp speed.
I could feel him lingering behind me, the searing severity of his gaze making a slow path down my backside.
There wasn’t a casual thing about it.
“What the fuck are you wearing?” he grunted. “Wildfire, doing your best to do me in.”
I bent over a little farther, hoping to give him a little peep show of my bottom.
This morning, I’d suited up in my favorite denim dress, the top fitted and the short skirt flowy, hemmed in a matching denim ruffle.
Nude heels to match.
It always made me feel powerful.
Powerful when my control was slipping.
I had none of it then when I straightened and began to slowly turn in his direction, bracing myself to look at him.
I didn’t know why I bothered. I already knew I was going to get swept away by the undertow.
A riptide at my feet.
My knees knocked the second I caught sight of Silas standing in the same spot where he always stood glowering at me.
Though now I recognized that glowering for what it was.
Pure, unfiltered want.
Okay, fine. There was a little hate there, too. I wasn’t a total fool.
Hate that he wanted me so badly. It was the type of hate that I completely understood because I felt a bit of it, myself.
No question, both our spirits were a bit peeved over the fact that one single person could affect us this way.