Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 129676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
I noticed for the first time that she was bleeding. He must’ve caught her cheek and split it open when he struggled to shove her into the car.
I instinctively put my thumb to the injured spot to assess the bruise. She sucked in a breath and recoiled.
It was a shallow cut. Barely even a scratch. That realization did nothing to calm down my hammering pulse.
Two, six, two.
Two, six, two.
Two, six, two.
They fucking hurt my wife. My wife. Nobody touched what was mine.
“Are you hurt anywhere else?” I asked tersely.
She shook her head, hands flying to my shoulders. I caught her waist, steadying her. She was hysterical, the waves of adrenaline still crashing through her.
“H-h-he,” she started but didn’t finish the sentence. Her fists crashed into my chest, a sob ripping from the depth of her lungs. I’d never seen her cry before.
“I know.” I pulled her by the back of her head to my chest, engulfing her with my entire body.
I wanted to protect her and kill her in the same breath. I’d never met a woman so insolent, so independent, so completely unmanageable, and fuck my life, but it made me want her even more. She was categorically unattainable, even after I put a goddamn ring on it.
“What you did to him…” Her eyes ran wildly in their sockets. “It was…it was—”
“Warranted,” I growled. “He tried to kidnap you.”
Gia was too gentle, too straitlaced to witness this kind of violence. I wagered she couldn’t hurt a fly. If she did, she’d probably usher it to the vet for medical attention.
She was shaking in my arms like a coin inside an empty tin. I clenched my teeth, my blood roaring in my veins.
“This is precisely why you need security,” I scolded her.
“Do you carry a weapon?” She tilted her face up to look at me.
“I am the weapon.” Guns were for pussies. And irrefutably less fun than good ole spine breaking. “You, however, need security. I’m calling Achilles right n—”
“I—I can’t breathe,” she muttered into my chest. “I think I’m having a panic attack. Distract me.”
“The hell I will. Reap what you sow. This could’ve ended in catastrophe,” I chided her. “Starting tomorrow, you will be surrounded with enough bodyguards to last a—”
She snapped her head up and pressed her lips to mine.
My brain short-circuited.
What the fuck was happening?
She is kissing you.
And you are standing there.
Scowling.
While her lips are moving against yours.
Her mouth was intense and pleading on mine, cold from the ice cream and the night. Sweet and exquisite and unbearably soft.
My mouth finally snapped into action.
The entire world crumbled around us like ancient ruins, and all that was left was the pressure of our lips on each other and the sound of her ragged, desperate breaths.
She opened her mouth, and the sweetness of it un-fucking-did me. Whatever scathing words I had for her were swallowed by her pretty, pliant lips. Our tongues met awkwardly, stroking and exploring one another for the first time.
Then she sucked my tongue into her mouth, and my knees fucking buckled. This wasn’t a kiss between two grown-ups declaring their intentions, but a teenager’s kiss, clumsy and desperate and all-consuming. With complete abandon.
It shouldn’t feel this dirty. This dangerous. We were adults. And married. But it hit different all the same.
My arms wrapped around her tighter, and she sank into my frame, melting into it. I drew the tip of her tongue into my mouth, sucking it, and she sighed and moaned, and there was not enough of her. Not nearly enough. Not ever enough.
My shaft leeched to my thigh, my cock erect and begging for space in my tight-fitting slacks.
Two minutes ago, I wanted her like I wanted the sun. An erratic, prideful desire to own something exquisite and special. Now, I wanted her like I did my next breath. In a dull, unrelenting despair that consumed me.
The kiss deepened, becoming more frantic and demanding. I threaded my fingers along her cheeks and temples, drawing her closer. I played dirty, capitalizing on her heat and confusion. I chafed the fabric of her stupid shirt and hoodie over her nipples with my chest, making them sensitive and raw.
Gia gasped, her hands roaming my body sloppily, frantically.
Precum gathered at the tip of my cock as I let her explore. She cupped my ass, ran her fingers along my back, my abs, my chest.
It was entirely possible I was going to die from desire.
A chance I was more than willing to take.
“Will you tell me your name?” she hedged, her lips moving over my own. “Your real name, so I know who I’m kissing.”
Her words were a bucket of ice water, drenching both of us. I ripped my mouth from hers, stepping back. “Stay in your lane, Gia.”
“Our lanes merged, you fool.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “When we said our vows earlier tonight.”