Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 68192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
I wanted to believe that Lorenzo really needed to keep watching from the couch, but I’d seen the expression on his face when he looked at me. He’d turned cold and impassive, the way he’d pretended to be when he congratulated me on my engagement. Was he already done with me?
Last night, when he fucked me, I thought maybe it was more to him than just a way to get off. He’d touched something deep inside me, and I thought he might have felt that too. Then, when I’d woken scared by my dream and he’d sucked my cock, not even insisting on his own climax, I’d thought he really cared. That was all for me. He couldn’t possibly see that was payment.
I guess I’d let my fantasies take over. Had I really thought he was going to confess his love, sweep me into his arms, and tell me he’d marry me? Maybe not quite that, but I at least thought he wanted to keep me with him as long as he could. I thought there was something special between us, something more than him wanting to fuck me as revenge or my father or me offering my body as payment. Apparently, I was as much of a fucking idiot as my father always said.
I brushed away the last of my tears. At least I was safe here with Lorenzo, and I wouldn’t have to go back to my father. I wasn’t going to have all my fantasies come true. Lorenzo wasn’t actually my Prince Charming, but he was going to protect me and help me find somewhere to go far away from my father’s family. He might not want me anymore, but he would never hurt me unless it came to a choice between me and his brothers. That was far better odds than I’d ever had with my father or when my mother and I were exiled.
I stood and unzipped the backpack I’d tossed on the bed. I’d intended to look through the things someone—surely not Remington himself—had picked up for me, but I’d stuffed the T-shirt Lorenzo had loaned me on top, so that was the first thing I saw. I pulled it out and brought it to my face, inhaling deeply. His scent still lingered there, and despite my anger at him, the smell calmed me.
“Niko?”
I jumped. Lorenzo was standing in my doorway. I dropped the shirt as heat filled my cheeks. “You could have knocked.”
He nodded. “I could have.”
I frowned. He looked uncertain. “What do you need?”
“To see you.”
“I thought you were sleeping on the couch.”
He shrugged. “It’s not bedtime yet.”
“Close enough.” It was only eight o’clock, so that wasn’t true at all.
“You don’t have to be embarrassed about the shirt. It turns me on to know you want my scent on you.” Why the fuck did he have to say things like that, and why did they make my knees weak?
“Did you sleep with my tie after I left it? Did you like that it smelled like me?”
“Don’t do this, Lorenzo. Don’t push me away one minute, then come in here saying things like that.”
“I’m not pushing you away.”
He moved close enough that I could reach out and touch him, but I didn’t. “Yes, you are. Are you telling me you’re really just sleeping on the couch for better protection when you slept in the bed with me last night?”
“This is a completely different situation.”
“Yes, one where we’re much less likely to be found. Lorenzo, be honest with me. If I’ve repaid you all I owed, if you’re tired of me, just say so. Don’t lead me on.”
Lorenzo clasped my face in his hands, and I couldn’t look away from his eyes. There was pain there, pain like I felt in my chest. “I could never get tired of you, Niko. Remington told me to keep my hands off you. He told me you would have to leave town once your father was gone. I… I didn’t want to make leaving you even harder.”
How was I supposed to fight what I was feeling? “I did sleep with your tie. I used it to wipe my tears. I didn’t want you to leave. I didn’t want reality to come back.”
He kissed my forehead, and I shivered. I needed this, needed his touch, for him to soothe me, but what was I going to do in a few days when it was all over? “This reality is so much better, but what happens when this is over? Where will I go then?”
“I don’t know. We’ll figure that out. We’ll find you somewhere safe to go.”
I nodded and pulled away from him. “Okay. We should probably go to sleep now.” I unzipped an inside pocket on the backpack where I’d put Lorenzo’s watch. I was afraid it would be damaged as we traveled through the bayou. I pulled it out. “You should take this back.”