Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 34333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 172(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 172(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
I sat on the edge of the bed, running both hands through my hair, sucking in air like it might cool the furnace she’d lit in my blood.
Savannah stayed quiet behind me. I could feel her watching me. Could feel the questions simmering behind those sharp ocean-blue eyes.
I wasn’t ready to answer them, so I stood, walked to the dresser, and grabbed a fresh shirt and jeans. My hands weren’t steady. My head wasn’t clear. I needed air and a fucking ice-cold shower. I also needed distance to reclaim my grip on life. To remember my priorities because I could feel them shifting.
The room was quiet as I pulled on my clothes. Then I shoved my cut on, grabbed my phone off the nightstand, and glanced down at her.
She was sitting up in bed now, the blanket clutched to her chest, her hair a tangled mess around her flushed face. Blue eyes wide and still hazy with remnants of desire.
Fucking hell. She looked so damn beautiful it hurt.
Without another word, I left the room.
And told myself I wasn’t going back tonight.
Even though we both knew I would.
Two fucking days.
Two days of bringing her meals, watching her mouth wrap around a damn spoon, and trying not to let my dick do the thinking. Two days of pretending I wasn’t counting the seconds till I could climb into bed next to her like an addict getting his fix.
I wasn’t used to denying myself. Not that I’d had any desire for a woman in a long time, but generally, when I wanted something, I fucking took it. It was how I’d built an empire and had a reputation for being a ruthless son of a bitch who inspired fear and respect.
Yet one tiny woman was pushing my buttons and driving me up the wall.
I’d stopped making her stay in the bedroom. It didn’t make a difference. She stuck close to the couch or curled into the chair by the window with a book from the stack I bought her, and those soft little sounds she made while reading turned my brain into sludge.
I was fucking losing it.
She wasn’t breaking. No panic, no bargaining, no sudden slips of information. Just Savannah, with that stubborn mouth and sharp eyes, meeting me head-on every time I tried to shake something loose. She didn’t cower. Didn’t run. She watched me—like she wanted to peel back my skin and get a good look at what was underneath. As though she wanted to understand me.
But I didn’t fucking understand myself right now.
Which made me feel slightly unhinged. Not a good idea for someone as dangerous and ruthless as me.
I shoved the door open harder than necessary and stepped into the room. She was on the chair, legs tucked up under her, reading again. Her head snapped up. Blue eyes sharp as ever.
“Back for more?” she asked, tone light but daring.
I kicked the door shut behind me and stalked forward. “You tell me.”
She marked her page and shut the book. “Let me guess. You’re here to ask if I suddenly remembered some incriminating detail about my brother. A secret alias? A safety deposit box? The location of the Ark of the Covenant?”
“Don’t play with me, Savannah.” My voice came out low, rougher than I meant. “Tired of circling the same damn questions.”
She huffed. “Then maybe stop asking them.”
I leaned over the chair, bracing a hand on either side of her head. “You really don’t give a fuck that I have you locked in my room?”
She tilted her chin up, bold as ever. “Should I?”
“You should be begging to get out.”
“Then I guess you’ve made it too comfortable to get the reaction you want.”
A muscle ticked in my jaw. She was still in one of my shirts—even though she had her own clothes. That shouldn’t have made my gut tighten the way it did. But it fucking did. I liked how she looked in my clothes way too fucking much.
“You have a smart mouth,” I said, voice tight. “But you’re not saying anything useful.”
“Maybe I don’t know anything useful.” She leaned in, eyes burning into mine. “Or maybe I don’t feel like helping my kidnapper. Maybe I want you to leave me alone!”
I growled. “Then why do you keep looking at me like that?”
“Like what?” Her eyes were full of sass, making me as hard as a rock.
“As though you want me to kiss you again.”
She sucked in a sharp breath, then silence fell thick and hot between us. Her eyes flicked to my mouth, just for a second—but it was enough.
I growled low in my throat and yanked her up out of the chair, one arm banded around her waist as I crushed my mouth to hers.
There was no patience. No finesse. Just fire, need, and two days of wanting her so badly that I could barely think straight. She gasped against my lips, her fingers curling into my shirt. When I licked into her mouth, she opened for me like I fucking owned her.