Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99700 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 499(@200wpm)___ 399(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99700 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 499(@200wpm)___ 399(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
“I just needed some air.”
Victor moved closer, his head tipped to the side as he searched her face. “What’s wrong, Pandy?”
“Nothing. I’m fine. Just needed some space.”
“From the party?” He moved closer. “Or from me?”
“It’s not that.”
“It feels like that,” he said. “It feels like you’ve been pulling further and further away from me for a week or two now.”
“No, I’ve just been—”
“I know you’ve been busy, but it’s been different. Since the flat,” he said, making her insides wobble. “It seems like you’ve been going out of your way not to be with me.”
What could she say to that? It was true. She’d been mostly keeping in touch by text. Even when he’d arrived this afternoon, she’d let Lucy greet him while she pretended to need extra time to get herself ready for the little gathering for the bridal party.
“Pandy, if you’ve changed your mind …”
“I haven’t,” Pandora was quick to assure him. Because she was sure that the only thing more painful than being near him but not being able to have him the way she wanted, was not being around him at all.
“I know some of your family still hasn’t come around,” he said.
That was still somewhat true. Sure, her aunts, uncles, cousins, brother, and father had all come around now that the big day was nearly here.
As for Ophelia, well, Pandora had seen some change after her mum realized that she was never going to be with Elias, that she was committed to her fiancé.
And, quite frankly, she didn’t really care what Bellatrix and Ambrosia had to say about it, since they’d both done some shady things to try to thwart her relationship.
“It’s not that,” Pandora said.
“Then what is it?” Victor asked, stepping closer, coming under the tree with her. “Why are you keeping me at a distance?”
“I …” She trailed off, not sure what to say, if she had another lie in her.
“Pandy,” Victor said, reaching out, his fingers gently taking her chin between his thumb and forefinger to lift her face to his. “Talk to me.” His thumb shifted up, starting to trace lightly underneath her lower lip.
The touch scrambled her brain, made it impossible to filter her thoughts. So what came out was the question that had been eating away at her for weeks.
“Was any of it ever real for you?”
“Any of what?” he asked, brows scrunching.
“Never mind,” she said, trying to duck her head, but his fingers tightened on her chin.
“Any of this?” he asked.
Then his lips were on hers.
Up so close, he overwhelmed her with vanilla, cinnamon, and leather as his lips pressed harder, demanded more, chased away any concerns that he wasn’t as lost in the moment as she was.
One of his hands slid behind her neck as his other arm draped around her lower back, pulling her flush against his body.
The warmth of him was nothing compared to the fire that was burning inside her as his hands moved down her back, sinking into her ass, pulling her against his need as a whimper escaped her.
“It was always real for me,” he murmured against her lips before claiming them again, kissing her hard and long, until she felt tingly all over, until the need was a coiled ache in her core again.
Victor’s arm tightened around her, bringing her with him as he lay down onto the ground under the willow.
Reaching between them, he pulled her skirt up, allowing him to roll over her, to settle between her thighs.
Pandora’s fingers dug into his shoulder as her legs wrapped around his hips just before he bore down on her, dragging his hard length against the material of her panties, making a deep moan work its way out of her.
Her hands were greedy then, yanking at his jacket until it was on the ground beside him, before pushing his buttons through the loops, exposing his skin inch by delicious inch.
Victor went up on his knees to take off his shirt, giving Pandora a lovely view for a short moment before he moved over her again.
Her hands met the bare skin of his back and suddenly her own dress was feeling too hot, tight, restrictive.
As if hearing her own thoughts, Victor rolled to his side, taking her with him. Then, anchoring his arm around her hips, he rolled her over him, then pushed up to sitting, forcing her onto her knees at the sides of his legs.
He said nothing then as his hands started to slide her skirt up, letting the night air kiss her skin little by little. Just this once, though, Pandora didn’t need him to say what he was thinking, what he was feeling; it was all there right on his face.
The heat.
The hunger.
The need.
But beneath that, something that had her heart feeling full to bursting.
Just as she placed it for what it was, though, Victor lifted her dress up off her arms, leaving her in nothing but a pair of barely-there panties.