Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 105709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
I swallow, nervous about how this could go. “Can we just… go with it?”
He shakes his head. “Nah, babe. I can do 'go with it' with about anyone else, except you.”
My brows draw together. “What's that supposed to mean?”
“It means I have no fucking idea what I'm doing or how to do it.” The admission scrapes against his throat. His hands tighten on my waist, fingers pressing through thin fabric. “But I'm willing to give it a shot with you and only you.”
My breath catches. “Are you asking me to be your old lady? Because...”
“No.” The word comes out too fast, too sharp. His jaw works as if he’s trying to force himself to slow down. “No, not that. Not yet, anyway. But I want you to be mine and only mine, and no one else's.”
“So… you wanna date?” I smile, my voice kicking up.
Hella pauses. “Dating sounds too casual, too temporary. Like you could walk away.” His mouth curves up in a grin. “Like I'd let you.”
My mouth falls open. “So what is it?”
He shifts me on his lap, pulling us closer until there's no space. “You're mine, and that's it.” He squints playfully. “I think you get the picture.”
“On one condition,” I add, testing the waters.
He locks up, as if his muscles seize. “Yeah? And what's that?”
“You're mine, too. No one else's. And I'm dead serious, Hella,” I begin. “If you so much as tilt that cocky fucking smirk at any other woman, I won't kill her, I'll kill you.”
He laughs, his chest vibrating against mine. “Done. But for the record? I may not have done this before, this whole girlfriend thing,” he says, rolling his eyes, “but I'd never cheat on you, Melissa. Those were games, which you played as well, I'll add.”
“No more games,” I say sternly.
“Ehhhh….” His eyes narrow. “Just switch up the game boards.”
I laugh as he wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me further into him. I spread my legs on either side, straddling his body. The rock hard muscles under all his clothes tense with each movement.
I run my finger down his square jawline and over his tattoos. “Do these mean anything?”
He laughs. “What? You expecting me to be sentimental?” He sees the smile on my face and continues. “Aside from the fact I’m free enough to get them? No.”
I snort. “Why am I not surprised? So… none of them mean anything in particular?”
“Nah, babe. They all just mean that I wanted them, so I fucking got 'em.”
“Fair enough.”
He raises my shirt slightly, displaying my hip bones where my only tattoos lie. “These mean something? And watch what you say, babe, 'cause if they have anything to do with another man, I'll fucking kill him, and then get Jada to cover them up with my initials.”
I shake my head slowly with a small smile. “They just mean control. It was something I could control after… what happened.” His jaw clenches, his grip around my hips tightening. I bring my hand up to his cheek and run my thumb across it. “Hey.”
He moves his face out of my hand, picking me up and placing me back on my bed. “They need to pay for that. If you were my old lady, I'd rip them from this world and you wouldn't have shit to say about it.”
I pull my knees up to my chest. “I can't talk about this again.”
His eyes turn to stone before they soften slightly. “Back to why I brought you in here. You're staying with me from now on.”
“What?!” I crawl off the bed as he buries himself in the closet, pulling out my clothes. “I can't! I don't even know where you stay or who you live with or what your living situation is like.”
He drops my clothes onto the bed and sighs. “I live alone, Melissa, and I stay on the property, but toward the back by the stream that runs around the clubhouse. It's hidden away and no one really knows about it except the brothers.”
“What?” I gasp. “How big is the land here?”
“Fifteen-hundred acres,” he answers, picking up my clothes again. “Beast’s tribe owned this land back in the old days, and still own it today. Well, a board looks over it but Beast overseas all final decisions, as his old man did when he was alive.”
He continues when I don’t answer. “So, here's the deal. You stay at mine now, with your sister. You can swim in the stream and shit. It’s linked to the lake in town. Beast's dad had the cabin built when Beast and I first arrived. He wanted us to have our own home away from the clubhouse. When he died, Beast purchased a house in town so I took over the cabin.”
My throat tightens. I know I should tell him everything, every single thing, but then what?