Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
“I’d love that. I liked reading when I was young. Escapism, with my crazy home life. And the library was free. It would be nice to get back into that.”
“The library here is great. Tons of books, but also classes you can take, if anything interests you. Luna went on and on about how good the coding class coming up was going to be. And you can do it all under your fake name, so no one will see what you’re checking out or what you’re looking up online while there.”
That was true.
It would be nice to do some specific searches based on some questions I had written down about pregnancy and childbirth. And to look up what were the best parenting books out there. Since I was going in with absolutely no experience.
“What’s wrong?” I asked when Nave, a few feet in front of me, stopped walking, then turned and put his fists on his hips.
“Well, this is embarrassing,” he said, turning back and shooting me a bashful smile.
“You’re lost.”
“Technically, we’re lost. Don’t worry,” he said, looking around again. “This place is sprawling, but nothing like the woods you’re used to. I’ll find our way back.”
I chose not to tell him that I could hear the squeals of children on the playground to the left of us as he decided to go right.
I didn’t have a fear of the woods, not really. The woods themselves were my only taste of freedom I had when I was allowed to take Edith out. And, later, take her for walks.
Besides, if there was ever someone I was happy to be lost in the woods with, it was Nave.
And it was kind of cute how flustered he got as he just kept going deeper and deeper without intending to.
“Are you okay?” he asked, turning back to me with worried eyes. “I promise I will get us out of here.”
“I’m fine,” I said, leaning back against a particularly massive tree.
“Are you sure?” he asked, moving closer. Close enough that his spicy scent overpowered the damp earth, tree resin, and moss smells enveloping us. His hand lifted, pressing against my cheek. “You’re red.” I was sure it started as just being a little warm from the walk. But the second his skin touched mine, little fires sparked, and I could feel the flush of desire warming my cheeks.
“Yeah, I’m sure,” I said, though the way I swallowed hard wasn’t exactly convincing.
Nave’s hand slid down from my cheek to my neck, feeling the frantic fluttering of my pulse.
“Your heart is racing.”
My neck was suddenly not the only place I felt my pulse pounding.
Desire had drifted down my spine and pooled through my core.
“Babe…” The concern was etched between Nave’s brows, was in the tightness around his eyes. “You’re breathing a little fast. Maybe we should get you back to Hailstorm, so—”
“I’m okay,” I insisted, sucking in a deep breath. But just then, his hand shifted back a bit, and a whole-body shiver moved through me.
Lines formed between his brows, his head cocking a bit, still caught between confusion and concern.
Despite myself, my eyes triangulated from his eyes to his lips and back. I watched understanding dawn on him, chasing away the tension around his eyes as they filled with something much more heated.
It was his turn to swallow as his hand seemed to have a mind of its own, drifting to the back of my neck, fingers teasing up into my hair, making my belly flip-flop.
He stepped in closer.
My breath hitched.
“You haven’t been in control for so long,” he said, his gaze drifting to my lips, then back up, looking even more heavy-lidded. “I don’t want to—”
I had no idea where it came from. I’d never, even before Ben, been bold in my desire.
But my hand went up, grabbing the front of his tee, and yanking him closer.
His lips brushed mine once, twice, like he was still seeking permission that had already been so freely given.
When a soft sound escaped me, his mouth found mine like he had been holding his breath all day, like I was the breath he so desperately needed.
And I just melted into him, my arms sliding up and around his neck, our chests pressed together.
The contact seemed to unleash him.
He pressed me back against the tree, his lips hard and hungry, his scruff scratching, his tongue teasing, his teeth nipping.
All the air felt trapped in my chest, expanding, making me sure that if I wasn’t holding onto him, I would have simply floated away.
His tongue teased against mine again, his fingers tightening on the back of my neck. There was something so refreshing about his lack of control, about the feral aspect of his desire that had him pushing me more firmly against the tree, his pelvis pressing into mine. At the feel of his hard length against my stomach, a deep, throaty sound escaped me.