Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 102834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
“Thanks,” she murmured, colour high in her cheeks as she took the T-shirt then disappeared into the bathroom to change. I sat down at my study desk and scrolled through my phone for a minute, calling out, “There’s some spare toothbrushes under the sink.”
“Found them, thank you!” Milly called back.
I heard running water, and then a few minutes later, she emerged, my T-shirt hitting her mid-thigh. Fuck, she was beautiful. She cast me a questioning glance as she approached the bed, and I knew what her look was asking.
Where will you sleep?
Swallowing down the lump of pure need lodged in my throat, I said, “Tristan’s away. I’ll sleep in his room.”
Milly nodded. “Okay.” A long pause followed, and I didn’t move from where I sat. She was under the covers, stretched out on my side of the bed, and all I wanted to do was climb in next to her. It took an iron will to finally rise and walk to the door.
“Goodnight,” I whispered.
“Derek,” she said, a nervous tremble in her voice.
“What is it, beautiful?” I asked and heard her sharp intake of breath. I was too tired, too drunk and too heartbroken at the idea of her leaving to censor myself right then. Besides, she was beautiful, and she deserved to know it.
“You can sleep here if … if you like.”
I just about managed to hold in a groan, then quietly responded, “I can’t.”
“Why not?”
My voice fell a few octaves lower. “You know why.”
“I just …” she trailed off, sighing.
I clenched both fists to keep from losing control. “You just what?”
Her eyes, so pretty and blue in the lamplight, fixed on mine. “I want to be close to you.”
Just like that, the tight leash on my willpower snapped. In a matter of seconds, I slipped off my shoes before pulling off my shirt and jeans. I was across the room, lowering onto the bed and crawling in behind her before she had a chance to change her mind. I wrapped my arms around her middle, and it felt so right, so natural, to just hold her.
“Hmm, this is nice,” she murmured, sinking back into my embrace, her round backside cushioning against my crotch.
Yep, real fucking nice. A million X-rated images flashed behind my eyes, endless desires I’d been suppressing pushing to be unleashed. But I resisted.
A moment of silence passed before she said, “Derek?”
“Yeah?”
“What did Aidan mean when he said you’d turned into a monk?”
Her question caught me off guard, and I considered making something up, but then I merely found myself answering honestly, “It’s because I haven’t been with any girls in a while.”
“Oh.” A pause she seemed to consider what to say next. “How long of a while?”
It was ridiculous, but I could’ve answered her question right down to the number of days. It had been one year, three months, two weeks and five days since I’d last thought about anyone other than the woman currently nestled in my arms. The very same amount of time since I’d offered a rain-drenched Milly a lift home in my car. In the end, I responded with a vague, “A little over a year.”
I heard her inhale. “Right.” She seemed to stiffen, and I suspected she didn’t know what to say. She was too smart not to understand why I’d been living like someone who’d taken a vow of abstinence.
I placed a kiss on the back her head and whispered, “Go to sleep, Camille.”
It took a few minutes for her to relax, and I felt it when her body loosened and her breathing evened out as she fell asleep. It wasn’t long before I drifted off, too, the sounds of my sister and our friends still partying downstairs muffled behind the closed door.
I sensed we’d been asleep for a long time when I blinked my eyes open and peered across at the digital clock on my nightstand. It was almost midday, but I didn’t want to move, mainly because Milly’s head rested on my chest, her hands on my abs. She’d turned towards me in her sleep, as though drawn to touch me, her legs entwined with mine. I wasn’t complaining. Her lashes cast shadows across her cheeks as she breathed deeply. The curtains were drawn, the room encased in blessed darkness with only a thin sliver of light breaking through.
I refused to end the moment of bliss with the girl I was hopelessly in love with so close to me, invading all my senses. The smell of her wildflower shampoo and her warm cheek pressed to my bare skin was a heady combination. Unable to stop myself, I pushed some of her dark tresses away from her face then smoothed my hand over her shoulder.
Nothing felt more right than this.
Unfortunately, the movement woke her. Her eyelashes fluttered, an adorable frown marring her brow as she clearly tried to recall where she was. Then she looked at my bare chest, her eyes flaring wide before she peered up, and our gazes clashed.