Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 151097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 504(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 504(@300wpm)
“Mention that apartment again, and I’ll burn it to the ground, wife.”
“I’m not your wife,” I snapped back.
“Not yet, no,” he said with a smirk that made me want to slap his ass. “But you will be, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Want to bet?
I conveyed the challenge with my eyes since I knew better than to open my mouth. Of course, he paid me no mind as he resumed handling business on his phone.
Was it business or bitches?
Ugh! I forgot I wasn’t supposed to care.
But Ocean showed no signs of remembering that I was even here as he switched to a burner phone to make and answer calls before going back to his main phone.
“I’m ready to hear your proposal now,” I announced when I couldn’t stand his eyes and focus elsewhere a second longer.
Ocean set his phone down immediately and gave me his full attention, as if he had been waiting for me to demand it. My eyes narrowed suspiciously as I wondered if he’d been ignoring me on purpose or because he was secretly and quietly struggling with this sudden and gaping hole between us as much as I was.
“Is that so?”
“Yes.” Clearing my throat, I tried not to fidget under the intensity of his gaze.
But it wasn’t just that.
Ocean—as I’d learned—wasn’t easy to rattle, which left me feeling paradoxically safe and anxious. He was always so poised and cultured. He spoke like someone who had received an expensive education and moved like someone used to being in charge. He’d seen more, done more, and I was beginning to question if I could really outsmart him. “I already know you want me to marry you and…g-give you a-a s-son.”
“Preferably more than one,” he corrected with an easy and charming smile.
The back of my neck grew hot.
More than one?
This fool hadn’t said anything about getting pregnant more than once!
“I have no control over that. You get what you get.”
Ocean shrugged, and with a languid, scorching, possessive sweep of his brown eyes, he casually yanked the metaphorical rug out from under me when he cooed, “More reason for us to keep trying, mo aingeal.” Oh lord. The heat was spreading, rushing down my body and slipping between my legs. “And if you’re hellbent on our marriage not being permanent, the sooner we get started, the sooner you can be free.”
“What do you mean?”
Ocean bit into his bottom lip, and I almost came right then. “I’ll tell you on one condition.”
“Don’t play with me,” I warned as if I could actually do shit about it.
Ocean scooted his chair back and turned in his seat. “Come here. Come to me.”
I shifted to hide the fact that I almost sprang to my feet in a knee-jerk reaction. “I can hear you just fine right here.”
“But I can touch you much better if you were over here.” My fingers curled around the arms of my chair to keep from embarrassing myself again. Nothing ever seemed to get past Ocean, though, his gaze briefly dropping to my hands. I quickly loosened my grip, which seemed to frustrate him. “You don’t need to hide from me,” he said with a slight growl. “I have no intention of using your feelings against you, and nothing will happen that you don’t want. You have my word.”
“I believe you. I mean…” It felt like a betrayal of my brother, but it was for him that I purposely lowered my lashes in a show of bashfulness and said softly. “I don’t think you’ll hurt me.”
“What a good fucking girl you are.”
Something burst inside of me, like a long-dormant volcano finally waking up. Silence fell between us again while Ocean watched me squirm and patiently waited for me to make a decision. I didn’t have to fake the uncertainty in my movements as I rose from my seat or the shaky steps I took toward him until I was in grabbing distance. Despite his teasing, Ocean made no move to touch me, and it took me a few agonizing seconds to understand why.
He was proving that I was safe with him, but I also had a point to prove—to myself.
I could play the game and win.
Inhaling deeply, I lowered myself into his lap.
I was still wearing the robe and nothing else, so there was almost nothing keeping him from discovering my hot, dripping pussy.
The possessive hand he immediately placed on my thigh once I was settled told me he wasn’t unaware of my aroused state. This close, I could feel how tightly coiled he was, and something in me purred knowing he wasn’t unaffected either. My fingers idly toyed with the terry-cloth sash while I waited for him to do what he promised.
I waited for him to touch me.
“Ocean,” I whimpered when he seemed to be taking his sweet fucking time.