Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 97364 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97364 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Theo grips the back of my legs and lifts me up, pinning me to the door.
“Say it.”
He impales me, eyes on mine the whole time. I wince a bit, feeling the first jerk of the rollercoaster. Theo has no idea what it means to ease into a woman. He’s everything Daniel never was. The woman I am with Theo is a Scarlet Stone no other man has ever known. If this life—this moment—is a lie, then the truth will never matter to me.
“I love you,” he says a breath before our mouths crash together.
Theodore Reed is the ride of a lifetime in every way.
“Harder …” I mumble over his lips. “Faster …” My fingers curl into the muscles along his back.
His head drops to my shoulder.
I close my eyes and just … hold … on. “More … more of this … more of us … more breaths …” I whisper to the universe as I let him bleed me dry of every sensation and emotion I have to give.
My name is Scarlet Stone, and I love sex. I believe if all emotion and reason were stripped from human existence, the answer to all physical questions would be sex.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Theodore
She cut her hair short. I like it, but I won’t tell her that. There is no better feeling in the world than her naked body curled up to mine, but I won’t tell her that either. She will never know I can’t see anyone or anything but her in my dreams. I can no longer get off on porn. I spend my days in constant agitation and my sleepless nights in frustration.
She didn’t die and for that I can’t find the proper gratitude. No matter what happens in my life, the world is a better place with Scarlet Stone in it. Yet the fact still remains, her reason for living the lie is gone, but mine is not. The lies will fade and before long she might see my truth. She can’t see it. I can’t be with her. But … I can love her.
I can love her from afar.
I can love her in my dreams.
I can love her until my life is over.
Maybe I can love her in another life.
And maybe, just maybe … that love will be enough to cure her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
My name is Scarlet Stone, and I’ve always believed compassion is not earned, it’s given.
Scarlet
“Where’s the sofa?” I ask, tracing the mingling lines of ink on his chest next to where my cheek rests. I want to know what each one means—in time.
“You don’t like my leather recliner?”
I laugh. “It’s great for watching a TV you don’t own, and I loved it on rainy days when I read my books.”
“I sold most of the furniture, except for a few things that were Nolan’s. He had them put in storage already.”
We declared some sort of love to each other, but we were nothing for so long I don’t know what this love really means. It’s impossible to articulate this feeling but it’s like he loves me, but he still doesn’t want to love me. It’s a sad love.
“Nolan said you’re moving to Nashville.”
He doesn’t say anything. I look up at him.
“Did you hear me?”
He nods, peering down at me.
“Well?”
“Well what?”
I sigh.
He smirks. “You have a habit of making statements and expecting a response. If you really want a response, you need to ask an actual question.”
Pushing against his chest, I maneuver my body so I straddle his lap, facing him. I look down between our naked bodies. “You’re … awake.” My eyes shift to his.
Theo chuckles. “Again, not a question. But yes, it’s at your service. Feel free to insert it into any hole in your body, lick it, suck it—”
“Stop!” I grab my button-less dress that’s barely holding on to the side of the chair and drape it over his eager knob.
He quirks a brow, looking at the dress.
“I do have a question and sex isn’t the answer so—”
“Are you sure?” He narrows his eyes at me.
No. I’m not sure. Ninety percent of the time, sex is a brilliant answer. I’m stuck in the ten percent right now.
“Are you moving?”
He nods.
I frown.
“When?”
“Three days.”
“Where?”
He stares at me.
“It was a question, not a statement.”
“Nashville.”
Why is this so hard? Once again, I feel it—sad love. Does “I love you” not mean I want to be with you? My heart clenches. It doesn’t. I still love Daniel, but I no longer want to be with him.
“Is that where your tour begins?”
Theo’s eyes avert to the side for a few moments. “Sure.”
With each breath … one … two … three … I feel this deep pain, a slow carving of a Theo-shaped hole in my heart.
“Are you leaving me?”
He shifts his gaze to me again as he expels a grunt. Theo has many grunts and they don’t all mean the same thing. This grunt sounds like a sarcastic grunt.