Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 69582 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69582 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
“Man, that sucks,” I said. “Are you telling me that if we had children, our babies wouldn’t inherit this jawline?”
“Not the dimples, either,” he murmured. “I had a good jaw and all, but the high cheekbones are new. Nose is new, too. And I had my eye color changed.”
“Well,” I said finally. “I guess I’d love you whether you were old or new. And maybe when we have kids, you’ll get that old part of you back.”
“You want a lot of them?” he asked.
I thought about that seriously for long minutes before saying, “One or two. Not a lot.”
“I always thought that I’d have a basketball team full,” he admitted.
I shuddered.
He chuckled before pulling me close and tucking my head under his chin. “That ship has sailed. That dream was a long time ago. I’ll take any babies you’re willing to give me…after we’ve gotten Wendy settled. I don’t want her to think we’re replacing her with a baby that’s mine. I want her to know that she belongs to both of us. That even though she’s not mine by blood, she’s still mine.”
My heart hurt.
“Mackey would’ve really liked you,” I found myself saying. “He was my best friend, and I’ve felt really lonely not having him around like I used to. It’s been six years of loneliness. But now that you’ve found your way into my life, I don’t feel like it’s quite so bleak.”
A pounding sounded at the door, and both of us sat up abruptly in the bed.
The sheet slipped off of my body, exposing my breasts, and I slowly caught it and pulled it back up to cover me even though whoever was outside had no way of getting in.
“I got it,” he growled, pulling out of me and slowly shifting me to the side.
His cum leaked out of me straight onto the sheets, and I wondered if I should feel bad about that.
Honestly, I kind of thought it was hot.
The pounding started again, and I realized that it might be important.
I headed for his shirt on the floor, pulled it on over my head, and walked to the bedroom door.
Twenty-Five
You had me at ‘we’ll make it look like an accident.’
—Odin to Constance
Odin
I snatched the jeans from the floor that weren’t still connected to my boots and yanked them up one leg at a time while I stalked out of the bedroom toward the front door.
The pounding started again, and I yanked it open in anger to find Black standing on my porch looking amused as hell.
“What?” I snapped.
“I have a few concerned citizens saying you kidnapped a woman,” he drawled.
I looked past Black to see a couple of people standing outside, one of whom was Pendelton’s kid.
The little fucker.
“Willingly kidnapped,” I grumbled.
“I’m sure that’s the case. But I think it would make the citizens of Bear Pass feel a little better if they saw your kidnappee.”
I grumbled something dark under my breath and then called, “Hey, Coco. Can you come out here with some clothes on and show them that I haven’t taken you into my basement and murdered you?”
She appeared at the door in my thermal a moment later.
She’d put that on and nothing else.
My gaze went to her thighs where you could still see my handprints.
My lips quirked.
Black whistled under his breath. “They’re not going to be very convinced if they see her like that.”
I flipped him off. “Maybe go put your clothes on,” I suggested. “They think I really did kidnap you.”
“But you did,” she pointed out teasingly.
I sighed. “Pendelton’s kid is out there starting a riot.”
Her eyes darkened. “What is with that kid? I see him everywhere. Him and his stupid snake.”
“Snake?” Black and I asked at the same time.
“Yeah.” She frowned. “Snake. You haven’t seen him around town riding on that stupid skateboard wearing it around his neck? He also gets this sick sort of thrill every time he walks into the supermarket. Likes to scare the older Black lady, Mrs. O’Neal, when she checks him out. He always pulls it off his neck and wraps it around his wrist when he hands her his card.”
“Prick,” I muttered, looking at Black. “You think that it’s related?”
“What’s related?” Constance asked.
I gestured to the room. “Let’s go get dressed.”
Five minutes later, we were dressed and standing on the front porch talking to Black.
The crowd had dispersed after Constance had shown her face and let everyone know that she was more than all right.
“The only one there was Pendelton’s kid,” I murmured. “Where did all those other people come from?”
“When I got to the school, he was in the gas station causing a ruckus. Telling everyone that would listen that you kidnapped her and forced her into your car against her will,” Black added.
“Well, he wasn’t far from the truth.” Constance rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t necessarily willing at the time.”