Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 104185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104185 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
A groan ripped from my chest as I came, hard and violent. White-hot pleasure shot up my spine and burst out into my limbs, making me twitch with each new hit.
The orgasm lasted forever too, like something long overdue and making up for the wait.
As it finally began to fade and my heart slowed its furious tempo, I withdrew and sank beside her, burying my face in her hair with my arm draped over her chest.
The evening had been absolute hell on my bruised back and worth it a thousand times over.
For a long while, we didn’t move. I knew I needed to get up, ditch the condom, and grab the comforter off the floor because our bodies were rapidly cooling off, but it was impossible to find the motivation. There was nowhere else I wanted to be than right here in this moment with her.
But exhaustion was creeping in, and if I didn’t move soon, I’d fall asleep. I lifted my head that was nestled in her neck, finding her eyes clear but tinted with worry.
“Holy shit,” I uttered, using a hand to brush the hair out of her face.
“Yeah.” Her voice was hushed.
She might have been concerned, but there was no guilt about what we’d done or worry over my career imploding. When I put my lips on hers, she was all I could think about.
26
LAUREL
At some point during the night, power had been restored because the alarm clock was blinking, but the lack of sunlight made it difficult to tell what time it was. The large man beside me took up most of the oversized bed.
And he was naked.
Jason had thrown the duvet over us last night, so I slipped out from beneath it and yanked on my camisole and panties. The fire had burned out not long ago, and we were still warm. I scooped up the lump of our wet clothes and padded out into the hallway, exploring.
The laundry room wasn’t far away, and I dropped the clothes in the washer. I found the sophisticated thermostat on the wall in the main living area and pulled a blanket off the back of the sofa to serve as my robe when the furnace kicked on.
I fixed myself some breakfast, even though it was still dark outside and could possibly be the middle of the night.
It was simple time-wasting, a way to avoid thinking about what had happened in the bedroom last night, but the thoughts surfaced no matter what I did. When he arose, he’d give me some speech about the colossal mistake we’d made. Then he’d revert to his closed-off self like he always did after we had acted on our desires.
How fast could he go back to pretending not to care about me? Because that was the crux of my problem. I’d spent the past six years pretty much on my own, and not by choice. My demanding career and unwillingness to let people in made it impossible. So the idea of someone else caring about me, even just my safety, was powerful.
Sleeping with Jason had only added to my confusion about him. It would be so much easier if the sex had been unremarkable and not the best I’d ever had.
I looked a frightening mess in the bathroom.
My hair was flat from the pillow, and a faint red mark had developed dead center of my forehead. It was a lovely addition to the yellowish bruise still ringing my neck. There were more bruises on my body, but if he had noticed them last night, he’d said nothing.
I pulled my hair back into a high ponytail and left the bathroom looking like I’d just gone ten rounds and lost.
Not wanting to snoop through the house, I evaluated what I could to learn about the man who had brought me here. But there weren’t any pictures. The house had a generic feel to it, like it was a house but not a home. The washing machine chimed softly, and I transferred the clothes to the dryer.
There was nothing left to do now but return to Jason.
I filled a glass with water and ice, grabbed the bottle of Advil, and walked back to the bedroom, the ice tinkling in the glass.
He was still asleep, lying face down in the center of the bed when I set the glass on his side of the nightstand. The huge purple knot just left of his spine reminded me that he’d taken a bullet trying to protect me.
This forced me to consider my options. I could return to the living room and stare vacantly into the darkness with my mind noisy . . . or climb back into bed with him.
I slipped under the duvet as silently as I traveled in relevé, but it was wasted. He rose on bent arms and turned to me with a sleepy gaze, giving me a disoriented look. God, he was so good looking, it wasn’t fair.