Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 131651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 658(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 658(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
“Not really. I got up for some water and heard you wandering around downstairs.”
“Damn thin insulation in this old house. Not like your grandfather’s place by any stretch,” I tease, kissing the corner of her mouth.
She laughs but searches my expression. “What were you doing?”
“Working,” I admit.
“That should be illegal after midnight.” She takes my hand and leads me back to the bedroom, shutting the door behind us and pushing me up against it.
I let her, knowing she’s so small and light I could throw her onto the bed from here.
“I’ve never been good at switching off,” I whisper against her mouth.
How the fuck does she always smell delicious? Apple blossoms for miles.
Fucking apple.
I inhale her roughly, not caring when she laughs.
“Maybe I should help you.”
“Maybe you should.” Her hand stops mine before it slides up her baggy tee.
“But you should also tell me what has you so worried.” She leans back so she can look at me through the hazy strips of soft streetlights coming through the blinds.
“I’d rather make you come with my mouth.”
“Soon.” She looks at me impatiently, and I sigh.
“I was looking into the thieves, following the trail of crumbs. Happy now?”
“No,” she says, but she leans up to kiss me anyway. “Holden, I told you not to worry. You’ll drive yourself crazy. We’re safe now, and the rest should be up to the police.”
I wish it were that simple.
She’d hate me even more if she knew I called Fairfax. Shit, if she knew everything, she’d be mad at me for breaching her independence.
She’d be right, too.
If she were my client—a normal boss, a normal relationship—I’d have obeyed her instructions and let it go.
But it’s not a normal working relationship.
We’re emotionally invested and sharing a bed. We’re living under my roof with a priceless object that paints a target on our backs.
This isn’t about duty—it’s about protecting her.
If something happened to her, or even to the fucking egg, I’d never forgive myself.
“I hear you, woman. Live in the moment,” I whisper, wrapping my hands around her waist and drawing her up to my mouth. I kiss down her neck and she gasps. “Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten.”
“Holden.”
She grips my arms, her little nails digging in.
“You’re going to have to be quiet for me, Nile.” I slide my hands down to her ass, shoving her against my cock until she moans. “Understand?”
“Yes,” she whimpers.
It’s easier to carry her to bed than to think about the things I’m not telling her. Easier to kiss up her stomach, pushing her shirt as I go, than think about what she’ll say if she finds out what I’m up to.
Her breath shudders as I cover those tits with my hands, nipples blooming between my fingers.
The roughness just adds another layer of sensation.
No sight, only touch.
Just frantic breath and tongues and teeth.
I suck her nipple. She gasps and stiffens.
I’m so hilariously boned. How could I ever stop wanting her?
I don’t just mean burying my dick balls deep but wanting to see her smile. To make her laugh. Wanting her to cry out in the darkness, spilling my name like the dark, twisted shadow I’ve become in her world.
It’s absurd, how much we’ve surrendered to desire.
Her heart pounds under my hand. I press it against her chest and her eyes glow indigo.
I know she’s here with me, lost in electric anticipation, so ready to lose ourselves in another night of bad decisions.
“Holden,” she moans. “I want you now.”
“Patience, woman.”
“Fuck patience.”
“No.” I kiss her hip, my voice possessive. “I wouldn’t like you fucking anything that isn’t me.”
She shivers. “Ever?”
I keep kissing her skin, even as my brain freezes.
There’s a damning question.
A vulnerability I haven’t heard before.
An answer that feels impossible.
I spread her legs and settle between them, distracting her with kisses.
“Not while we’re doing this.” I bite her inner thigh. The safe answer. The only one I can give with pure madness boiling my brain, my blood. It must work because she muffles her face in the pillow. “You said live in the moment, Clee. Here we fucking are. It’s a jealous moment, and I won’t share it or you with anything.”
“I don’t want anyone else. I— Oh!”
I don’t let her finish.
And I lose my last ragged thread of self-control as I bring my mouth to her pussy, owning her clit with my tongue. She’s already wet and she tastes like seventh heaven.
Like every dirty, forbidden thing I wouldn’t let myself have.
Everything I wonder how the fuck I’ll live without after this arrangement ends.
I fuck her with my tongue until she’s moaning louder against the pillow. I watch her stuff the corner into her mouth and bite it, twisting her face.
I bring her to the edge again and again, until she’s begging me to let her come, thighs twisting around my head.
Finally, I do.
I push my beard against her pussy and grip her thighs, making her ride my tongue until she’s arching, straining, coming real sweet for me.