Total pages in book: 194
Estimated words: 187021 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 935(@200wpm)___ 748(@250wpm)___ 623(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 187021 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 935(@200wpm)___ 748(@250wpm)___ 623(@300wpm)
And fuck, she wanted that. She didn’t know if she was his sacrifice or if there was some other game that Estelle was playing. She was too tangled up in him—had been, for far too long. She’d crossed an ocean to escape him, and it still hadn’t been far enough.
“The world looked different when I first purchased this flat,” Graves said into the darkness.
Kierse turned on her side to face him. She could only see the outline of his beautiful face. A visage cut from stone. She knew how it would feel to give in. To say fuck it, like she had that first time. If only things were so easy.
“Less noise. Less people. Less chaos,” he mused.
“When was that?”
“Before the World’s Fair. I was here with Imani as my apprentice,” he told her. “We met Montrell when he came from Nigeria for the Fair.”
“And you loved him?”
Graves’s lips quirked up. “An obsession,” he said instead. “For me and Imani both before he chose her.”
“Because you let him go,” she corrected.
“Perhaps,” he admitted.
She blinked in surprise. “You think you made a mistake? You?”
“I have been reevaluating my past since you left.” He turned to look at her, and her heart stopped at the heat in that gaze. The way he seemed to reel her in, tugging bit by bit. “And perhaps some things were my fault.”
“Like what?”
Graves leaned forward and settled his hand on her hip. She inhaled sharply as he said, “You.”
“Me?”
“Everything that happened with you.” His fingertips circled on her naked hip. “I wish I could rewrite my life with you in it.”
She swallowed. She didn’t know what to do with this information as her body hummed to life. She leaned toward him until their bodies were mere inches apart, her heart rate ratcheted up, and she glanced at his perfectly kissable lips and then back into his eyes. His gaze settled on her, fingers sliding down her thigh.
The dark was where they both existed the best. It was easier to be here with him like this when she didn’t have to consider consequences or what came next.
“Kierse,” he breathed her name in the darkness, his fingers digging into her thigh as if he could barely hold himself back.
She shivered, wanting nothing more than his lips on hers. He drew her leg up, settling one leg between hers. His fingers drifted up the back of her thigh. Sensation rushed through her body as if awakening from a cold winter.
“Graves,” she said, and it came out more like a plea.
“Have you not missed me?” he asked. Their breath mingled as he brushed his nose along her jaw. “Have you not thought about this moment all these cold months without me?”
“I…”
She had. Could he read her? Was her magic that low? Or was it that obvious that despite her anger, she still wanted him with a fiery, obsessive desire?
He nipped at her earlobe. “Tell me what I can do to correct your estimation of me.”
“Stop lying,” she ground out.
“There will be no lies between us, then,” he agreed. He dipped his head into her neck. “I can smell your arousal.”
She tilted forward and into his embrace. Damn him. Damn her.
Her hands splayed across his solid chest. The heat of his fire, an inferno, was the only thing that could quench the ache building between her legs. His fingers shifted upward, brushing against the soft silk of her panties. They groaned together at the feel, and she nearly came right then and there. She was already soaked through from his teasing.
“Do not lie to yourself either,” he said as he brushed his lips against her throat. “We both know you want this.”
“Graves,” she panted.
His finger began to swirl around her most sensitive bud. “All those long months with just your hand.”
“I…could have had a lover,” she gasped.
His chuckle was rough against her throat as his fingers swished through the slick material, feeling all of her. “My wren, my little thief, who else could satisfy you?”
She wanted to argue with him. Arguing with him had been the foreplay that led to this moment. But as his fingers were currently occupied with her clit, she could do nothing but hold on for the ride. She couldn’t even fathom how turned on she was. He was still working her over her panties, and she felt close to bursting.
“Let the monster off the leash,” he commanded, using the words she had said to him all those months ago. “Come for me.”
And she did, shuddering, panting, and feral, her moans a chorus in the silent French apartment.
When she finished, he gave her pussy a little slap and rolled away from her with a satisfied smirk on his face. “At least that is still mine.” His eyes sparkled as he said, “Bonne nuit.”
Kierse glared at him through waves of pleasure as he closed his eyes. As if he could pass out after that. He’d proven his point. The bastard. No matter how far she ran, her body betrayed her with him at every turn. Something she very clearly could no longer lie to herself about.