Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 70417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
She nodded. “I’m good, Cian. More than good.”
“Why are you crying?” I asked, wiping the moisture on her cheeks. “Did I hurt you?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“I always imagined my first time a certain way, I guess.”
I felt a strange crack in my chest at her words.
I had disappointed her?
Struggling to keep my voice even, I brushed another kiss on her forehead. “And?”
“It was so much more powerful than I expected. So—” she sighed, “—so beautiful, Cian.” She nuzzled my chin. “Thank you for giving me that.”
“You’re the beautiful one, Skylar.”
“You make me feel that way.”
I tightened my arms. “You are.”
She snuggled deeper into my embrace. I ran my fingers through her hair, enjoying the silkiness of the strands. “I can’t let you go now, Skylar.”
“I don’t want you to.”
“You’ll have to start over again with me. You might have to have a new name, new life. All of it.”
“I’m not leaving anything. As long as I’m with you, that’s all that matters. Not what you call me or where I live.”
“I’ll call you mine. Always mine. I love you, Kitten.”
“I love you, Cian.”
I pressed my lips to her forehead.
“How long?” She wondered into the darkness. “How long until you leave?”
“Only a few hours.”
“Is it bad?”
My chest twisted at her quiet words. I had promised her honesty.
“Some moments, I can barely breathe.”
She pressed herself closer. “I want to help.”
“You do help. Knowing you’re here helps.”
“How did you get away?”
I snickered. “Sean. Thanks to him and his technical gadgets, Orson thinks I’m passed out after pounding back an entire bottle of whiskey and regaling him with stories of some of my hits. Carlo dragged my sorry ass down the hall and left me sleeping in the bathtub. I slipped out like a snake through the back.”
“You were drinking?”
“Iced tea.”
“Oh.”
“I had to get to you. I needed to hold you, to feel you.”
“Well, you certainly felt me.”
I drew back, grinning down at her. “Did you just make a joke of our first time, Kitten?”
Her giggle was light, and she kissed my chest. “Never, fuckwit.”
She gasped as I rolled, pinning her under me. “Do I need to remind you how unfunny that was?”
“Um, maybe?”
I brushed my lips over her jaw, trailing kisses to her ear. “Are you sore, baby?”
Her legs wrapped around me, pulling me closer to her warmth. “I want to be sorer.”
I groaned. “Skylar…”
“Please,” she whispered against my lips. “Make me yours again.”
As if I could say no to her.
“Bath first. Then…slow, Kitten. We do this slowly.”
She hummed into my neck, arching her warmth against my growing erection. “Bath,” she agreed.
I carried her into the bathroom, wishing I had days, not hours, with her.
As soon as this was over, I would make it up to her.
Repeatedly.
Chapter 16
Cian
Walking into Orson’s office, I was surprised to see it empty. Unless he was sleeping, eating, or fucking, he was always in there. The devil overseeing his own personal hellhole.
I stretched my shoulders, my muscles tired. I was exhausted—both mentally and physically.
Leaving Skylar in the early hours of the morning had been one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do. I wanted to stay there—in that warm, comfortable bed with her—forever. Her body wrapped around mine, her breath on my neck when I woke up from the brief respite of sleep I allowed myself, had been both perfect and terrible. Perfect because it was her, terrible because now I knew what it was like to make her mine, to feel her. And once again, I had to leave her.
Pressing a kiss to her pouting lips, I had slipped out and felt around for my clothes, remembering to get a fresh gray shirt and leave her the one she wanted.
Otherwise, I knew I’d be getting called fuckwit again.
As I pulled the shirt over my head, light flooded the room, and I met Skylar’s wide gaze.
“You were going to leave again without saying goodbye? Even after last night?”
The hurt in her voice was obvious, and I approached the bed, kneeling beside her. “I didn’t want to wake you, baby.”
“I would rather you did than just leave me.”
Slipping my hand around her neck, I drew her face to mine. “I’m sorry, Kitten.” I brushed my lips over hers. “I’m new at this. Forgive me?”
“Don’t do it again.”
I smiled at her bossy tone. “I won’t.”
Her fingers danced over my skin, and a frown marred her face as she leaned over and looked at my shoulder in the light. “Cian, your tattoo? Why is it all messed up?”
“It’s just covered up, Kitten. Tony had a huge scar on his shoulder, and it worked to cover up my crest, in case Orson or someone else sees it. I try to wear sleeves, but you never know. It’s fine under the film.”
She grinned. “No wifebeaters for you?”
I laughed and rubbed my nose against her affectionately. “As you like to point out, I’m already pushing the Italian clichés. No wifebeaters.”