Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 59413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
I think about Wolfe and the club, someone like me could bring a lot of heat to them. My jaw tightens, and I stare up at the ceiling. “Gage doesn’t let things go,” I say. “He’ll come for you, for everyone. He won’t stop.”
Kael’s hand moves, almost absent, making circles over my hip bone. “He’s not the first man with a grudge I’ve come across,” he says, a low rumble in his chest. “The club won’t let him hurt you.”
I exhale. “You make it sound so simple.”
“Doesn’t have to be complicated,” he murmurs, and now his thumb shadows the line of my ribs, up and down. My pulse quickens.
“What if Wolfe doesn’t want this on him?” I ask, softer now. “What if I’m not worth all the hell I bring?”
Kael’s body tenses, subtle, but I feel it. “That’s not for you to worry about,” he murmurs. “Wolfe wants you safe as much as I do. If Gage wants a war, we’ll make sure he doesn’t come out standing.”
His hand continues its exploration. It’s not sexual, just soft. Still, my lungs suddenly feel as though they aren’t taking enough air. I swallow, uncomfortable with the familiar flutter stirring deep down.
“You don’t even know me enough to help me like this.”
He chuckles, low. “I know enough.”
I close my eyes, counting my breaths. I am tired. So tired. But I don’t want to sleep, not yet. Kael’s finger dips lower, tracing my flesh, just above the ugly scar. My whole body flushes and I stiffen, scared of how this makes me feel.
He pauses, and without thought, I immediately blurt, “I want you, but I’m scared. I’m scared of the way you make me feel.”
He rolls toward me, his hard body pressing farther into mine, his hands sliding around my back and pulling me closer as his lips settle against my forehead for a long moment. “If you want me, darlin’, you got me.”
I close my eyes, breathing out against his chest.
“Sleep, baby,” he murmurs. “I got you.”
I have no energy left to fight. I let him hold me, let my guard down for the first time in years. The last thing I feel before sleep drags me under is his hands sliding up and down my back, bringing me a comfort I didn’t know I needed.
For the first time in a long time, I feel light.
Like the weight of the world isn’t crushing me.
I could get used to this.
I WAKE UP TO KAEL’S beard scratching my jaw. His entire arm wraps around my midsection, one big hand splayed over my belly so I can feel the spread of his fingers through the cotton of his shirt and the thump of his pulse against my spine. He’s breathing lightly, not snoring, just letting out a slow, steady exhale each time his chest rises.
My sleep’s never deep. I hover at the edge, half-aware, but for once, I don’t hate it. I don’t even mind that my rest is interrupted by the weight of his thigh draped across mine, or how his hand tenses like he’s trying to keep me from slipping away in the night. Maybe he is, maybe I want him to.
Carefully, I roll over to face him. Not easy with the size of his arms caging me in, but I manage, shifting so my nose nearly touches the hollow of his throat. He’s so warm. I wish I could say there’s some epic battle in my head: Don’t do this, Sable. This is a mistake, Sable. But I stopped listening the moment I found my husband with two other women.
Not that he’s entirely to blame.
I am equally at fault for the way things ended.
All I want right now is to get closer to the only thing that’s made me feel anything good in years. So, I let myself settle into him, press my face just under his jaw, and breathe. Kael’s scent is everywhere, something masculine, leather and whiskey and the faint soap he must have used when he showered.
His hand moves, smooth and deliberate, sliding up my back sleepily. He’s not as unconscious as I thought. I feel the tension in his arm as he pulls me in, pressing my chest flush to his, and then I’m trapped. Fuck, I like it. I rest my palm against his sternum, right over his heart, and feel it speed up, just a hair.
Kael murmurs something in that sleepy, sexy voice and I can’t help it.
I kiss him.
It’s not careful. There’s a split-second where he freezes, but then his mouth claims mine hard enough to leave my lips numb, his hands framing my jaw and holding me in place. I only realize I’m making a sound when he presses his tongue past my teeth and a raw, desperate noise tumbles out.
He rolls us so I’m beneath him, bracing himself with his elbows at either side of my head. The covers have gone somewhere, and now the shift of his skin against my bare legs sets every nerve on fire. He’s so fucking heavy, all muscle and heat, and it feels like being pinned by a goddamn bear.