Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 48412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 242(@200wpm)___ 194(@250wpm)___ 161(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 242(@200wpm)___ 194(@250wpm)___ 161(@300wpm)
“Really? Nothing?”
“Okay, fine. A few things. Like…eternal devotion.” I pull up her shirt just enough to kiss her bare skin, and she squeal-laughs. “Daily sex, followed by cuddling. Weekly mussel pot dates. The bearing of my children. Little things like that.”
“You’re crazy!”
“I am. I’m crazy, Vida. About you.” I kiss my way up to her mouth, looking her in the eye while I tip my head in the direction of my gift. “That’s why I was up at six in the morning coloring your present.”
Brow furrowing, she sits up, looking between me and the rolled paper.
“You…This is a present? For me?”
Suddenly, I’m feeling rather inadequate about my artistic abilities. “My preference would have been sapphires to set off your eyes, but…” I clear my throat hard and step back, picking up the drawing and setting it in her lap. “I guess this will have to do.”
With a hesitant smile, she drags the rubber band off and unfurls my creation, staring at it in stunned silence. One that lasts way too long.
“You made this?”
“Yes, well, it’s not exactly Caravaggio—”
“You remembered how much I love the Milky Way.”
I rear back slightly. “You only told me last night, Vida. Dark matter and all that.”
“Yes. But…you drew it for me. You made this yourself?”
I give a succinct nod. “I had colored pencils delivered this morning.”
A dimple pops in her cheek, and Lord, I am transfixed by it. “Delivered from where?”
“I have no idea, angel. I ask for things and they appear.”
“Such a rich boy,” she whisper-laughs before turning serious. “I love this drawing with my whole heart. It’s the most incredible gift you could have gotten me, Tripp. I love it.”
My pent-up breath comes whooshing out. “Great.”
She sets the drawing down carefully, like it’s on loan from the Louvre, then she scrambles off the table and throws her arms around me, squeezing me in a way I feel deep in my throat. So hard and so meaningfully that I realize I’ve never been hugged like this before.
I’ve been given perfunctory hugs. Polite ones.
Being in Vida’s embrace is like stepping off the edge of a pier and floating into the sunset while dolphins leap in unison around me.
Wait.
Ocean. Sunset.
“Angel, I know I just told you I would never ask you for anything else if you let me lick you off, but I have one more request.”
I’m still holding her close as her laughter vibrates through me, unleashing a feeling that I can only describe as blissful. “You only made it one minute.”
I kiss her forehead twice for good measure, because I have a feeling what comes next is going to be an uphill battle. “Come out on my yacht tonight.”
“You have a…” She pulls back, visibly stunned. “Of course you have a yacht.”
“I dock it here in the summertime.” I tilt her chin up, concerned that I’ve overwhelmed her. Reminded her too soon that we come from opposite worlds. “It’s just a boat, angel.”
“And you want to take me out on it?”
“More than anything,” I say, meaning it. “Here’s the catch, though. I’m hosting a party. It’s an annual tradition and…” I search for the right words to explain. “My entitled prick friends don’t take no for an answer. Traditions are the most important thing to them, and if I shirk that tradition, they will smile in my face while they find some backhanded way to punish me.”
Her confusion is obvious. “I thought you said they were your friends?”
“They are. It’s just…”
“A different world.”
“It’ll be such a better one if you’re there.” I give a flat laugh. “Let me rephrase that. I’ll be miserable without you there, Vida.”
I swallow hard, waiting.
I know what I’m asking her to do—and it’s not an easy request.
I’m asking her to walk into a den of wolves that don’t see her as an equal. No matter what threats I issue in advance, they won’t be capable of treating her like one. They just won’t.
“I’ll think about it, okay?” Vida whispers, going up on her toes to kiss me.
My arm moves on its own, snaking behind her hips to yank her close, bowing her back while I consume her with a groaning kiss. Before I can lift her up for another fix of those thighs around my hips, she breaks the embrace and steps away, though I’m pleased to see she’s blushing to the roots of her hair, her stiff nipples visible even through her vest.
“I’ll think about it,” she repeats, looking up at me. “But I don’t have to think about where I’ll be on my break at one o’clock.” I’m stunned by lust when she reaches out and cups my heavy erection, giving me a single firm stroke through my sweatpants. I break out in an instant sweat. “You’re not the only one who’ll be hungry for lunch.”
NINE
Vida
I take the stairs up to Tripp’s room so no one will see me.