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)
I’m sick, but I don’t want to cure myself.
I only want to get sicker.
Logically, I know she’ll never be the kind of girl who is comfortable spending bucketloads of money, but a man can dream, can’t he? I think I’d bust in my pants if she let me buy her a coffee at this point.
I clasp her around the waist and drag her closer in my lap, inhaling the sweet, simple scent between her pert tits, the sexy pair of them cupped and plumped by the corset dress. And I pray to the gods of stamina not to let me down tonight. Not to let me pop the second I get balls deep. Please let me last.
“It’s beautiful, Tripp,” she breathes, looking at me. “The whole boat, really. It’s stunning.”
“The only stunning thing I see here is you,” I say, meaning every word. “I don’t think you’re aware, Vida, how easily your face puts everything I own to shame.”
Her eyes soften, his gentle fingertips brushing down the side of my face. “I’m sorry for what happened on deck with your friend.” A line of worry appears between her brows. “I’m sure he said something about me, but Tripp, I can handle things like that. You really don’t have to defend me—”
“Vida.” A terrible sense of foreboding rises in my stomach. The bet. The bet. Why did I make that fucking bet? Should I tell her? No. Not tonight. We just revealed our feelings for one another, and I don’t want to ruin this deep intimacy between us. I’ll tell her tomorrow. Once I explain why I did it, she’ll understand. “Everyone loved you tonight. You were magnificent just being yourself. He was an anomaly—and it was an honor to defend you against that. I want that right.”
After a small hesitation, she gives me the cutest lopsided smile. “That was a pretty mean right cross for a rich boy.”
Affection tumbles through my chest. “What, you think because I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth, I don’t know how to brawl? Lacrosse is a full-contact sport, angel. I’m the captain because I flatten anyone who gets in my way.”
“Scary,” she whispers.
“To everyone but you, maybe.”
“You scare me, too, but in a different way.”
I tilt my head in concern. “What way?”
“I don’t know what my future holds anymore. I couldn’t imagine myself rearranging it for anyone, but then…you.”
My heart beats erratically in my ears. “Me. Exactly. That’s what your future holds.”
“I’m starting to think you really mean that,” she whispers.
“I’ve never meant anything more in my fucking life.”
She studies me in breathless surprise for a moment before wetting her lips and scooting closer in my lap, her pussy nudging up against my erection. The one I’ve had since she showed up in that dick-tease dress and informed me I’d be punching her V-card tonight. Her breath stutters when she feels it, her tits swelling in the neckline of her dress on a deep breath.
“Tonight…” she starts, trailing off.
I grip her butt in my hands and tug her flush against me, watching twin spots of pink appear on her cheeks. “Yes?”
“D-do you want me to…fight you off? Or—”
“What?” Alarm belts me in the jaw as my spine snaps straight, my hands flying up to cradle her face. “No. No, no, no, Vida. Not tonight. Tonight is about you.”
“But I like what we do.” Her pupils throb wider. “I really like it.”
Put me to death if this girl is all a dream.
“We’re going to have plenty of time to explore that fantasy, Vida. Not to mention all the other ones I’ve had since meeting you.” I slide my right hand to the back of her dress, searching for the zipper with my fingertips. “But your first time…I want you to feel safe, angel. Loved.”
Pleasure spills across her beautiful face. “Okay.”
“Okay.”
I pull down the zipper—and it snags.
There’s a ripping sound.
Vida’s eyes go wide as silver dollars, a sob tripping out of her mouth. “Oh no.”
I arch an eyebrow. “Oh no?”
Her breathing turns ragged. “I’m supposed to return this dress. I b-borrowed it from the shop at the resort. I can’t bring it back damaged.” She tries to look over her shoulder. “Is it bad?”
“Lean forward.” I pull her into me and crane my neck to look at the center of her back, wincing when I see the ripped material. “Well, it’s definitely not good.”
“Oh my God. This dress is three thousand dollars.” Her bottom lip wobbles. “They’re going to make me pay for it.”
“Like fuck they are, Vida.”
“What do you mean?”
I know it’s going to take her a while to grow accustomed to this world, but I’m feeling an urgent need to steep her in finery that only doubles every time I notice she needs something I can easily provide. “Vida, the sheets on this bed alone were probably in the neighborhood of ten thousand dollars.”