Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 30269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 151(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 151(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
He pulls me tighter, one hand stroking a hypnotic path down my spine. Eventually, my eyelids droop.
Somewhere in the distance, a train howls.
“Sleep, baby,” he murmurs against my temple. “You need it.”
“I don’t want to wake up without you.”
“You won’t. I’m with you, no matter what.” He kisses me, his tongue sliding between my lips, languid with promise. “An ocean might separate us, but you’re mine, and I’m yours. Don’t ever forget that.”
A vow of certainty strings those words together, and I feel his faith in us—like a tangible knowing that lives in my blood. But even as my eyes drift shut, the seconds tick toward the dawning day…
When he’ll be gone again.
5
If I keep my eyes shut and sink further into the haze of half-sleep, I can almost feel him spooning me, every inch of him entwined with every inch of me.
It’s how I fell asleep, locked in his embrace.
But as the sun coaxes my eyes open, my attempt to delude myself slips away, and I’m faced with the cold, empty spot where Sebastian should be.
I hold my breath to contain the pain, because the sight of that bare pillow tries to squeeze the life from me.
Breathing hurts.
For one disoriented moment, I wonder if he was ever here at all. What if last night was just a figment of my grief?
Impossible. My body remembers.
The soreness between my thighs. The warmth still thrumming under my skin. The ghost of his scent on the sheets.
He’s alive.
It really happened.
A throat clears, and my gaze swings toward the foot of the bed to find Oliver perched at the edge.
“How long have you been sitting there?” Clutching the blanket to my chest, I push upright to face him.
“A few minutes.” He reaches for a domed silver tray on the rolling cart beside him and sets it on the mattress between us. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“You, um…you didn’t. I just wasn’t expecting you so early.”
“It’s mid-morning, Novalee.” With a hint of amusement in his light brown eyes, he traps me in his sights. “I trust you slept well?”
“Apparently so.”
It was the best sleep I’ve had in weeks, with Sebastian wrapped around me. I tug the sheet higher, as if my nakedness will spill the truth.
That I’m no longer a…
Virgin.
An achy flutter dances in my core, and a flush of heat stains my cheeks before I can stop it.
Oliver studies me a beat longer, brows pulled together in a faint wrinkle.
Can he detect the change in me?
God, I need a distraction.
Forcing last night’s memories into the back of my mind, I lift the lid from my breakfast. A stack of pancakes drizzled in maple syrup waits for me, fresh berries piled alongside.
“This smells amazing. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
I load a bite onto my fork and bring it to my mouth. But the simple act of eating won’t distract him for long, because Oliver has the patience of a saint…or a sadist who gets his kicks from watching me squirm. The way he stood in my doorway each night for weeks is a testament to his character.
“Where’s yours?” I ask, setting my fork down, full after a few bites. “Aren’t you going to eat?”
“I already did.” His thumb brushes a stray drop of syrup from my lower lip. “Did you get yourself off last night?”
He lets the question fly without warning, that casual tone making my mind stumble. I’m so caught off guard, I nearly choke on my words.
“Did I…what?”
“You heard me. Did you come?”
Yes. Too many times to count.
There’s no hiding my blush, especially from him.
A slow smile pulls at his lips. “Good girl.”
I let him draw his own conclusion. Let his assumption shield all the things I have to keep hidden.
“Now that you’re rested,” he says, shifting his weight on the mattress, “I thought we might get out of here for a while.”
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll find out soon enough. Dress warm.”
And that’s how we end up on the rocky coastline in the fog and rain.
The drive west from Portland passes easy enough. Three hours trapped in the back seat with him?
Not so much.
Within the first hour, moss-covered trees swallow the highway. Fog pulls loose between the trunks, like chiffon off a spool.
Oliver sits beside me, one ankle crossed over the opposite knee, scrolling emails, oblivious to the beauty of nature blurring past us. Every so often, our gazes tangle, just a glance, before he returns to his screen.
And I can’t shake the feeling that he knows…something. That he senses the nervousness in my silence or the way I try not to flinch every time his elbow brushes mine.
Not because I find him repulsive.
That is not the problem.
Almost from the first moment I entered his house, something sparked between us, unwanted yet undeniable, refusing to be ignored.
But I have to.
Because I can’t slip up. He sees too much already, and the secret of Sebastian’s survival is too important to let it leak through the cracks.