Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 83430 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83430 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
“Oh my god Brenden,” I whisper, using my last shred of self-awareness to keep from screaming with bliss. “I’m so fucking close.”
“I should stop right now and make you beg on your fucking knees to come, you filthy fucking girl. You don’t deserve it.”
“Fuck you, don’t you dare.”
He keeps going, faster now, insistent. “Shatter, baby. I want you to know who owns this lovely cunt. Shatter so I can lick you from my fingers, please baby, break for me.”
I bite his shoulder to stop myself from screaming as the orgasm wrecks me. It rushes into my core, exploding into my brain, rolling down my spine as my toes curl and my legs go numb. He holds me up, stroking in and out and in again, heel of his hand working my clit as I twist and my vision slowly restores to normal.
“That’s my girl,” he whispers, slowing his stroking, until he’s finished. “Such a good girl. You deserved that punishment, but look at you now.” He slips his hand from my pants. I watch in astonishment as he follows through with his promise and licks his fingers clean. “Delicious fucking girl.”
“You’re insane.” I’m breathing hard, every inch of me flush, head filled with cob-webs and cotton-candy. “No, you’re deranged.”
“And you taste like bourbon mixed with honey.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“It’s perfect.” He tips a middle finger to my lips. “Taste.”
I lick it tentatively. Salty, yes, but also strangely sweet. “You’re so strange.”
“And you won’t ever flirt with another man again when I’m around.”
“You think this is somehow going to stop me? If anything you’re encouraging it.”
His gaze blackens. “I can punish you in other ways.”
“Promise?” I slip from his control and put space between us while I zip myself up and try to make myself look like I didn’t get finger-fucked in an alley to completion. I hold tight to the bottle opener, still in my right hand. “What am I supposed to do with this thing?”
“Keep it. That’s your prize.”
“Does it mean we’re working together?”
“It means our deal stands if you can follow directions and you don’t ask too many questions.”
“I have a feeling we’re going to make fantastic partners.”
“I’m already sure we won’t.” He strides past me but stops a few feet ahead. “Although we did make a decent team.”
“Ha! I knew it! I distracted the bartender with my feminine wiles—“
His shoulders tense and he looks back at me. “Don’t.”
I want to tease him more but I can tell it’s actually bothering him. I don’t know why, but I like that a lot. “Come on, you big jealous idiot. Let’s go back to the house and you can stomp around and act mad all you want, okay?”
I take his arm and I think he’s going to tell me off, but instead he lets me walk him back into the evening, through the crowd near the bar, and back toward home.
CHAPTER 13
BRENDEN
Iroll the bottle opener between my fingers, deftly flipping it around and around as a glass of bourbon sits at my elbow, barely sipped. The bar’s nearly empty after the lunch rush but before the work crowd starts filling the booths.
“You good, man? You need anything else?”
I look up and picture ramming my hand down Justin’s throat, grabbing the root of his tongue, and ripping it straight through his broken jaw.
“No, thank you, I’m fine.”
“Let me know.” He walks off to polish some glasses. I make the opener reappear and continue fiddling with it.
I don’t know what I expected when I told Tallie to get his name. I figured it would be possible but difficult, especially during a busy time like happy hour. She’s a girl who’s used to getting whatever she asks for, and I wanted to see if she could problem solve in an unfamiliar situation under pressure. I assumed it would happen sooner or later, but only after a few awkward attempts.
Instead, she exceeded my wildest predictions.
At first, it looked like she was going to fail. Poor Tallie seemed uncomfortable with the whole exercise, and I thought she might quit before seeing it through.
Then everything changed.
It was like a ghost took her over. I watched her go from meek and nervous to sitting up straight and exuding pure confidence. Tallie’s a beautiful woman and I swear she always seems to glow, but she was using that brightness to her own benefit.
I’ve seen transformations like that in very skilled actors—
And very skilled thieves.
A shadow falls at my elbow as a man sits beside me. I turn to look and flinch with surprise to find Alexan Sarkissian, my brother-in-law, flagging down Justin.
“Scotch on the rocks and a refill for my friend here—?” He looks at me questioningly.
I tilt my glass. “I’m all good.”
“Thanks then.” Justin walks off to fill the order. “I didn’t peg this as your kind of place.”