Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 88182 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88182 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
I make it through another half hour of this and one more glass before I’m done. I fall wearily into the chair beside Deanna and study the curve of her mouth as she talks appetizers.
“How come you never have a boyfriend?”
She startles like a deer. “What now?”
“Close that monstrosity.” I gently fold the binder shut. “You never have men in your life. Why not?”
“I don’t have time and it’s none of your business.”
“How long have you worked for me?”
“Feels like forever.”
“And in all that time, you’ve never once mentioned a partner.”
“Did you stop to think that maybe, just maybe, I’d want to keep a boyfriend miles and miles away from you?”
She’s got a fantastic point. I gesture at her with my glass. “And yet I don’t think that’s it.”
Silence falls. She hunches her shoulders and tucks the binder in her lap. “Honestly? I don’t have time.”
“Why not?”
“You know why. I work all day and at night I need to help around the house.”
“Now that you’re making even more money, you should have more freedom.”
“I do,” she admits, chewing the pen. It’s painful, watching her mouth and thinking how my cock would stretch her pretty lips wide. “But it’s hard, you know? Meeting someone.”
“Want me to introduce you to a friend?”
She snorts like that’s the dumbest idea ever. “I didn’t know you had friends.”
“I have hundreds of them.”
“You have acquaintances. But actual friends?”
Well fuck. That strikes too close to home. I lean toward her and put a hand on her thigh. “Easy, flower. That was a bit too insightful.”
“Sorry, if I crossed a line—“ Her eyes drop to where I’m touching her, but she doesn’t tell me to stop.
“It’s alright. Honestly, you’re too good for all the scumbags I know.”
“Therein lies my problem.” A wistful smile. “But who cares about my nonexistent love life? You’re the one getting married. Are you nervous?”
“I don’t know.” My hand strokes up her leg. I shift closer, enticed by her scent, my pulse rocketing. She’s not pulling away. If anything, she’s leaning in. “I haven’t thought about it.”
“You’re walking down the aisle and you really haven’t thought about it?”
“She’s a partnership. Do you think about all your partners?”
“It’s a little sad, you know? Calling your future wife that.”
“If I were marrying you… what would you want me to call you?”
Her breath hitches. Fuck, she’s so sexy, it kills me. What am I doing right now, touching Deanna alone in my office? We’re supposed to be planning my wedding, and here I am, obsessing over her mouth and how I want to destroy it while I fill her so full she screams in pure bliss.
“Whoever I marry… I want him to put me before everyone else.”
“Is that love to you?”
“I don’t know what love is, honestly. It’s definitely not—“ She looks pointedly at my hand, which is now dangerously close to the binder covering her pussy.
I don’t bother moving it. “I can agree with that.”
“Love is possession. It’s taking someone and giving them all of you in return. It’s a commitment and a promise. I don’t have time for love right now.”
“That’s sad.”
“Are you sure?” She stands abruptly, clearing her throat and brushing herself off. She holds the binder in front of her like a shield. “Anyway, I have enough. I’ll talk to Valentina and figure out all the rest of it soon.”
“Of course.” I sit back, wishing I could pull her down into my lap, but as soon as the idea slices into my skull like a hot knife I have to force it away. Valentina is my future bride.
Deanna works for me, that’s all. She’s a pain in my ass, much too uptight, always judgmental, and far too naive. Whether her pussy tastes like heaven and her moans sound like angelsong is entirely irrelevant.
“Make sure you’re ready.” She walks to the door and leaves.
I force myself not to watch her ass. The door clicks shut and I lean my head back, following the line of a crack in the ceiling, wondering how many more people I’ll ruin to get what I want and if all this suffering will be worth the blood in the end.
CHAPTER 10
PRIME
It’s one thing to have a drink before your own wedding. I figure men since the dawn of time have tossed back some fermented sugar bullshit to help fortify them for the coming vows.
But usually there are friends and family around.
It’s not a drink in some depressing room entirely alone.
Maybe getting hitched is making me reflect too much. I look back on my years and they’re bleak. My childhood is a series of foster families, state-run orphanages, and long months spent on the street. I knew people, but never had many friends, at least until I got older.
I met Shawn on a perfect Tuesday afternoon. He punched me in the face and stole my shoes. Later that night, I beat him while he was still asleep, wrapped my hands around his throat, and told him that if he ever touched my shit again, he wouldn’t wake up next time. We were as close as anyone gets in our world after that.