Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107376 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107376 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
“Just as savage as I remember,” I murmur, so unbelievably drawn to this woman in her rage-fueled fury, all I want to do is push her buttons and watch her tear me to pieces. “Let me make it up to you.”
Her jaw tightens, and I have to give her credit where it’s due. She didn’t tell me to drown in acid, which is a bonus.
I fix her with a stare, letting her know just how serious I am. “Let me buy you a drink, Lyra.”
She barks a sharp laugh as though I just asked if she would like to fuck an overgrown cactus. “I would rather lick the floor of a public bathroom than go out with you again,” she says before smiling at the customer beside me and taking his order.
I let out a breath as I grip the edge of the bar, trying to keep myself from jumping over the damn thing and getting in her face until she can no longer ignore me.
She does her thing, doing her best to tune me out, but the tightness in her body tells me she’s painfully aware that I’m still here. “I’m serious, Savage,” I tell her. “I like you, and I’m not about to just walk away. I know you felt it too. If you didn’t care, you wouldn’t be so worked up.”
Lyra lets out a sigh, and after handing a beer to the guy next to me, she turns that lethal stare back on me. “I did care. I cared so much that I cut my shift short and put on a nice outfit. But you fucked it up. You fumbled, and I don’t give second chances, especially not to guys who leave me sitting alone at a bar at four in the morning after bragging about how thoroughly he was going to fuck me. A better option came along, and that’s fine. Own it. But now that you’ve likely screwed that one up too, I’m not about to be someone’s consolation prize.”
Her words hit me like a fucking weapon, and I arch a brow as I take her in. “That’s what you think? That I see you as a consolation prize?”
“What else am I supposed to think? You literally got a booty call in the middle of our date and immediately bailed for a better option. You’re an ass and a player. I see right through your game, and I’m not interested. Go find some other girl to screw over because it won’t be me. Besides, I’m seeing somebody else now.”
Her words cut through me like a blade, and while I’d give anything to explain what really happened that night and why I had to leave, I can’t do that without putting her life at risk. Then as if seeing the way her words tear at my soul, a small sharp smile starts pulling at her lips like the little savage I know her to be. “You missed your shot, Hunter.”
Something wavers in her stare, and I realize she’s bullshitting right through her teeth. She’s not seeing someone, though she might have used some poor bastard to scratch that itch. I still have her right where I want her.
I recover almost immediately and scoff. “Oh, Savage. You really think that’s an issue for me?”
Her stare narrows on me. “It should be.”
A grin pulls at my lips, and I lean closer into the bar, my stare eating her alive. “That depends,” I murmur, knowing she hears me perfectly over the loud bass. “Does he make you squirm the way I do?”
Something sharp flashes across her face before she quickly pulls away, turning her focus to the next eager customer when she seems to reconsider and whips back around, fixing me with a stare that’s hard enough to wake the dead. And I know without a doubt, she’s about to deliver the final blow, slamming the last nail straight into my coffin.
“You know what? He does make me squirm,” she tells me. “And better yet, he follows through. He gets the job done and leaves me shaking for hours after, and that’s a shitload better than whatever bullshit you were serving the other night. Now, please, for the love of all that’s holy, get the hint and leave me alone. I might have been interested, but like I said, I don’t offer second chances. I learn from my mistakes, and maybe you should do the same so you don’t screw over the next girl who foolishly falls into your trap.”
Fuck me. She’s got me there.
I should leave. Any smart man would see that the door to this possibility isn’t just closed, it’s bolted and welded shut, but unfortunately for me, I never claimed to be a smart man. I’m a sucker for punishment, and Lyra seems like the kind of girl who loves to dish it out.