Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 26941 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 135(@200wpm)___ 108(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26941 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 135(@200wpm)___ 108(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
Trying not to get sidetracked by his thick, erect cock, which I desperately want to feel inside me, I work on my slacks and manage to slide them, along with my underwear, down to my ankles. He grabs hold and pulls, adding them to his garments on the floor.
Then he stands between my legs, his erection gripped in his hand, when it dawns on me.
“We need a condom,” I say.
He winces. “Shit. I didn’t bring one.” He studies me intently and then speaks. “I haven’t been with anyone in over six months, and I’ve had a physical since then. I’m clean.”
I swallow hard. When we were together last, we always used protection. We were young, not stupid. And I’ve never slept with a man unless he wore a condom.
“I’m on the pill,” I whisper.
“So I guess the question is, do you trust me?” As he asks, he lazily pumps his cock in his hand, his jaw tight as he works his grip up and down.
His lean, strong, muscled body exudes want and sex appeal, but beyond the physical, what he is asking me goes deeper. If I say yes, if I feel him bare, it will change me. It will change us.
“I trust that you’re telling me the truth.” I swipe my tongue over my lips. “I’m struggling with what saying yes would mean.” He deserves nothing but honesty.
His eyes glitter as he meets my gaze. “It would mean everything. I want you to trust me not just with your body but with your heart.”
Well, that is putting it out there, I think, my pulse picking up speed.
“I want you to believe I’ll never intentionally hurt you. I won’t cheat when I’m on the road. I don’t know how long the touring part of the Original Kings will last, but it won’t be every year. I’ll talk to Dash and see if he’s ready to cut back some. I’ll give you everything you want for your future because I want the same things, but only with you.”
My mouth parts, and I stare up at the man I once dreamed would be my future, even as I knew we could never make it work. I’ve been fighting him from the day he walked back into my life, and I understand why. I lost Axel, then not long after, my father’s death left me with abandonment issues that run deep.
Now I have to choose. Let him in, in every way, or continue to protect myself and never know true happiness. I watched my mother conquer her grief and move on. Am I going to doom myself to a life of loneliness?
He holds out a hand, silently asking for … everything.
I draw a deep breath and take that final leap, linking my hand in his.
“Thank fuck,” he says, the relief in his tone palpable. The husky desire in his voice renews my own.
I’m not sure who moves first, but he falls on top of me, his lips consuming mine, our kiss more open, honest, and giving than anything I’ve felt before.
He helps me slide back to the center of the bed and rises over me, his cock once again in his hand, this time at my pulsing, needy core.
“You’re mine. You’ve always been mine,” he says and slides into me, filling me, consuming me.
He’s smooth and hot inside me, and with nothing between us, we bond in ways that surpass sex and break through the concrete wall I built around my heart.
CHAPTER NINE
Axel
I wake up wrapped around Tara. For the first time in forever, all is right in my world. Since I don’t want to wake her, I have a long time to think about everything that happened yesterday and how quickly things did a one-eighty. Walter is still in the kennel, which breaks my damned heart, but the woman I love is in my arms.
Given the choice, things worked out in my favor, but I wish I could help those dogs find homes and Norah save the shelter. Ideas come and go as Tara sleeps, some sticking and helping me form a game plan.
Once I work out those issues, my thoughts turn to Tara. I breathe her in, inhaling the strawberry scent of her shampoo and the lingering hint of sex in the air. Last night was a reunion of the best kind. After that first time, we fell asleep. I woke her at three with my face in her pussy and my name on her lips, and after an explosive orgasm where I thought she pulled out all of my hair, she greedily returned the favor. I came harder than I ever have in my life, and I grin at the memory.
I don’t know how I convinced her to trust me, and as she stirs, I’m worried she’ll wake up and regret that she gave herself to me in the deepest way. I made myself clear that I want everything, and I wasn’t kidding.