Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 87695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
“He said something to me.” She sits back down on the edge of the bed, clearly fighting not to look in my direction. I’m aware of how close to being totally naked I am, and I drift closer to her.
“What’d he say?”
“First, he nearly hit me with his car.”
My eyes narrow. “I’m guessing not on purpose.”
“It was my fault, honestly. But after we got past that, he said he was just looking out for me and that I shouldn’t give up on you.”
Frustration swells in my chest. Fucking Finn poking his nose where it doesn’t belong. I’m trying not to feel anything for Alina while he’s going around telling her this stupid crap.
“I don’t even know what that means,” I say with a gentle snarl.
“You’ve been weird lately. Don’t pretend like you haven’t been.”
I say nothing. What’s there to tell her? She’s absolutely right, and I’m not about to lie to her face.
She looks at me and blows a breath from her cheeks. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. You have nothing to say like always.” She stands, shaking her head. “Sorry, this was such a stupid mistake. You can go back to bed. I’ll be fine.”
She moves to the door, and something inside of me cracks. Some resolve splinters, and I’m walking after her. I should be light as a feather right now. I should be drifting along without a care or an attachment in sight. Instead, I’m an anchor, and she’s my ocean, or some shit like that.
I catch her wrist. “Wait,” I say, not really sure where I want this to go or what’s about to happen, but it’s the touch that does it.
The feel of her skin melts something.
Breaks it in half, more like.
Physically, violently.
She looks back at me, and her expression is pleading. It kills me, the desperation in her eyes.
“What did Molchanie say to you?” she whispers.
“She threatened my family.”
Her expression softens. “Oh, Seamus. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize.”
“How would you?”
“But why are you pulling away from me?” Her face screws up in confusion. Then she looks at me in surprise. “She threatened them because of me, didn’t she?”
I nod slowly. “She told me that if I don’t leave you, she’ll kill someone I care about. She gave me a week. That was three days ago.”
Her face goes pale. “What are you going to do?”
“I didn’t plan on telling you.”
“Seamus. This is serious. We have to do something. We have to—”
I pull her tight against me. She stares in shock as my grip holds her hips fast. I don’t release her when she tugs back. Instead, I snake one hand into her hair.
“I’m not leaving you.”
She looks confused and hurt. “But your family. If we don’t—”
“They’ll just marry you to someone else.”
“Is this why you’ve been so distant?”
“It’s safer for you if I make Molchanie think I’m doing what she wants.”
Understanding blossoms in Alina’s expression, followed by a grimace of pain. “I can’t let someone get killed because of me. There’s got to be a way out of this. Who is she? What does she even care if we’re married?”
“I don’t know, but I’m not stepping aside.” The conviction comes over me like a wave. Maybe it’s the feeling of her body against mine. Maybe it’s the way she’s looking at me, horrified and scared, but also like I can fix this.
Like despite everything, she trusts me.
I stoop down and brush my lips against hers. She makes a soft whimper as I press them harder and kiss her, fully and deeply, until I’m gripping her hair tight and dominating her mouth with mine.
This isn’t how I saw tonight going.
But it’s what I need. It’s what I think she needs too. She moans into my kiss as I pull her to the bed, roughly taking off her pajama top and tossing it aside. She’s bare underneath, and I palm her breasts, kissing her neck and down to her stiff nipples as I draw her down beneath me. She squirms and groans. I snarl and unleash myself on her. I kiss her, tongue taking her mouth, as my fingers slip down between her legs. She gasps, arching as I tease her wet slit, rolling around her clit before spreading her slightly, easing her apart.
I shouldn’t be doing this.
It’s the opposite of putting distance between us.
But now that I have her smell, her taste, her noises in my head, I can’t stop.
I rip her panties off, and she’s moaning as I kiss her inner thigh. My tongue stiffens, and I glide it up along her slit, tasting her and groaning with pleasure as she arches into me, gasping for air.
“Seamus, wait,” she says, gripping my hair. I look up and stare into her eyes. Her breasts rise and shake with each hard breath she draws in. “I can’t… I don’t want to be a problem…”