Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 113353 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113353 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Of course he didn’t. How would he know?
She didn’t wait for his answer. “I would sit for hours next to Maggie and talk to her about her job. She had so many stories. Happy. Sad. She touched so many lives. She witnessed so many deaths. Like I said, she was so strong, and I wanted to be just like her.”
“You are, Jem.”
“I guess.” Not strong enough, apparently, to resist Cage.
“Was that story for you or me?”
It was supposed to be for him, but, honestly, she wasn’t sure now. Sitting out in front of Ox and Trixie’s house had caused a huge knot in her stomach, then heading back to the trailer had turned that knot into a huge ball of anxiety.
She didn’t want complications. She wanted to help, find a job and head out without regret.
“Maybe I hoped letting it out would cleanse my soul.”
A fat drop of rain plopped on her arm. Then another. Neither of them moved.
She closed her eyes and lifted her face to the sky. The drops felt like warm tears on her cheeks.
She heard him rise and, when she opened her eyes, she saw him standing in front of her, offering his hand.
She shook her head. “The rain feels good. I’m going to sit outside for a little bit and let it wash away the memories.” He turned to go in. “Can you take my bag and sandals inside? I don’t want my stuff getting wet.”
Without a word, he grabbed her things and she waited until she heard the door shut before turning her face up again and letting the summer shower wash her “clean.”
It went from slow, fat drops to a steadier rainfall.
She had just stuck out her tongue to catch some drops, like she had with snowflakes as a child, when the door opened again.
He was going to tell her to come inside.
But he didn’t.
He came back out, only wearing his boxer briefs and surprised her by sitting back in his chair. “Could use a little bita soul cleansin’, too.”
What he said wasn’t even remotely sexual, but the gentle rumble of his voice made her toes curl and her lips part.
The rain was beginning to soak her shorts and top, but it wasn’t cold, and it felt soothing on her skin. Almost like a hug from Mother Nature.
Since it was dark and no one would see except Cage, and since he was already in his briefs, she decided to join him. She stood up and pulled her shirt over her head dropping it with a wet plop onto the chair she’d abandoned. She peeled her shorts down her damp legs and tossed them on top.
Then, in just her panties and bra, she took a few steps away from the chairs and stretched out her arms with her palms up, dropped her head back, closed her eyes and stuck out her tongue again.
The rain clung to her eyelashes, weighed down her hair, washed down her body and collected in her palms. She breathed slowly in and out of her nose and cleared her mind.
It felt freeing.
Wonderful.
Cleansing.
Healing.
Chapter Thirteen
His heat and presence touched her even before he did. At first she thought it was his lips lightly brushing over hers. She realized it was the tips of his fingers.
She lifted her head and opened her eyes to stare up at him in the dark. In the now pouring rain.
His eyes were hooded, his own lips parted, and he stood toe to toe with her, his body slick with rain. His chest rose and fell as if he’d run a mile.
She was sure, if she allowed herself to check, he’d be hard.
A violent shiver raced through her and it wasn’t from the downpour. It was from the electric charge between the two of them.
He had to feel the shock of it, too. Two lightning bolts, not coming from the sky, but from each other’s center. Sparking and cracking as they connected.
With a quickness she wasn’t expecting, he grabbed the back of her neck with one hand and her jaw with the other, crashing the two of them together. The shock of their mouths meeting made her gasp, and he took that opportunity to take control of the kiss and invade her mouth.
She pressed her palms to his chest to shove him away. To break this unexplainable pull, but when her hands made contact with his damp skin, she didn’t push, the touch grounded her instead.
His pounding heart beat against her palm, like her hand was the only thing keeping it from breaking free of his chest.
After a few moments, he pressed his wet forehead to hers, breaking the kiss, and both of them simply breathed.
Before she could say something... anything... he claimed her mouth again, not soft and gentle this time. Hard. Rough. Powerful.
The hand holding her jaw slid down her arm and around to her back, dropping to grip her ass and yank her against him, close enough so his erection was sandwiched tightly between them. Only two layers of soaked cotton separated them.