Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 77879 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77879 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
“Well, we are going to get in that shower, and we are going to wash the dried blood from your skin. I will take care of you. So you can take off your fucking clothes…or I will. Your choice.”
She said nothing, but her knuckles turned white.
“Tick tock, Zoya. Do you want to do this the easy way or the fun way?”
Her jaw clenched as she looked at the ceiling, then she nodded. I didn’t know if she realized there was no way she could win this fight, or she was just too tired to try.
Either way, I won.
I leaned against the tile wall, now slick with condensation, and watched her fingers go to the buttons on her shirt. They worked slowly, fumbling over each button as she exposed more and more of her perfect body to me. When she shrugged out of the shirt, pulling the stiff, dirty fabric from where the blood had dried like glue, my breath caught.
Not because of her perfect tits. Though they were perfect—firm, perky and just big enough to fill my palms or smother my cock as I slid it between them. What caught my attention was the dark red-purple bruise on her shoulder.
“Who?” I asked, staring at the molten colors, trying to control the fire burning through my veins.
Whoever had dared to touch her was going to face my wrath.
My heart stopped as I thought about the way we had fought in her office.
Fuck. It was me. I was the one who’d bruised her.
I hadn’t been gentle.
I didn’t know I had to be.
If I had known that she had a bleeding disorder, I would have—
My thoughts were interrupted when she rolled her eyes at me. “Don’t flatter yourself. It wasn’t you.”
“Then who was it?” I asked again, getting really tired of repeating myself.
“It was from getting myself out of that fucking chair,” she said as she got to her unsteady feet.
My hands ached to reach out and steady her, but I didn’t touch her.
What if I hurt her again?
“Does it—”
“No.” She answered my question without me having to finish it. “I was a little worried about internal bleeding because I hit that floor hard, but with the medication the doctor gave me, I’ll be fine. It’s going to last in my system for several hours. For a while, anyway, I’ll bruise just like a normal person.”
“Good to know,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest again and waiting for her to unbutton her pants and drop them.
God, she looked good.
Practically edible, even with bruises adding marks of toughness to her. Proof that she was a warrior who was every bit as formidable as I was. Even if her explanation didn’t completely ease the tension in my shoulders.
She stepped out of the pants and took a shaky step toward the shower.
“All of it, Zoya.”
Her shoulders slumped as she raised an eyebrow at me.
“All of it,” I repeated, my voice husky with restraint. “I want to see what belongs to me.”
She pushed back her shoulders, sticking out her chest as she reached behind her.
Any other woman would either be trying to seduce then fuck me for my money and my power or hide from me because they were afraid of me.
Zoya did neither of those.
She stared me down as she unhooked her bra, daring me to look, daring me to take her all in.
I did. God, I did. Her tits were flawless—flushed and tipped with pale pink nipples already taut and begging for my lips. My cock twitched at the sight of her panties damp against her thighs. She was pretending not to want me, but her body didn’t lie. It never did.
Then she slid her hands to the waist of her simple black cotton panties and pushed them over her hips. They dropped to the floor on top of her pants.
“Happy?” She cocked her brow at me.
“Thrilled,” I said, taking a step closer to her.
She pressed her hand to my chest to stop me. “I don’t need you here.”
“I don’t care.” I effortlessly lifted her into my arms, ignoring the way she cursed at me and tried to fight me. Her hits were featherlight compared to what they were earlier.
Zoya wasn’t as strong as she liked to think she was.
She struggled for a moment, then gave up, her skin pressed against mine, her head resting on my shoulder, and it made me feel… needed.
I liked it more than I should have.
Zoya was so light in my arms, it was disturbing. No one had taken care of this woman. No one had ensured that she was properly medicated, fed, tended to.
Why the fuck did I want to take on that responsibility?
I stepped into the steam-filled shower, the water already hot, the scents of soap and iron mingling in the steamy air. She tried to twist out of my arms, but I tightened my grip around her.