Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 27808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 139(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 139(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
I moan into his mouth as I start to come. My orgasm takes over my body as a whirlwind of emotions comes flooding out with it.
“Jackson.” I whisper his name.
“I’ve got you.” When I open my eyes, I realize he moved us. We’re now on the couch in his living room with me in his lap. His thumb swipes at my cheek, a tear having escaped. I didn’t know it was there. “Was it too much, too fast? I’m sorry. Fuck.” He holds me closer like he thinks I’m going to try and run away from him. That’s the last thing I want him to think. If anything, Jackson has been my salvation over the past week. I haven’t come close to even one panic attack. He’s given me a taste of some type of normalcy in my life. For the first time in a long time, I haven’t felt scared or the need to look over my shoulder constantly.
“That was amazing. I feel lighter.” I lift my head from out of his neck. I love resting my head on his shoulder. The smell of him is always comforting. “I’m not scared of you. I’m not hiding from some lover who hurt me. I’m scared and a bit jumpy at times because I don’t know who it is that is stalking me. That’s what makes it so much scarier. Anyone I pass could be him. Even Nina, my agent, is worried it might be someone close since they’d gotten into my place so easily. That's why she’s the only one that knows where I am.”
“No one is going to get near you besides me.” He brushes his mouth against mine.
“What if I’ve made you a target? You should have seen the letters he left. Some of the threats.” I shiver thinking about them. “In one of them, he mentioned some random man I’d made small talk with at the coffee shop around the corner from my place in the city. He detailed what he’d do if I ever talked to that man again. I couldn't even recall who he was talking about.” I’ve been so scared for so long that I’ve become a shell of who I used to be.
“Good. I want to be his target.”
“You don’t understand.” I shift in his lap, straddling him. His hands go to my hips. “He’s insane. I don’t know if he wants to keep me as some prize or kill me.” Jackson’s fingers dig into my hips. “I don’t understand his fascination and obsession with me.”
“I do.” Maybe I’m crazy because I love the idea of Jackson having those kinds of feelings for me. “Do you trust me, Bell?”
“Yes.” I nod. It’s why I’m telling him all this. The deeper we get, the more danger I could be putting him in, and he needs to know that.
“I want you to come stay here with me for a while.”
“I thought you said my place is secure.”
“It is, but here it is even more secure. Half of your stuff is still in boxes.”
“What if things between us don’t pan out?”
“Told you five hundred years.” I snort a laugh.
“Okay, but you should probably know my name is Annabella.”
“Annabella,” he repeats. “Anything else I should know?” I lick my lips, thinking of his words from earlier.
“I want you to do all those things to me that you said.” He starts to move, probably to take me to his bed, but I put my hand on his chest to stop him. “There’s one more thing.”
“You can tell me anything. All your secrets are safe with me.” I’m not so sure this is a secret but something he should know before this goes any further.
“I’m a virgin.”
CHAPTER 13
JACKSON
“That makes two of us.” I give her a quick kiss.
“Really? You?” Her face is a picture of astonishment.
I put on a mock frown. “Don’t tell me you believe in those macho stereotypes that a man is measured by how many times he’s used his dick.”
“No, no,” she protests quickly. “It’s just that you look like this”—she draws her hand down the front of my torso—“so you’ve had to have had offers.”
“It doesn’t matter if the offers were there. What matters is I didn’t take them. I’m picky, Bell. I’m not letting just anyone touch the merchandise.”
“You’re right. I made a bad assumption about your sluttiness. I appreciate you saving yourself for me.” She peeks at me under her eyelashes. “Have I gone too far?”
“Not far enough.” I take her mouth and kiss her leisurely, exploring all the inner recesses of that humid space, licking every tiny crevasse and ridge until we’re both breathless. My dick is about to explode when she breaks away and places her head against my chest. My heart beats erratically against her cheek. We sit like that for a while, catching our breaths, waiting for our hearts to calm down. I want her badly but not until she fully trusts me.