Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 77120 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77120 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“What does it matter? He’s a wedding date.”
“Did I say it mattered?”
“If it doesn’t matter to you, why are you interrogating me about it?”
His jaw tenses.
Is he going to say something about last night in the barn?
Is he waiting for me to say something?
Because I want to keep my mouth clamped shut on that.
“Does this have something to do with last night?”
Christ, Tabitha. So much for keeping your mouth clamped shut.
But the truth of the matter is that he does owe me some kind of explanation.
“What about last night?” Henry says.
“Uh…we fucked in your barn?”
He rolls his eyes. “I know. I was there.”
“Then you left me there. And you’ve been a dick since then. So yeah, I thought it might be nice to have a date. Someone to make me feel good about myself after I let my best friend’s brother use me.”
He doesn’t say anything for a minute.
His blue eyes look kind of…sad.
Does he feel bad about what happened? About the act itself? Or about how he treated me? All of the above?
“About that…” he begins.
But he says nothing more.
“You may want to finish that sentence,” I say.
“I…shouldn’t have done that to you.”
“You didn’t do anything to me. I could have stopped you.”
He looks down. “Maybe you should have.”
“Really? Would you have been able to stop?”
He was very determined last night. I didn’t get the feeling he was going to take no for an answer. But I didn’t give him no for an answer, so what happened between us was consensual.
I don’t regret the act itself.
What I regret is how he treated me afterward.
“I don’t know,” he finally replies.
“Tell me something, then. What exactly was that to you? Is it something you do regularly?”
“What? Fuck women in my barn? In front of my horses?” He shrugs it off. “I did a fair amount when I was younger, but no, it’s not something I do regularly these days.”
“Then why?” I ask. “Why now, and why me?”
He shakes his head, rakes his fingers through his gorgeous blond hair. “I…”
I huff, hands on my hips. “Are you going to finish a sentence this century?”
His eyes smolder then, and he narrows them. He steps toward me, grabs my face in his hands, and crushes his lips to mine.
I don’t think.
I don’t have to.
My lips were already parted, and I open wider, letting him shove his tongue into my mouth.
The kiss is a lot like it was last night. Raw and feral. There’s no delicacy with this kiss. No trace of emotion.
It’s all animal.
And I love it.
I return his kiss, letting my tongue slide into his mouth and tangle with his.
His groan vibrates into me, and I answer it with one of my own.
I reach upward, thread my fingers through his silky hair.
He pulls me closer, and I feel his hard cock against my belly.
But just as quickly as it started—
He breaks the kiss.
My hands go instantly to my mouth. My lips are stinging.
“Fuck,” he growls.
“If you want to,” I say.
He cocks his head. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You have a date outside. This is Angie’s rehearsal dinner.”
“Hey. You started it. You kissed me. You’re the one who fucked me last night. I may have been a willing participant, but I was definitely not the aggressor.”
“Damn you,” Henry growls. “Fucking damn you.”
Then he opens the door to my guest room and drags me inside.
Twenty-Four
Henry
Fuck it all.
This woman is inside my head.
I can’t remember when I’ve wanted someone this much. Maybe Darlene in our early days, but still, that wasn’t like this. This intensity. This raw desire.
This fucking lust.
She’s beautiful, sure, and her eyes…
But beauty is only skin deep.
So what the fuck is it about her?
Everything.
Everything about Tabitha Haynes.
I want it all.
I grab her again, kiss her, thrust my tongue into her sweet mouth.
She responds, yields, and it electrifies me. Each taste of her lips is sweet fire. I tighten my arms around her. There’s only Tabitha. Her body pressed against mine, her intoxicating scent, the softness of her skin under my fingers.
I break away, catching my breath, looking into her eyes.
Damn, those eyes.
They’re sparkling with mischief now. What is she thinking?
“Tell me,” I say. “What’s making you smile?”
Her smile fades slightly as she gazes back at me. “You, Henry,” she replies, her voice soft, barely above a whisper. “You make me smile.”
Her words hit me like a bowling ball to the gut.
Something melts inside me then, but I turn it to ice as quickly as I can.
She shouldn’t be smiling.
This isn’t a smiling thing.
This is me wanting her. Taking her.
“Does this make you smile?” I demand, moving her toward the bed.
She’s still smiling.
I don’t bother locking the door.
Everyone else is outside at the party. Only the staff members are in the house, and no one would dare barge in.
I pull her to the edge of the bed, lift up her skirt, and tear away her panties.