Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 100853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
I shook as his hands moved up and down my arms, the friction generating the tiniest spark of heat.
“I’m pissed off that you lied,” he said, his voice soft, without a hint of anger.
“I know,” I choked out. “I’m sorry.”
“I don’t want your apologies, Paige,” he said.
Warmth seeped from his body to mine, and I trembled harder. “I can’t stop shivering. It’s so cold.”
“I know, I’ve got you.” His arms tightened around me. “I’m angry that you lied, but I think I understand.”
“I didn’t want to hurt you. I wasn’t—by the time I realized I would, I didn’t know how to tell you. It didn’t seem like there was anything to find out anyway, so I just thought I could let it go.”
I turned in his arms, hooking a leg over his hip to stay as close as I could, the connection of our bodies creating a bubble of warmth under the covers. My face was ice-cold, but the rest of me was starting to feel a little more human. His erection pressed against the heat between my legs. Some parts of me were feeling a lot more human.
“I’m sorry,” I said, looking up, pressing my palm to the side of his face, loving the scruff, the thawing in his cool green eyes as he looked back at me. “I didn’t know you before. And now that I do, the last thing I’d ever want is to hurt you. I wish more than anything I hadn’t lied.”
The side of his mouth quirked, sending heat through my heart. “If you’d told the truth, I doubt we’d be right here. I have to think about that too. But for now…” His fingers speared through my hair, cupping the back of my head, pulling me closer until his cold lips met mine.
And I was suddenly so grateful for however we’d gotten locked in my frozen room. Maybe the end goal was to freeze us to death. Maybe this was another attempt on Ford’s life, though I couldn’t figure out how anyone could have arranged to jam the door and turn the room into an icebox. Still, crazier things had happened to the Sawyer family in the last few years.
I’d probably be booted out on my ass if I didn’t freeze to death overnight. And in that case, I was going to make the most of the time I had left. I reached up, wrapping my arms around Ford, rolling to pull him on top of me. He settled between my thighs.
“Not cold here,” Ford murmured, sliding a finger in the slick heat between my legs, dipping inside.
“Not there,” I agreed.
With his chest pressed against me, skin to skin, the cold was easing away, chased out of our nest under the covers. He shifted, letting in a wisp of frozen air as he slid open the bedside table. I wasn’t sure I was glad he’d found the envelope in my drawer, but I was definitely happy he’d thought to bring over the strip of condoms. A giggle escaped me.
“What?” he asked, tearing open the package.
“You brought a whole strip. So maybe we won’t freeze to death.”
“We’re not going to freeze to death,” he muttered, rolling the condom down the length of his erection under the covers and settling between my legs. “Not if I have to fuck you all night to keep us both alive.”
“I’m so glad you’re willing to sacrifice yourself like that,” I said through another giggle.
“That’s the kind of guy I am,” he said, pressing inside me, sending a different kind of shudder up my spine.
I pulled his face to mine, wrapped my legs around his hips, and rocked up, taking him deeper, wanting to absorb him. If this was all I’d have of him, I was going to make the most of it.
Chapter Seventeen
FORD
The ice in the air was gone, and pale yellow morning light filled Paige’s room, carrying threads of warmth. I hadn’t tried it yet, but I knew if I got up and turned the handle of her door, it would open easily.
I didn’t have an explanation for what had happened the night before. I stroked a hand down Paige’s dark curls, her breath warm puffs of air on my neck. Lying here, with her body soft against mine, I had everything I wanted. A weird thought, considering that objectively it wasn’t true.
I was still working on fixing my fractured relationships with my siblings. I was unemployed, with no clear idea of what I wanted to do with myself. I likely had at least one killer after me, if not more. And despite the fact that my name had been legally cleared, half the people in town still thought I’d shot my father. And yet, lying in Paige’s bed, her sleeping in my arms, I had everything I wanted.