Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 34760 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 174(@200wpm)___ 139(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34760 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 174(@200wpm)___ 139(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
All this time, I've been thinking that we're worlds apart. But maybe we aren't so different, after all.
"I'm not mad," I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose when he's standing in front of me, looking like he's torn between snatching me up to hold me hostage and begging me to stay. "But did you ever consider just asking me to stay?"
He seems surprised by the question, and then he laughs a little, the sound rueful. "Would you believe me if I told you that the thought never crossed my mind?"
I tip my head to the side, studying him. "Why not?"
"You were so eager to go." He shrugs. "Guess I just assumed you were desperate to get the fuck out of there."
"I wasn't," I whisper. "I…" Gotta say, listening to his confessions is way better than making my own. "Maybe I was just nervous I'd say or do the wrong thing and embarrass myself."
"Nothing about you is embarrassing, Loralei."
"Ask me what I was listening to on my way out there."
A tiny smile plays at his lips. "You're going to say Midnight Mayhem, aren't you?"
"Yep. I, um…Jesus." I hide behind my hands. "Maybe you'll be glad to be rid of me after I say this, but since we're having confession hour, I might as well just say it, right?"
"Oh, absolutely," he says, a smile in his voice.
"I may have had a tiny crush on you when I was younger," I admit in a rush. "And I might have been worried I was going to throw myself at you or do something stupid last night."
His deep laugh bounces back from the trees in distorted echoes, scaring a flock of birds into flight.
"It's not that funny," I grumble.
"You're right." He wraps his hands around my wrists, dragging my hands away from my face. When I meet his gaze, he's grinning at me. "It's fucking hilarious, Loralei."
"No, it's not."
"It is," he says, tugging me up against his chest. His lips brush my ear. "I'm the one who threw myself at you, baby. First chance I had, I was jerking off in the bathroom, thinking about you. I had my hands in your pants, making you come all over my fingers the first chance I had, too."
I groan at the reminder, my core clenching.
He nips the shell of my ear, one hand sinking into my hip. "You were a perfect angel. I was hard as a rock outside the bathroom, knowing you were naked on the other side of the door."
"Ash," I groan.
"I kept hoping you'd forget and open it a little wider so I could see you." He bites the shell of my ear again before soothing it with a swipe of his tongue, his beard scraping my skin. "You had me desperate, baby."
"Ash," I whimper.
His hand tightens on my hip, his body pressing to mine. "I'm hard right now."
I don't know what comes over me. Really, I don't. But as soon as he says the words, it's like every single ounce of desire he made me feel last night comes roaring back into screaming focus. All I can think about is how much I want to feel how hard he is right now. And how much I want to finish what I wish I'd been brave enough to finish last night.
I push him backward with a hand on his chest, backing him down the path toward the cabin until I'm fairly confident we're no longer visible from the road.
"What are you doing?" he asks, a cocky smirk on his face when I start pushing him toward a tree.
"Finishing what you started last night," I say, meeting his gaze. I have no idea where this new confidence came from, but I'm not questioning it, not when he's looking at me with enough heat banked in his eyes to start forest fires. "You got a problem with that?"
"Just one," he growls, spinning us at the last second, so I'm the one who ends up pinned to the tree with him looming over me. His lips come down on mine in a hard kiss, his hands grasping at mine to pull them up over my head. "I never got to taste you last night."
I moan so loud, the whole damn canyon probably hears me. Ask me if I care.
Spoiler Alert: I don't. I really, really don't.
I want to be wild and carefree and fuck this man against a tree after he has his mouth on me. I want to say to hell with the rules and just dive headfirst into whatever madness this is. For once, I don't want to be Loralei Grey, boring librarian. I want to be the woman reflecting back in his eyes when he looks at me.
He kisses me like my mouth is life-sustaining, one hand sliding down my body, between my breasts, down my belly, and then between my legs. "You going to let me eat you right here against this tree, Loralei?"