Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 108709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
He scoffs, reaches down, grips my arm, and pulls me to my feet. His hand settles on my waist for just a moment, making sure I’m steady, and the second his fingers touch my body, a pulse of electricity fires through me. Then just as quickly as it came, he releases his hold, leaving me colder than ever before.
“None that mattered enough for me to ask how they slept,” he mutters, turning away and starting for the woods.
“Can a girl not pee first thing in the morning?”
“Sure,” he says, turning back around and casually staring directly at me. “Go ahead.” He waves at the ground.
“You can fuck right off if you think I’m about to lose my pants and pee for your entertainment,” I snap, crossing my arms over my chest. “Now, I know it’s been a while since you’ve seen the wondrous phenomenon otherwise known as a vagina, but this isn’t the way you’re going to get reacquainted. It’s giving . . . pervert.”
Stone rolls his eyes and huffs. “Fine. Go. But I swear, if you’re not back by the time I count to ten, I’m coming for you, and I don’t give a shit what position you’re in or if that sweet little cunt is on display. Got it?”
“Jesus. Okay,” I mutter, taking my time as I turn on my heel and move into the thick bushes, hating all the little insect bites covering my skin. “Someone’s grouchy in the morning.”
“One,” he calls, his voice booming from behind me and making my heart start to race. He’s not kidding. He’s actually going to count to ten, and if I’m not done . . . Well, fuck.
I rush behind the biggest tree, grip the top of my pants, and start working the buttons, but my frantic fingers are taking far too long.
“Two.”
“Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck.”
“Three.”
Shimmying my pants and thong to my ankles, I start to squat down, only I don’t know which way to angle my hips that will ensure no squirtage lands on my pants, because shit. There are a lot of things I can handle, but having Stone Blackthorne see a little wet patch on the back of my pants due to poor aiming isn’t going to be something I could ever live down.
“Four.”
“SHUT UP, ASSHOLE,” I call, bracing myself against the tree as my bladder threatens to explode. “LET A GIRL CONCENTRATE!”
“Don’t test my limits, Riley Maddox.”
“IT’S ARIA!”
“Six.”
“You skipped five.”
“I don’t hear you peeing,” he throws at me. “Which means I can only assume you’re trying to make a break for it.”
“You’re . . . wait. YOU’RE LISTENING TO ME PEE? WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU? God, you’re such a creep. Is this what happens to men in prison? You’ve been so starved of women that you sink to these lows? Wow, Stone. Out of all the things you’ve managed to shock me with so far, this one takes the cake.”
“I’m not listening to you pee, BECAUSE YOU’RE NOT FUCKING PEEING,” he yells back. “Seven.”
“Fucccck,” I groan, grabbing my pants and pushing them as far away from my body as humanly possible before trying my best to concentrate. “I have performance anxiety.”
Stone groans, the sound full of frustration, and I listen as he crunches through the foliage, making enough sound to ease something inside me, and with a satisfied breath, I finally let it go. I pee for what feels like a century, and I’m grateful when Stone calls it quits on his countdown . . . or count up, as it so happened to be.
I finish my business and feel fifty shades of wrong when I’m then faced with my next three options. Drip dry, shake it like a Polaroid picture . . . or wipe with a leaf. Now, I don’t know what that leaf ever did in a past life, but nothing could have prepared it for the fresh hell I put it through, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
Getting myself back together, I make sure everything is in place and am pleased to find that not a single stray drip managed to make it on my clothes. It definitely wasn’t my finest moment, and I hope like hell that I won’t have to do it again any time soon, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.
The foliage crunching ceases, and I make my way back over to Stone before striding straight past him, my cheeks flaming with embarrassment. “Mention this ever again, and I will strangle you with your own fucking balls.”
“Ahhh, there’s my menace. Thought she might have been lost for good.”
Clenching my jaw, I lead us through the thickening woods with Stone heavy on my heels, refusing to rise to the bait. He knows exactly how to get under my skin, and he’s doing it flawlessly. But he won’t break me.