Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 129951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Hot and sweet.
That was Battle.
Or at least that was what he was to me.
It was after dinner.
Battle and I were just inside my bedroom, standing, wound together and going at each other like teenagers (again).
I was hot and bothered, I felt him hard and ready, pressed to my belly, and I could not wait to unveil that present.
His hair had to be a mess considering my fingers had run through it repeatedly.
He had a hand full of my ass, and dayum, it felt good there.
I was on the verge of dragging him to my bed when he cupped my jaw and pulled away.
I swam up from the fog of Battle’s kisses, opening my eyes just as he kissed the tip of my nose in a manner that was cute, but I wasn’t a big fan of it due to what I worried it meant.
“The minute I saw those freckles, I knew I was done,” he whispered.
Okay, I wasn’t going to get a penetrative orgasm from him first.
I was going to get a verbal one.
“Battle—”
“I go to the office early. We have a gym,” he said.
No!
“But I’ve planned to leave early so we can be on our way,” he concluded.
Hang on.
Was he going to leave me in this state?
“Battle—”
He touched his lips to mine, and there, he said, “Sleep well, sweetheart.”
Then he glided his hand from my ass so it became an arm around my waist, he gave me an affectionate squeeze, let me go and walked to my door.
I was right, his hair was a sexy mess.
God!
“Are you insane?” I whispered, half frustrated, half irate.
He turned and smiled a roguish smile at me.
God!
He was killing me.
“Not in the slightest,” he replied, knowing just what he was doing to me. “Have fun tomorrow.”
And then…
The lout!
He was gone.
CHAPTER 15
THE RIDE
Late the next afternoon, the girls having left earlier to make their train, I left it until Battle had navigated London traffic (he needed his concentration) in his red Audi Q8, and we were on the M4, before I launched in.
“Right, François is a scream,” I told him.
“Sorry?” he asked.
“Prue’s favorite designer,” I explained. “She called him to tell him we were showing. He had champagne and caviar waiting for us, which is gross, by the way. The caviar, I mean.”
“Mm,” he hummed with amusement.
“It was like the Princess of Wales showed up to try on his wild creations. Prue was so stunned. She had no idea he loved her from afar for so long.”
“Loved her from afar?”
That held no amusement.
Zip.
Nada.
None.
“He’s very gay, Battle, so don’t get all brotherly.”
Battle said nothing, though I noted he relaxed.
Such a good brother.
But maybe, in some instances, an overbearing one.
Though, maybe that was the way all good brothers were.
“I think she dropped four thousand pounds in there,” I informed him. “Four hundred on this crazy black knit beanie with all these curled bits coming down. It looks like an octopus. It suits her to perfection.”
He chuckled before saying, “Perhaps why he greeted you with champagne.”
“Maybe part of it,” I allowed. “But he still adores her. I guess they’ve been corresponding a little bit after she became a regular of his online store. It was really cool to see her appreciated like that. I wish you could have seen it.”
“Me as well,” he murmured. Then, “How was Chassie?”
“Okay. Better at the gardens yesterday. But okay.”
“I noted what you said over dinner last night. She seemed preoccupied.”
She did.
“Agreed.”
“But not traumatized.”
“Agreed to that too.”
“We’ll have to see,” he muttered, the concern evident.
“She went. She did enjoy the gardens. I know she loves being with all of you. It’ll be okay.”
“Hmm.”
“And it’s not my place to say, but I suggest we back off and let her think on things.”
He reached a hand my way, I gave it to him, and he curled his fingers around it and rested it on his thigh.
Nice.
“She’s had three years to think, darling,” he pointed out.
I forced out a breath.
“But no more pushing her,” he conceded. “At least for the weekend.”
“Well, going back on what I just said, I have a wee bit of an idea in the sense that Prue has an appointment with Ravenna next week, she asked me to go with, and I thought, if Prue’s okay with it, we’d ask Chassie to go with us too.”
He gave my hand a squeeze. “Perfect.”
Then he put my hand in my lap, let it go and returned his to the wheel.
Although I loved holding hands with him, I appreciated him letting me go. We were just out of London, it was Friday traffic, but I’d noticed M4 traffic always seemed heavy. I was glad he intended to concentrate and keep both hands on the wheel.
“At the risk of making you dislike Chelsea more…” he began.
Oh boy.
“What?” I snapped. “Has she done something else?”
“No. It’s just that Fitzy and Patsy usually have Fridays and Saturdays off, also Sunday mornings. Emily, Sundays and Mondays. And because Chelsea, Rally and Court showed last weekend, they didn’t get their days off.”