Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 76934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Only then did he slip down, press, then slam deep inside me.
I wasn’t sure which was louder—my moan or his groan—as he surged deep.
His forehead pressed to mine as he sucked in a deep breath, looking for restraint.
I couldn’t think of anything I wanted less.
I rocked my hips.
I dug my hands into his ass, pulling him against me.
Christopher’s head tilted, watching me for a second before giving up the fight with his self-control.
There was nothing soft or sweet right then, just the clawing need, the desperate search for relief.
His thrusts were hard and deep, getting faster with each moment. My own hips rocked to meet the sensation as the desire swelled, tightened, then released with a long, ragged cry.
“Fuck,” Christopher groaned as I came, fucking me harder and faster. Then his whole body tensed as he slammed deep and came with me.
His forehead pressed down on my shoulder afterward, his breathing as ragged as my own.
As for me, for just a moment, I gave in to the need to cling to him, to hold on tightly because some part of me was afraid that as soon as I let him go, he would put a wall up between us again.
Eventually, his head lifted, his forehead pressing to mine as he took a deep breath, likely ready to say something about how this was a mistake and we couldn’t do it again.
But there was a knock at the door that had us springing apart.
“Shit,” Christopher said, frantically trying to put himself back together.
I reached down with numb hands, pulling my bra, then panties and pants into place. And tried to ignore the way my heart felt like it was deflating.
Christopher grabbed his tie, putting it back on with an efficiency that I would have found impressive if I wasn’t grieving the loss of the closeness.
Finally, he found his jacket and strode toward the front of the store.
Alone, I let out a shaky breath and glanced around.
And that’s when I saw it.
A flash of shiny new metal where it shouldn’t have been.
Sitting behind the sword tip near the feet of an ancient suit of armor that had been in the corner of the room since I bought the place, since no one actually wanted those damn things anymore.
A strange laugh escaped me as I clomped over toward it, leaned down, and grabbed the drive just as Leo and Nero’s voices filled the front of the store—bright and easy, compared to Christopher’s tight, uncomfortable tone.
There was nothing I could do about Christopher and his inner struggles about being with me.
But there was something I could do about Robin’s murder… and what she’d died protecting.
I made my way to the front of the store.
“Boys?” I called, waving the flash drive as they all turned to look at me.
“No shit,” Leo said, looking a mix of amused and frustrated.
“Where?” Nero asked at the same time.
“The knight in the corner. Right behind his sword.”
“Guess you had a point about the mayonnaise jar,” Christopher said, shaking his head, but there was a smile tugging at his lips.
“Let’s take this over to Zeno.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Christopher
The silence inside the cab from the pawnshop to Zeno’s building was painful. But I couldn’t seem to come up with anything to say to ease it.
My mind was noisy as fuck to make up for it. Flashing through memories of her. Not just intimately. But in my arms, leaning into me, smiling at me from across the kitchen table, hissing at me in the mornings. And with the kids—teasing Liam about his ‘fake influencer’ career, chatting books or TV shows with Charlotte.
She’d fit in so effortlessly.
She hadn’t felt like a guest at all.
She felt like she belonged.
And that was terrifying in its own way.
Because I had no experience with serious relationships. Because it wasn’t only my needs I could think about anymore.
Yes, Liam had given me his blessing, for all intents and purposes. I knew Charlotte adored Alara.
What I didn’t know was if they were ready for that. If it was okay to bring a woman into my life who would, by her relationship with me, become a bit of a maternal figure to them.
And if it was okay, if Alara had really given that serious thought.
It was all fine and dandy to be interested in me, to interact with the kids, but had she stopped to consider that it would be more than that eventually?
I knew from the stories people had about Alara that she’d been clear about not wanting children. I came with two. They were nonnegotiable. If she couldn’t get on board with eventually being something like a mother to them, then she couldn’t be in my life. No matter how badly I wanted her.
It was a discussion that needed to be had.
But not on the five-minute cab ride to Zeno’s place.