Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 58752 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 235(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58752 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 294(@200wpm)___ 235(@250wpm)___ 196(@300wpm)
I washed my hair twice. Scrubbed my arms until they were pink. The heat relaxed my muscles without quieting my mind. So I finally shut off the water and put on a soft pair of sleep shorts and an oversized shirt. Then I dragged a towel through my hair until it was only slightly damp before I went back down the hall toward the living room.
Gavin was on my couch, cleaning a scrape across his knuckles. He’d changed into a different shirt, and a bruise was forming along one forearm. He looked up as soon as I stepped into the room.
I took the first-aid kit out of his hands. “You missed a spot.”
“Was saving it for you,” he murmured with a wink.
A laugh slipped out before I could stop it. “Of course you were.”
I dropped onto the cushion next to him, and his knee pressed against mine while I turned his hand over. He watched my face instead of what I was doing, but I noticed that every time I leaned in, his gaze dropped to the neckline of my shirt before it came up again.
“You had no right to give me a hard time for trying to go in.” My dab against the scrape was more gentle than my words. “Not when you went inside yourself.”
“I knew how to handle what was on the other side of that door.”
Thinking about what could’ve happened to him, I grimaced. “I couldn’t see how far the fire had spread, but I knew enough to help.”
“You did help.” He waited until I looked up and met his gaze to continue. “You accounted for every employee, directed my brothers to keep them safe, and prevented the controlled storage from becoming a second emergency. You didn’t need to be inside to make a difference.”
I was surprised by his easy acceptance of the point I was trying to make, and some of my tension eased at his breakdown of what I’d done. Keeping me outside didn’t mean he’d dismissed me. He’d still relied on my knowledge to better handle the situation.
“Stopping was hard when I knew somebody might still be in there,” I admitted.
“I’m not surprised. Your first move is toward whoever needs help. Mine is catching you before you get hurt. I expect we’re both going to get a lot of practice.”
I quirked a brow. “You make this sound like a long-term arrangement.”
He grinned. “You’re catching on much quicker now.”
I taped the last strip of gauze in place and sat back.
He flexed his fingers. “Very pretty.”
I laughed. “It’s gauze.”
“I was looking at you.”
My cheeks filled with heat, and he grinned. But his shoulders were still tight, and he glanced at the windows each time a car passed by.
I shifted away to put the supplies back in the first-aid kit, acutely aware of the heat from his palm when it settled on my thigh.
“Were you scared when I ran toward the fire?” I certainly had been when he did.
“I had you before the fear caught up.” His smile dimmed. “I can handle you being brave. And stubborn. But I need you to listen when I know something you can’t see.”
“I did listen.”
“Eventually.”
Huffing out a breath since I couldn’t really argue the point, I nudged his injured arm.
He caught my hand and interlaced our fingers. “Violence against your security detail?”
“I was checking your reflexes.”
“Excellent.” His fingers tightened. “Check them again.”
He drew me across his lap, and I caught myself on his chest. His other hand went to my hip, and the air between us thickened with awareness. Then he kissed me.
His mouth was warm and firm, and the first press of it against mine knocked the events from today straight out of my head. I made a needy sound, and his tongue swept along my lower lip and pushed inside when I opened for him.
I grabbed his shoulders and kissed him back with everything I had left, and he groaned into my mouth. Then he lifted me, turning me until my knees hit the couch on either side of his thighs. I landed astride him, all too aware of how big he was. Everywhere.
The thick ridge of his dick was trapped between us, pressing up against the thin cotton of my shorts.
“There,” he muttered against my mouth, both hands spanning my waist under my shirt. His palms were warm and callused. “Look at you. Right where you belong.”
I rocked forward without meaning to. The seam of my shorts dragged over him, and my inner walls clenched.
“Fuck.” His fingers dug into my hips and helped me do it again. “That’s it. Use me, pretty girl. Let me feel how wet you already are.”
I probably should have been mortified. Instead, I rolled my hips harder, chasing the friction as my breasts brushed his chest through our clothes. He shoved my shirt up and palmed one breast, his thumb dragging over my nipple until it tightened.