Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 100367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Yes, I want to fuck her. Being this close to her, in my bed, is not easy on my libido. But she’s exhausted, and we both need to sleep.
I grin when she threads her bare legs through mine, and then she tucks her hands under her chin, facing me, and blinks owlishly, watching me in the moonlight.
“Why do you have scars, Hotshot?”
“Do you want to talk about this now, or wait for tomorrow?”
“Now.” She scoots her bottom half closer to me. “They’re—”
She bites her lip, and I reach up to tug it free with my thumb, then brush over the wet lip, enjoying the way she’s looking at me, so sleepy and curious and totally kissable.
I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want her.
“They’re bad,” I finish for her and she nods slowly. “When I was twenty, I was home from college for the summer. I went to Montana State on a full football scholarship. I even had pro scouts interested in me.”
Her eyebrows lift. “Xander isn’t the only athlete in the family.”
With a chuckle, I shake my head. “No, he isn’t, although he’s the most talented. I’ll deny it if you ever tell him that, though. His ego is big enough already.”
She hums, and I keep talking softly, with the quiet wrapped around us like a cocoon.
“Like Xander, sports were my life. I didn’t plan to go pro, though. I always knew that I wanted to come back here and take over the ranch from my father someday. I love it here. But when I was young, I loved football too.”
“What happened?” She moves her hand from under her chin and presses it against my chest.
“I was in a side-by-side, driving out to the herd where my father was. A horse had bucked him off, and we’d gotten word that he needed help. I was worried and driving way too fast. We came around a corner, and I rolled the vehicle.”
Darby presses her lips together, and her eyes fill with tears.
“Hey, I’m okay. I’m totally fine now, and I can’t stand to see you cry.”
She swallows thickly. “Tell me the rest.”
“I wasn’t wearing a seat belt, and I got jostled around until I was trapped under the frame. My stomach and right hip and leg were a mess. Miraculously, I didn’t sever a major artery, so I didn’t bleed out while help came. I broke my femur and my hip, my gut was cut up pretty bad, and that was the end of football.”
Darby burrows into me. She just moves right in, wrapping her arms around me and nuzzling her face into my neck.
“I’m so sorry, and I hate that you were hurt, but I’m so grateful that you’re okay now.”
“I was angry for a while,” I confess, with my lips in her hair. “So pissed that I couldn’t play, and frustrated because it took a long fucking time to heal. But I did, and with a lot of PT, I can do just about anything. I’ll probably have some pain when I get older, but for now, I just have scars.”
“I have salve,” she says, making me grin. Of course she does. “I’ll put some on them for you. I use it on my own scars. It helps them fade and loosen and not ache.”
That has me sobering.
“I wasn’t expecting—” I have to clear my throat, and she tightens her grip on me, as if she’s comforting me. “I’m so sorry, Duchess.”
“No one has ever seen my scars,” she confesses softly. “Not ever, Tucker. Even my family.”
“But you’ve been with men.”
“And I keep my shirt on. I can find excuses for that.” She shrugs and pulls back just far enough to look up at me. “And I wouldn’t have let you see them either.”
I narrow my eyes at her. “I don’t like that.”
“It’s something that I hate about myself, and—”
“No.”
I roll us both so she’s on her back, and I clear strands of hair from her cheeks as I stare down at her.
“No, baby. I don’t want you to hate anything about yourself. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I won’t have you thinking for one second that you’re anything but perfect, just the way you are.”
Her eyes well with tears again, and when they spill into her temples, I brush them away.
“I want you to show me everything there is to see, Duchess.”
“Well, you’ve officially seen it.”
“Good.” I kiss her nose and then her soft, plump lips before I reverse our position and arrange Darby on my chest. She sighs deeply and nuzzles closer, as if she just can’t get close enough. And I know the feeling. “Go to sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
She yawns, and without another word, I hear her breaths even out as she falls into sleep.
And within moments, I follow her.