Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 88613 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88613 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
I kissed him, wanting this moment to never end.
He was magnificent. His black shirt and jeans hugged his large form perfectly, his big chest practically popping through the thin fabric. I could see his nipples poking through his shirt. If my mouth wasn’t watering before, it was flooded now. Same as my basement.
Absolutely drenched.
“Come,” Maddox said, grabbing my hand. “Let’s leave this in my room. I want to take you to another of my favorite spots in the castle.”
We went back down to his room. I wasn’t sure what I’d find in his horde room, but thankfully, it wasn’t as destroyed as I had assumed. His collection of matchboxes looked largely intact, with the long table in the center of the room being the only thing that was damaged, shattered in half. The shelves on either side were still full of the colorful little boxes.
“It looks like the intruders came right for the paintings when they saw it. Biggest damage happened with the explosions at the front and at the door to my horde.” Maddox stood next to the rubble that still littered the floor. Stone and brick and dust. I put the painting down on one of the empty easels toward the back of the room. Maddox came next to me, arm wrapping around my waist.
“I can’t believe it was right under our noses.”
“This entire time. Who would have thought.”
We turned to look at each other, Maddox smiling wide as he took both my hands in his. “That seems to be a trend in my life. Looking for something and having it be right under my nose this entire time.”
“What else have you been looking for?” I asked.
“This.” His hands squeezed mine. “You.” He brought the back of my hand up to his lips. Kissed me. Kept kissing me—my wrist, my arm, my neck.
“Love,” he whispered into my ear. “I’ve been looking for love.”
I nearly melted into a pile of goo. His warm breath tickled my ear, his hand moving to the back of my head. He rested his forehead against mine, our noses touching. I shut my eyes and allowed myself a moment to sear this memory into my mind. I never wanted to forget how comforted and safe I felt in this moment. It was as if the entire world disappeared, leaving just two souls fitting perfectly together. I could feel his heart beating under my hand, the soft but firm muscles of his chest twitching.
“I love you,” I said, letting the words fall from my lips like rose petals. I didn’t want to overthink. Didn’t want to stop myself from saying how Maddox truly made me feel.
“I love you, Caleb. I’ve loved you since the moment I met you, and I will love you until the moment I die.” He kissed me then, my heart exploding into a swirl of confetti and glitter.
“I’ve never said that before,” I confess to him. “Not to anyone I dated. For a good while, I was starting to think that maybe it was me. Maybe I wasn’t capable of loving someone. But I was so, so fucking wrong.”
“So I’m your first, then?”
“Yes,” I say, smiling against his lips. I pushed myself against him, wishing we could become one, right here and now. I wanted to mold my body to fit his. I’d allow someone to work me like a sculptor works marble and clay, shaping me to fit Maddox’s perfect form.
“Come, let me take you to another one of my favorite spots in the castle.”
I didn’t want to separate from him. My body was lit on fire by his touch, and I needed the flames quenched. My core tightened, my dick twitching against my thigh. I wanted him. Wanted to show him how much I loved him, how badly I needed him.
“Let me grab a little goody bag first.” Maddox led us out of his horde room and back into his bedroom, the dark wood-paneled walls shining from the sun that soaked the room. He grabbed a drawstring bag and went to his closet. I heard him shuffling around in there, but I couldn’t see what he grabbed.
“Ready,” he said. I contained my curiosity and followed him out into the hall. I could hear activity from somewhere below us, likely the living room. It sounded like Warrick and Robby were cracking up together. We walked in the opposite direction, Maddox leading me toward the back of the castle, where I rarely went. We passed an arcade, a study, a few bedrooms, and a second kitchen, reaching a secluded set of stairs that curved in a tight circle.
Maddox opened the door at the top of the stairs and allowed me to walk out first.
I sucked in a surprised breath, not expecting the blast of nature that suddenly surrounded me. We were standing on one of the turrets, but instead of being a landing spot for the dragons, this one had been converted into a floating jungle. There were trees that grew in a circle, creating a barrier of bark and leaves that blotted out any signs of ocean or mountains. Vines and ivy trailed off their branches, tickling the bushy ferns underneath them. There were beds of vibrant red roses, pots full of colorful and alien-like succulents, and a variety of orchids growing off the trees, opening their purple and pink and white petals out toward the sun. There were a few benches and a fountain in the center that provided a peaceful soundtrack to the private evergreen paradise. Underneath two of the trees was a comfortable-looking daybed, the clean white sheets tucked in and pressed so tightly that there wasn’t a single wrinkle, about a dozen green and yellow pillows inviting me to dive in headfirst.