Total pages in book: 171
Estimated words: 159500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 798(@200wpm)___ 638(@250wpm)___ 532(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 159500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 798(@200wpm)___ 638(@250wpm)___ 532(@300wpm)
I’ve got no idea where he would have heard that, but it appears it’s not just the Butchers that make it their business to have spies. I clap twice, because yes, I’ve got that kind of lamp.
The room is flooded with the soft glow from above and I stare him down. Though it’s hard to keep my glare level when he looks so good in a white tank top and jeans that hang from his hips just right.
“I didn’t ignore you! I told you I have shit to do. I wouldn’t bail if it wasn’t important. I can’t be on my phone all day like some dick-thirsty schoolgirl. The bruise is nothing.” I shrug. “I got into a—” a fight with the bodyguard of the man who you can’t know anything about. “I can’t tell you. That was always the deal.”
“So you got it dealing with club business?” Road asks in a tense voice, but when I nod, his shoulders relax, and he rubs the ultra-short hair on his head. I love stroking it so much. “Fine. I thought maybe something happened.”
I frown. “And what would you do then? Come save me? Like I’m some damsel in distress? Do you not remember who I am?”
“What, you would rather I pissed on your grave?” Road throws back, taking another few steps. He’s still keeping his distance, but at least now there’s nothing separating us. And, of course he’s staring at the bruise, as if I were a child in need of coddling.
“I don’t care what you do when I’m dead anyway,” I say even though he’s starting to pull on my heart strings simply by his proximity. “Did you come here because you felt owed a day?” Okay. Harsh. But him being in my space is unnerving me and I don’t even know why it’s affecting me so much. Like the Road I met by the lake was some sexy, harmless version of him, and now the real thing is stepping into my life.
And then he’s next to me, shoving at my chest. “What is that supposed to mean?”
I push back. This I know. This I understand. “I said what I said! You’re not allowed to be here! How long have you even been in my house? We arrange meetings! So it’s safe. And separate. That’s the only way it works.”
“Then you should have told me not to worry,” Road barks in my face, his twisted features inches from mine.
Is he baiting me into a kiss, or is that my own greedy brain suggesting it?
I bump my forehead into his, unwilling to back down. “Why would you worry?”
His mouth opens, eyes widen as he spaces out, staring through me rather than at me. His scent is even more intense than usual, musky, spicy, dangerous, but the tingling in my toes has nothing to do with fear.
“I… don’t… I just don’t like being out of the loop,” he mutters in a softer voice, but when his gaze meets mine, I drown, and he leaps in after me.
My back clashes with the wall as our teeth collide, but his hands keep me afloat, digging into the flesh of my thighs.
Fuck.
I need to kick him out. I really do. We can’t be doing this here. It’s the exact slippery slope we were supposed to avoid. Meets at the lake were supposed to create a bubble for us. A different world in which who we are doesn’t matter.
I should push him away, but I only open my mouth wider for his tongue. He’s such a good kisser. It’s like he fucks me with his tongue. That’s all I want after the day I’ve had.
When he lifts my legs, I gasp in surprise, but instinctively wrap my arms around his neck. It’s madness. I’m still wearing my damn patches. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
But the way he smells? So right. My heart beats faster at this show of strength too. I’m no featherweight, and no one’s lifted me since… maybe my birthday a few years back. But I can hardly compare my brothers throwing me in the air a few times to the way Road holds me.
He’s intense, and hungry, and when his mouth descends my neck, leaving wet, lusty kisses, I find myself shuddering, because it’s that good. I’m not kicking him out and he knows it, the smug bastard.
“Fuck, I missed this,” he whispers, stepping away from the wall. My eyes shoot open as panic coils in my stomach, but while it’s evidently more difficult for him to keep me up without support, he’s still able to hold my weight.
I hug his head, rubbing my cheek against the soft fuzz on it. “Show off.” I secretly love it though. Him carrying me gives me a feeling of not having to be in charge for once, and after today, it’s like a weight lifted off my shoulders.