Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 93425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
The center where Camilo has his shop is wildly generic. He shares a parking lot with a budget hair salon, a sporting goods store, and a chain coffee shop. If it weren’t for the discreet bodyguard, there would be nothing discernible about his shop. Hidden in plain sight.
Emma goes to release my hand so she can undo her seat buckle, but I don’t let go. When she turns to question me, I use the hand not holding hers to cup her face and move her mouth to meet mine. Her only reaction at first is a gasp that I swallow down greedily. She doesn’t resist me after that. Her mouth moves in time with mine, a little clumsy which speaks to her inexperience. She more than makes up for it in eagerness.
I meant it to be a chaste kiss but fuck, the little breathy moans and the way she struggles to keep up with me have my dick hardening in my pants. Her inexperience shouldn’t be a turn-on for me, but it’s like kissing that 18-year-old virgin in the garden all over again. After all this time, she’s still mine.
I nudge my nose against hers, encouraging her to tilt her head back. As she does, I move over her and deepen the kiss. My tongue slips past her lips effortlessly. She doesn’t fight me as I take control of the kiss. Little sighs and moans call from her mouth and steal each one away from her. I want those sounds ingrained in me. I want to hear them in my sleep.
My hand that has been cupping her face slips down to her throat. I rest there, my fingers and thumb a steady reminder. I don’t apply pressure, but I can tell the presence of my hand around her neck makes her wet. She squirms in her seat, those sounds coming out with renewed urgency.
Her surrender is intoxicating. I want to drink it down, consume every ounce.
Not here and not now. I’ve already had Emma fall apart for me in public once. The next time it happens, I want to see what noises I can pull out of her when she isn’t worried about anyone hearing her.
Her lips chase mine as I pull away from her. I don’t think she realizes the way she leans in, asking for more. There’s a dazed look in her eyes when they meet mine. It takes a minute to clear up. She’s kiss drunk off me. All of the invisible weight she carries around on her shoulders that she refuses to let anyone else help with melts away if only for a few moments.
If this is how she reacts to a kiss, I’m eager to reacquaint myself with a well-fucked Emma.
The change in Emma is instant. As soon as the kiss ends, I can see her retreating into herself. She pulls her lips into a tight line and the tension returns to her shoulders as she squares them up like she’s heading into battle.
“Is this the jeweler?” she asks as she eyes the entrance. Like I said, it doesn't look like much to a random passerby.
Instead of irritation, I can only feel amusement. She’s so determined to ignore the electric charge that exists between the two of us. If I hadn’t been a participant in the kiss, I would wonder if it ever happened at all.
“Yes, it is.”
I slide out of my seat and Emma doesn’t wait for me to open her door for her. I meet her as she walks towards the front of the car and slip my hand into hers once again. She hesitates for only a second before wrapping her fingers around mine.
Progress.
Emma might not realize it, but every day the walls surrounding her are starting to come down.
The entrance to the shop is barely larger than the single door that leads inside. On the outside, there is a little hanging sign that sticks out from the all-black wall that reads Camilo’s Custom Designs. As soon as we step inside, we are met by a guard who checks our IDs before ushering us through to the backroom, which opens up into a spacious showroom. It’s a bit like Mary Poppin’s bag, bigger on the inside.
Camilo doesn’t need the pizzazz to attract the attention of customers. His clientele is a small, elite group. People like my family who will pay an exorbitant amount of money for one-of-a-kind pieces with very little turnaround time. The lack of glamour does him well because jewelry is only one part of the business he takes part in. The discreteness of his business, as well as the large number of cash transactions, makes him an ideal sponsor for money laundering.
Emma gasps as she walks over to the display cases Camilo has set out. I roll my eyes. He only brings out the displays when he wants to upsell. For a ring appointment, there is no reason for him to set out necklaces and earrings, unless he intends on my new wife wearing them at whatever social events he assumes she’ll be attending.