Total pages in book: 150
Estimated words: 136791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
The stark need shining in his eyes has me licking my lips. My nipples harden, my traitorous body blooming for him.
A guttural groan breaks from his lips, and then he's on me, pinning me to the front door.
He's not the only guilty party here. Oh, God no.
I sink my fingers into his hair and climb his body, anchoring myself to him with my legs around his waist.
"Fuck," he curses, then his lips are on mine. He kisses me like a man possessed. There's nothing sweet or gentle about the way he takes my mouth. It's possessive, predatory, and so damn right.
This is what's been missing for the last seven years. Him and the intense feelings he sends hurtling through me like a comet. With his lips on mine, I'm finally, finally living again.
"Pretty little liar," he snarls. "You know you need me just as bad now as you always have. You've been starving for me, baby girl. I know you have. I see it in your eyes." His body is hard everywhere. He grinds me down on the obvious bulge in his jeans as he attacks my mouth, claiming it like he owns it…owns me.
I cry out against his lips, pleasure hitting me hard and fast. My fingers dance through his hair, tugging and pulling.
An inferno rages between us. Years of overwhelming need tears me apart as he kisses me so hard I know I'll remember the feel of his lips on mine for the rest of my life. This kiss is like none he's ever given me before. It's powerful, potent…and painted with the jagged pieces of who we used to be.
For the first time in years, I feel more like that girl than ever. I feel more like me than ever. With his lips on mine, the truth resounds in my soul. I'll never get over him. I'll never be ready to move on. And God help us both, but I don't want to be.
"Cade," I whisper, wiggling in his arms, desperate for friction where I need it most. Desperate for him. He's the only man who has ever touched me. I ache for him. God, I ache so fucking badly. "Cade, please. I need you."
His body goes taut at my desperate confession. His hands tighten on my ass for a split second before he pulls away. I cry out, hating how it feels when his big body no longer pins me to the door. When his lips break from mine. When he's no longer in my personal space, possessing it.
He slides me down his body until my feet touch the worn wood, then he releases me entirely.
He's breathing hard, his chest rising and falling like he just ran five miles. His eyes meet mine, his expression so severe that it steals my breath all over again. He's definitely all man now, grown up, and so damn powerful. It's honestly a little breathtaking to see him like this. With his hair all messed up, his cheeks flushed, and his eyes on fire, he's the sexiest thing I've ever seen in my life.
"Go inside, January," he rumbles when I lick my lips, savoring the taste of him on them.
"Cade, I–"
"Now!" he barks.
I jump at the loud crack of sound. Tears fill my eyes, rejection burning through me hot and fast.
His thunderous expression softens. He reaches out and tugs gently on a strand of my hair, exactly like he always did when we were kids, and he wanted to comfort me. The corner of his lip turns up in a sardonic half-smile. "I'm the last thing you need. I'll just fuck up your life all over again. It's the one thing I'm best at, little monster," he whispers before he turns and jogs down the steps.
"You were the only thing I ever needed," I whisper to his back.
He hesitates for a split second, pausing mid-step, then he shakes his head. "Maybe one day I'll be the kind of man you deserve, but I'm not him now, January. I'm still the monster at the end of this book. I always have been."
"You're wrong."
His heavy sigh speaks volumes, and each one of them shatters another little piece of my heart.
"Every goddamn day without you was wrong, baby girl," he whispers, his voice rough with pain. "That doesn't make this right. I already destroyed you once. I won't do it again now."
"You destroyed me when you left me, Cade. I never got over you. I waited for you to come back for seven fucking years. Maybe that doesn't mean anything to you, but it does to me. You've always been the only man I've ever wanted. You always will be," I say softly, and then I turn around and go inside because I'm not strong enough to listen to him reject me again.
Chapter Seven