Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 24205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 121(@200wpm)___ 97(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 121(@200wpm)___ 97(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
Almost of their own accord, they carried me to the edge of the bed where I sat, perching on the plush mattress. He took a moment to remove his costume jacket. As he did, the fitted black button down he wore underneath clung to his well-defined upper body.
Jesus.
Each ridge and curve of muscle betrayed a strength that was both visual and palpable. I tried not to, but I couldn’t help but compare him to my ex.
Liam was clean-cut, the perfect depiction of an Abercrombie model. His dirty blonde hair and soft green eyes seemed worlds away from the edgy and intense presence before me. Lucian’s entire aura was infinitely more captivating. It took effort to stop my visual assault. When I reluctantly lifted my gaze to meet his, the intensity I found there sent a blush crawling up my cheeks.
"Do you approve, Winny?" His voice was laced with amusement, the corners of his mouth tilting up in a teasing smirk I knew all too well. It was then I caught the glint of something metallic. A tongue piercing—another new development that I had overlooked, too captivated by the rest of him. The realization sparked a different kind of warmth to flood my cheeks.
“Your tongue,” I commented stupidly, groaning inwardly at how I was rapidly becoming one of the girls that lost all intelligence in front of beautiful men.
It was a new and unsettling territory for me, having always prided myself on keeping my wits about me.
“Do you like it?”
I hesitated, my eyes still locked on his full mouth, tracing over his jawline. “It suits you.”
“Good. I hope you like the others, too.”
“Other piercings?” I tried to keep my voice light, despite the tension in the air. I swept my gaze over him for the millionth time, head to toe. I couldn’t see anything, which meant they were somewhere beneath the clothes he still had on.
“Uh huh.” He watched me closely, clearly amused by my reaction.
A nervous laugh escaped me, cut short as he abruptly closed the distance between us. His nearness enveloped me in the subtle notes of his cologne, a scent that stirred the air and my senses simultaneously. He towered over me, his dominating presence making me feel tiny and vulnerable.
It was akin to a beast cornering its prey. Oddly enough, I didn't mind feeling trapped. Noticing where my thoughts were veering, I quickly sought to change the direction of the conversation. “So, what did you want to talk about?”
Instead of answering, he reached out and deftly lifted a strand of my silver hair, letting it slide between his fingers. “I like this shade on you,” he murmured, voice softer than before, causing my heart to race. “It makes your eyes stand out even more than they usually do.”
“Lucian...” My voice trailed off as the sound of Mara's laughter echoed from the other room.
His hand lowered, gently cupping my face, his thumb brushing over my cheek. “These eyes haunt me day and night.” He then ran his fingers down the length of my throat, making me swallow hard as tingles spread throughout my body. “I’ve always known you’re the prettiest girl in this town.”
I audibly scoffed at that. I knew I was pretty, but to say I was the best-looking girl in the entire town was a stretch.
“I’m serious. Even when you had those braces you made look like a rainbow, I thought you were too pretty for your own good," he confessed, his eyes never leaving mine. “But now, you’re fucking breathtaking, Winter.”
The weight of his words, combined with the softness of his touch, made my head spin. My breath caught, and the room around us seemed to blur. The way he was looking at me was almost tangible, a darkness that beckoned with an irresistible pull. It had always been there, lurking just beneath the surface. Now, it seemed more pronounced, more visceral. He was no longer hiding it, and some part of me reveled in the fact.
It transported me back to the very first time we met. His family had moved next door to mine, and in the span of six months he and I never spoke a word to one another. That all changed the day I accidentally kicked a soccer ball right into his face.
The impact was so forceful it bloodied his nose. Panic had seized me as I saw the blood streaming down, staining his T-shirt.
I leaped over the fence that separated our yards and raced over to stammer out apologies, clumsily trying to guide him to my house for first aid. Amidst the pain, and with blood all over his face, he looked at me with a boyish grin and said, “You know, you're really pretty.”
That moment had been the beginning of our friendship. We were practically attached at the hip from that day on. He had been a constant in my life, as fixed as the stars in the sky. Our families had been close too—as close as families could be without sharing a name.