Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 49441 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49441 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
As insane as that thought might be.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Roxy
My dreams got increasingly more salacious the longer I slept.
Even my subconscious mind wanted to pretend that the cold-skinned creature whose hands, lips, and tongue were sliding all over my overheated body wasn’t the moody, distant Nathaniel.
That was likely why, for the majority of the dreams, his face was, well, hidden. If you know what I mean.
But right at the end there, his head tilted up, his icy eyes heavy-lidded and hungry even after having already gorged himself on me, leaving my body humming with pleasure.
There was no mistaking him.
It was right then that I snapped awake, confused by the dark, confined space and the comfortably cool form beneath me.
It wasn’t that the coolness was new.
I may or may not have discovered a spell to keep my pillow cool no matter how long I slept back when I was a teenager, sweating in an un-airconditioned cabin while I spent my summers with my grandmother.
But this didn’t feel like my comfortingly familiar ‘boyfriend’ pillow. First, because of the complete lack of softness. Second, because the part of the ‘pillow’ that wrapped around me wasn’t just limply pressing against my body.
Oh, no.
It had wrapped me up.
Tight.
Suddenly, the fog of sleep drew backward with the first kiss of consciousness.
It all came rushing back.
The vampire in my kitchen.
The kidnapping.
The ‘arrangement.’
The break-in at the cathedral.
Then climbing back into the car with Nathaniel.
That was exactly where I still was.
But I was no longer safely on the other side of the car.
Oh, no.
In my sleep, I’d practically climbed onto the vampire’s lap.
That wasn’t exactly, you know, surprising.
It had been a long time since I’d had anything resembling human contact with someone else. Longer still since I’d been this close to a man. Let alone a frustratingly handsome one.
Of course my stupid unconscious self would want to climb him like a tree. In dreams and reality, it seemed.
What was surprising, though, was that he hadn’t pushed me away. That he had wrapped an arm around me, had decided to hold me tightly against him.
“You scooted over in your sleep,” Nathaniel’s voice, sounding deeper and sexier up close, told me when he realized I’d woken up.
“I, ah, yeah,” I said, forcing myself to pull away.
Not because it felt wrong.
But because it felt a little too right.
“I have a boyfriend pillow at home,” I said. “I was probably just… seeking that in sleep.”
“What is a boyfriend pillow?” he asked, that judgmental tone slipping back into his voice.
“A pillow that has one wide side, roughly the width of a person. Then a smaller part that goes behind your neck, and wraps around like an arm. It’s not like that,” I insisted at his raised brow.
“If you are seeking the comfort of a boyfriend, why not find a human one instead of a pillow form one?”
“I’m not seeking the comfort of a boyfriend,” I insisted. “I’m seeking a good night of sleep.”
“Which you get by having a boyfriend-shaped pillow. So one would conclude that a human boyfriend would give you the same benefit. Amongst others.”
“If you think human men have that many benefits, you haven’t spent enough time around them.”
“That… is likely fair,” he agreed.
“Is there a reason we aren’t on the plane yet?” I asked, my stomach letting out a small rumble.
What can I say? I didn’t leave my apartment much. Snacks were something I grazed on pretty much all day. And it had been hours since the Chinese food Nathaniel hadn’t even let me finish.
“No,” he said, biting off the word as he pushed open his door and slid outside. Then offered me his hand.
Okay.
The old-fashioned manners were definitely growing on me.
I mean, earlier this week, some guy at my apartment building had slammed the door in my face.
So, yeah, this was a nice change.
“I don’t need, like, a passport or anything?” I asked.
“Where do you think we are traveling?” he asked.
“You’ve been so forthcoming with details.”
“We are heading toward Washington State,” he said as he waited for me to start up the steps to the plane.
I’d been on a plane exactly once in my life. When I’d left my little town after my mother’s passing to move to the city.
And the cramped accommodations stuck between a hysterical baby who was letting everyone know how much her ears hurt and some guy who kept taking up my armrest and ramming his arm into me hadn’t exactly been luxurious.
This plane, though, made me consider my lack of ambition in life. Because this thing was stunning. I had the choice of bucket seats that reclined backward, a long bench that could easily be used as a makeshift bed, or a dinette area with two booths and a table.
There was even a small area that served as a kitchen, complete with a mini fridge and a coffee maker.