Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 157450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 787(@200wpm)___ 630(@250wpm)___ 525(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 787(@200wpm)___ 630(@250wpm)___ 525(@300wpm)
Shit.
I set her down immediately.
“Did I hurt you?”
“No,” she says, and I take her face between my palms, and she sobers, her eyes shining with love and maybe desire.
Alessia.
Leaning down, I kiss her. And what’s meant to be a gentle I-love-you kiss becomes something…other. She opens up like an exotic flower, kissing me back with a passion that’s staggering and I revel in all she has to give.
Her tongue in my mouth.
Her hands moving over my back and clutching at the material of my coat.
All the stress of this morning—the sight of her with those lowlifes, the fact that I might never have seen her again—all of that vanishes, and I pour my fears and my gratitude that she’s still with me into our kiss. When we come up for air, our breath mingles in a steamy fog in the cold around us, and her fingers are wrapped around the lapels of my coat.
Jensen sticks his muzzle into my thigh. Ignoring him, I lean back to look at Alessia’s dazed expression. “I think Jensen wants to join in.”
Her giggle is breathy, and it speaks directly to my groin.
“I also think we’re wearing too many clothes.” I rest my forehead on hers.
“Do you want to take them off?” She chews on her lip.
“Always.”
“I am warm. Too warm,” she whispers.
What?
I look down at her once more. My remark was flippant and meant to be amusing—not a come-on.
What is she saying?
“Oh, sweetheart, you’ve just been through a terrible ordeal.”
She lifts one shoulder in a “so what?” manner and averts her eyes.
“What are you telling me?” I ask.
“I think you know.”
“You want to go to bed?”
Her broad grin is all the encouragement I need, and against my better judgment I grab her hand. Beaming and giddy, we trot back to the house with the dogs in hot pursuit.
* * *
“This is my room.” Maxim stands aside for Alessia to enter. It’s a few doors down from the blue room where Danny had brought her earlier.
A magnificent four-poster dominates the dark green room. Made of the same highly polished wood as the piano, the bed is just as intricately carved. The flames in the fireplace cast flickering shadows over the carvings. Above the mantelpiece there’s a painting of the house and the surrounding countryside, and at the far end of the room stands an immense wardrobe in the same wood as the bed. On every wall are shelves covered in books and curios, but Alessia’s gaze is drawn to the nightstand where the little dragon night-light sits.
Maxim throws several more logs on the fire until it blazes. “Good. I’m glad someone had the foresight to light the fire.” Returning to stand in front of her, he points to a wicker basket perched on the ottoman at the end of the bed. “I’ve had your stuff brought here from the Hideout. I hope that’s okay.” His voice is low and soft, and his eyes glow. Intense. Growing larger and darker…full of his desire.
A tingle runs down Alessia’s spine.
“It’s okay,” she whispers.
“You’ve had a rough day.”
“I want to go to bed.” She remembers their kiss on the stairs. She would have taken his clothes off then and there if she’d had the nerve.
He strokes her face. “Maybe you’re still in shock.”
“I am,” she whispers. “I am shocked that you love me.”
“With all my heart,” Maxim says with real sincerity, but then he smiles and puts his arm around her. “And with this.” He tilts his pelvis forward so she can feel his erection against her hip. His eyes alive with carnal humor. She returns his smile as the fire in her belly ignites. She’s been longing to touch him—after all, he’s touched her everywhere, with his hands…with his lips…with his tongue, just as he promised. Her gaze moves to his mouth, his skilled and sensual mouth, and the flames in her belly lick higher.
“What do you want, beautiful?” The backs of his fingers stroke her face, and his eyes sear her soul. She’s wanted him since he said he loved her.
“I want you.” The words are barely audible.
He groans. “You never cease to surprise me.”
“Do you like surprises?”
“From you, very much.”
Alessia tugs at his white shirt until it slips out of the waistband of his jeans. “Are you going to undress me?” Maxim’s voice is hoarse, like he’s stopped breathing.
She eyes him from beneath her lashes. “Yes.” She can do this. And with brave but trembling fingers, she undoes the lowest of his shirt buttons. She glances up at him.
“Go on,” he coaxes, his tone soft and seductive.
Alessia hears the burgeoning excitement in his voice. It feeds her desire. She undoes the next one up, revealing the top button of his jeans and the line of hair that points to his lean abs. The next button reveals his navel and his honed stomach muscles. Maxim’s breathing alters. Rising. More rapid. The sound excites her, and her fingers fly up his shirt, unfastening it until it’s hanging loose and open, revealing his sun-kissed chest. She longs to lean forward and place her lips against his flesh.