Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 125465 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 627(@200wpm)___ 502(@250wpm)___ 418(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125465 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 627(@200wpm)___ 502(@250wpm)___ 418(@300wpm)
His kiss is all-consuming, fire and gasoline igniting something deep inside me that I never knew existed. Slowly, he moves his hand beneath my skirt. There is no apprehension in his touch, though it’s gentler than I anticipated.
I’m panting with need, kissing him back with the same fever. With my legs already spread, I wait for him to touch my center, for him to discover how turned on I am and how badly I want this moment to happen.
Closer, his fingers are so close I can feel the heat of his touch searing through me. When he finally ghosts against my bare mound, I think I might die. Fuck. My heart is beating so fast, and I’m only slightly embarrassed about how wet I am.
It’s then a gasp rings out through the mostly quiet stairwell, and both Ren and I look at the same time in horror as another student peers at us around the corner. Slivers of light shine through a small window, and I can see a part of the girl’s face. Oh god. We’ve been caught, and someone is going to tell my father or, even worse, my brother. I can’t help but gasp, placing a hand over my mouth a moment later to stop myself from doing anything else stupid.
All I can do is stare at the girl, afraid of what might happen next. Ren turns away from me, his body like a shield.
Rage ripples out of him, and I can only hope he’ll find a way to keep this girl quiet until we can figure out what the hell we’re going to do.
“Run along,” he orders, his voice menacing.
It’s icy, and I’d be more than running if it was directed at me. I’d probably be peeing my pants. Then, as if she was never there, she disappears. The sound of her receding footsteps almost makes me sigh with relief.
Turning around, the man who burned with fire for me is gone. In his place stands the cold, statuesque person everyone else knows him to be.
“I think you should go back to your room.” His dismissive attitude irritates me to no end.
“I think we should finish what we started,” I coo, reaching for him.
Like lightning, he moves, taking my wrist into his hand while pulling it away. I tremble, afraid he’s going to tell me he’s done, that he doesn’t want anything else to do with me, but he doesn’t.
“Go back to your room where I know you’ll be safe for the night.” He takes my hand and brings it to his lips, placing a gentle kiss there. Butterflies take flight in my chest, and I forget all about the negative things I was thinking. Lifting his mouth from my hand, he continues, “I have to make sure our little peeping Tom doesn’t decide to tell anyone things she knows nothing about.”
I nod and let him lower my hand to my side. That’s what’s most important right now. If Quinton gets word of what we were doing, Ren might be right. I may not be able to talk my brother down.
And it won’t just be Ren’s funeral.
It’ll be mine as well.
3
REN
“I can’t do this.”
There, I said it. It’s weighed on me for weeks, ever since the attack on Aspen. I knew then it wouldn’t be enough, already aware of River’s full plan. There would be nothing more than a brief reprieve before he called upon me to take the next step.
He presses himself back in the chair, throwing his hands into the air in a gesture of hopelessness—but not surprise.
“I knew it. I knew you’d lose your balls.”
“Watch it,” I growl.
“I’m only speaking facts.” Rubbing his temples like he’s trying to ward off a headache, he groans angrily. Like he’s the one being put through hell.
“All I’m saying is, we need to rethink this. Evaluate the plan.”
“Is that the sort of bullshit they teach at Corium?” he taunts. “Fancy doubletalk?”
It isn’t easy to swallow back my irritation.
He’s only trying to get a rise out of you.
Somehow, even knowing that is not enough. “It’s the truth. When we laid out our plans, things were different.”
“Oh, were they?” He leans closer to his laptop, his face filling my screen while his sarcastic voice echoes through the room. Now his ire is clearer than ever, lit up by the glow from the light in my apartment.
His eyes appear black. Empty. Like a shark’s the moment it smells blood.
“Not to mention how risky this is,” I continue, deliberately avoiding the bait he’s dangling in front of me. “We barely got away with the attack on Aspen. Quinton is looking over his shoulder with every step he takes.”
“He’s not nearly as worried about himself as he is about his wife,” River counters. “He thinks it makes him heroic or some shit. So high up on his horse, he couldn’t imagine anyone ever trying to take a swipe at him.”