Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 88580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
I let out a little laugh. “I could get away if I wanted.”
“What makes you think that?”
“You wouldn’t hurt me.”
“If it came down to hurting you a little to save your life, I’d make that hard choice.”
“Are you flirting with me?”
His smile broadens. “Yes. Always.”
I run my fingers down his arm as he shifts to face me. I don’t go closer—I want to dive into him, to press my lips to his, but I can’t. Not yet. “I want the truth. All of it. Everything.”
“Whatever you need, I’ll give you.”
“Was Tony really driving? Did he tell you to stay behind?”
“Yes, he was driving, and no, he didn’t.”
A strange relief floods me. I knew Tony’s story was bullshit, but I needed to hear that confirmed by Adler. He could be lying again, but I don’t think so.
“Then you really stayed behind to save my life. And you ruined a friendship because of me.”
“Yes, because of you, but also because of the man that Tony turned into. Back when I first met him, he was loud and obnoxious, but he would’ve done anything to help a friend. That person changed as he gained wealth and power in my family’s employ. The Oceanview was the end for him and the beginning of a new phase. He turned into a man I didn’t recognize any longer.”
“I’m sorry. That must’ve been hard.”
“It was like losing a brother. Actually, I would’ve rather have lost Con than Tony back then.”
“I can see how Con might not be the easiest person to have in your life.”
“My brothers mean well. They’re good men. Unlike Tony.” Adler’s fingers brush against my cheek. I shiver, nearly groan. I’m so pent-up I could scream. All my fear, all my rage, all the adrenaline, it’s swirling in my guts and pushing me toward this man. For better or worse. Probably much worse.
“How are we going to get out of this?” I whisper. “Tony’s not going to stop, and I can’t stay hidden in this apartment forever.”
“We’ll think of a way. There’s always a solution. A deal we can cut.”
“Then what? That contract we made isn’t real, right? You can’t really enforce it.”
“No, I can’t.”
“So I could leave you whenever.”
“If you wanted.”
“If I wanted,” I echo. The silence is heavy. It’s thick, and I stay inches from him, shaking with anticipation. “But what am I supposed to do with all this information? Keep working in your casino?”
“You’ll always have a place at the Sunrise, no matter what.”
“I doubt that. You don’t want your ex-wife running around.”
“I want you running around. I don’t care if you’re my ex-anything, so long as you’re still here.”
I touch his face. “You really mean that, don’t you?”
“Yes. I do.”
“You’re kind of crazy.”
“I’m aware.”
“It should freak me out.”
“Probably.”
“But it doesn’t. I mean, it does, but not that bad.”
“Good. I don’t want you to be scared.”
“What do you want? I mean really, what do you want?”
He doesn’t hesitate. “You.”
I lean forward. I kiss him, very softly on the lips. Tentative, not sure how I’ll react to his taste. Not sure if I should even be doing this.
But that soft kiss turns into another. And another. Until his hands are in my hair and my mouth is open and his tongue’s in my mouth, and I’m making a mistake, an obvious, stupid mistake, one I can’t stop making.
Chapter 35
Casey
He buries his mouth between my legs.
I can’t see what he’s doing but it’s absolutely incredible. His tongue, lips, hell, even his teeth drive me crazy, licking and sucking my clit. He slips his fingers deep inside of me, curling them, fucking me deep as he keeps licking me faster, lapping me up, making these beautiful and obscene sounds.
Moans tear up from my throat.
This is not what I expected. Not even remotely. But the moment I kissed him, I knew it had to happen—I knew there wasn’t any other way.
I needed this so badly it was a stone in my guts.
And now that stone’s eased into a pleasant glow, into a back-arching bliss. My fingers grip the sheets, then his hair, and he keeps licking and sucking me, wearing only a pair of boxer briefs, his muscular body on full display.
What a beautiful man. A freaking specimen. I can’t get enough of his chest, his stacked abs, even his body hair. Everything about him drives me wild, and it isn’t fair, I should hate him, but none of this makes sense and I’m sick of trying to force things to line up the way I think they should.
My life stopped being simple the day I was hit by that car.
The day I met Adler.
“I want to admit something,” he whispers, his fingers sliding in and out of my dripping pussy. God, I’m running down into his palm, I’m so soaked. “I used to think about you after work. I’d sit down, close my eyes, and picture you dealing cards at the table. Picture your hands working. And I’d get hard, nice and fucking hard, thinking about you. Then I’d think about kissing you. Undressing you. Tasting you, just like this, right on my casino floor. Does that make me a bad man?”