Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101796 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101796 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
“Let go of me,” she growls, and I guess I’m supposed to be intimidated, but all it does is make me more determined to pull her in close. To smell her hair. To feel her tremble against me, the way she does when I wrap an arm around her waist to hold her in place. “Do you have a problem understanding English? I said to let me go.”
I don’t do anything unless I want to, and I don’t want to let her go. I would rather test the softness of her hair, the smoothness of her cheek. Her heart is fluttering like crazy, her pulse pounding in her throat when my fingers trail over her skin.
I’m looking at her, but all I can see is a girl getting pushed under the water, panicking, thinking she’s going to die. Right now, I would kill every last one of them while she watches, just to show her not everybody’s like that. Whoever the fuck they are, they don’t deserve to live.
Something stirs deep in me. I slide a finger under her chin, tipping her head back and holding it there so I can claim her mouth. She goes stiff at first, but that’s no surprise. I part her lips with my tongue and kiss her slowly, deeply, taking the time to indulge in her like I never have. She’s been through so much. I’ve added to it. Maybe this kiss is an apology. Maybe it’s my way of telling her I see her, all of her, when I can’t find the words.
With a soft sigh, she melts against me, her hands moving over my bare chest, sparking a fire that covers me in a heated flush. A low growl stirs in my throat, and she shivers as the kiss deepens, both of us breathing faster, something deep and needful urging me on. I don’t know what I’m doing. I only know I have to. It feels right—that’s the craziest part of all. I’m not doing it to embarrass her or control her. I’m doing it because I want to.
And she wants it, too, nails digging into my shoulders, her breathing quick and desperate. Her body is alive in my arms, moving against me, my hands gliding over the fabric of her dress and teasing the curves underneath. Fuck, she is so much more than she seemed, and I’m hungry to learn every inch of her. What else is hiding, waiting to be discovered?
I can’t help taking hold of her ass and gripping it, pulling her against my cock.
Which is exactly when she freaks, going stiff. The hands that were just clutching my shoulders like I was all she wanted now loosen, so she can press them against my chest like she wants to push me away. “No,” she mumbles, turning her face away from mine. “No. This isn’t happening.”
“Why the fuck not?” I ask while she shoves hard enough to catch me off guard and make me stumble backward. That’s her opportunity, and she takes it, breaking away from me, running into the house with her dress bunched up in her hands.
“Wait! Would you wait?” This isn’t me. I don’t chase women. They chase me—all I ever have to do is decide which one I’ll let catch me for a little while before I get bored. So why am I running through my house, just a little too slow to catch her?
She only speaks once, when she reaches the top of the stairs. “Just leave me alone, please!” I reach her bedroom in time to hear the lock click, closing her off from me.
I wish I knew why I can’t get her to give me a chance. To trust me a little.
I wish I knew why it matters so much.
SIXTEEN
Elliana
“Now remember. No funny business around here.” You would think Mom owns the house, the way she wags a finger in our faces while Paul finishes loading their luggage into the car he arranged to pick them up and take them to the airport.
“I think we can handle it.” I’m lying. I don’t have the first clue how we’re going to handle being alone in this house for two entire weeks while our parents frolic in Thailand. I don’t know what to expect from Carter.
After last night, I don’t know what to expect from myself, because there was a second or two when it seemed like a very good idea to let him do whatever he wanted, for as long as he wanted.
I wouldn’t be face-to-face with him now if it wasn’t for Mom shouting for me to come downstairs to say goodbye. I’m pretty sure they didn’t get home until around three o’clock this morning—Mom stumbled drunkenly in the hallway and woke me up with her laughter.
But nobody would ever know, looking at her now. I think she might still be drunk, actually, still riding high. She got what she wanted: the chance to show off in front of half the town and prove to them she’s just as good as they are.