Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 73042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
“Break the date,” I tell her.
I hear the tone of my voice. I hear the command. I have no right to make this demand of her, but I do it anyway. It just kind of pops out.
“I’m not sure I can,” she says. “You see, he’s the attorney who’s helping me with my nonprofit. And if I break the date…”
“Break it,” I command again.
“I…”
“Look. You have an excuse built right in. You shouldn’t be dating him because you’re working together on your nonprofit.” I look her straight into her beautiful brown eyes. “Break it,” I say through gritted teeth.
Her lips part, and she lets out a tiny gasp.
I slide my hand over the apple of her cheek. God, her skin is like silk. “I’m not kidding, Raven. Break that date.”
“I don’t know…” She draws in a breath. “What do you want from me, Vinnie?”
I lean in and growl into her ear, “I want everything. I want to kiss those lips until they bleed, Raven.”
She gasps again at those words.
Frankly, I’m not even sure where they came from.
How can I want a woman this much? I had plenty of sex overseas. More than most men have during their whole lives. My share of women and even one man. I’ve had threesomes and foursomes. I’ve had lovemaking sessions that lasted days.
I was only celibate during my time at the Buddhist temple.
The rest of the time?
If I had an offer of sex, I took it. And I had a lot of offers. European women loved me.
But now?
All I want is this woman. This woman who I should leave alone. Who I shouldn’t drag into my life.
My grandfather told me to end the life of this beautiful woman.
I refused, of course. Who could even think of such evil? Of taking this glorious life away from the world?
But that’s what I’m dealing with. Evil. Pure evil.
And I can’t drag Raven into any of that.
So I’m going to walk away.
I’m going to walk to my car and drive away.
I take a step to do so, but Raven grabs me, pulls me into her embrace, threads her fingers through my hair, and brings her lips to mine.
19
RAVEN
It’s been years since I’ve kissed a man.
Years since I’ve wanted to.
When you’re sick, the last thing on your mind is kissing and sex. All you can think about is getting better, and you’re willing to give up anything—and I mean anything—to make it happen.
You make deals with God. With whatever higher power you believe in. You make promises. Promises you’ll never be able to keep.
You leverage everything you can, anything in the world to get better.
To not leave this earth.
To not die.
And now I’m kissing this man.
The most gorgeous man I’ve ever laid eyes on. A man who could have any woman. Women with hair.
My hair will grow back. It’s already well on its way. This morning I saw the beginnings of my eyelashes and eyebrows in the mirror.
I’ll even be happy to see my pubic hair.
All those hairs I used to pluck out, shave, trim—everything I hated, everything that made me feel like the link between man and the ape.
Now I look at that hair in a totally different way.
Vinnie’s lips are so soft, yet they kiss me with a hardness I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced. But not hardness in a bad way. In his kiss, I feel how he wants me. How he’s attracted to me.
And it’s crazy, you know? Crazy that he would want me.
But he does.
And I love the feeling. I love the feeling of being beautiful again. I may not be beautiful to myself when I look in the mirror, but I’m beautiful to Vinnie. Why would he be kissing me otherwise?
He slides his tongue farther into my mouth, and my God, he has a big tongue. I swear he’s searching every corner of my mouth, and I’m loving every minute of it. I twirl my tongue with his, desperately seeking something.
Something…
And I know what it is.
I know what it is because my nipples are hard. My pussy is throbbing. My legs are weak, my knees unsteady.
I remember this feeling.
And damn…
I was ready to give everything up so I could live.
But who can live without this feeling? This incredible feeling of the meeting of two hearts and souls?
Or at least of two bodies.
I’m not sure his heart is involved, even if mine may be.
The kiss lingers, and my God, I don’t want it to end. I want it only to go on. I want it to lead to the inevitable. Vinnie sliding his lips over every part of my body, Vinnie’s cock inside me.
I slide my fingers over his broad shoulders, down his sides, over his hips, and then to the front of him, where I—
He jerks backward.
“We can’t go there,” he says.
My hand is still on his crotch. On the giant bulge that proves how much he wants me.