Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 62197 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 311(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62197 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 311(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
“Shakespeare,” I said instead.
“Yes?”
“I love you.”
Twenty
Noa
Not three words I’d anticipated hearing Ransom Carver say. Sure, he’d said he wanted forever, but even then, I hadn’t thought he’d say that he loved me. I was wired to believe he didn’t fall in love. He fucked. He enjoyed variety. Things he had told me so many times over the years that it was just who he was in my head. This version of him was foreign yet not. There was a familiarity to it.
“You love me,” I said softly as that sank in.
He nodded, grinning at me, as if my reaction was amusing. I probably looked stunned.
“You … that … this …” I stopped my stammering because finding the right words seemed important, but my head was reeling. As was my heart.
“Yes?” he replied as he watched me struggle to speak.
“I’m sorry. I just wasn’t expecting you to ever say that to me,” I said.
He held my chin between his thumb and forefinger. “Was it that shocking, Shakespeare? I’d just told you I wanted forever.”
I blinked. He was serious about this.
“A man doesn’t do the insane shit I’ve done because of you for a woman who doesn’t own him. You own me. You have for a while. It just took me some time to figure it out.”
Own him? Me?
“I feel like I’ve stepped into my own book,” I whispered.
He leaned down closer to me and winked. “How am I doing?”
“What?” I asked, confused.
“I know it’s not a luxurious overwater bungalow in the Maldives, but it’s the best I could do under the circumstances.”
Bungalow in the Maldives. That was where Draven, the hero in my first three books, had taken Hannah, the heroine, when he told her he loved her, then put the necklace around her neck. Ransom really had read all my books. That hadn’t been a joke.
“Are you telling me you’re trying to act like Draven?” I asked him.
He smirked. “I don’t have to try hard. The man looks like me, talks like me—eh, the majority of the time—and he has a thing for women in libraries. Pretty fucking similar already.”
I pressed my lips together to stifle my laugh, but it didn’t do much good. The bubble of laughter found its way past them anyway. I felt my cheeks warm. He had pieced all that together. My little fantasy that I’d written of another life. One where the gorgeous, sexy bad boy fell for the librarian.
His hand cupped my cheek. “Don’t go blushing now,” he teased. “I know all about your dirty fantasies with me. And I intend to play every one of them out. Then we can work on giving you some new inspiration.”
I licked my lips as my heart fluttered in my chest while his eyes drifted over my face.
“We can move on to the next chapter as soon as you finish your lines,” he said, stopping his gaze when it locked with mine.
“What lines?” I asked.
He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my cheek as one of his hands slid around to cup, then squeeze my butt. “The part where you tell me you love me, Shakespeare.”
A smile slid across my face as he began to inch the silky fabric of my dress up while peppering small kisses along my jawline.
“I didn’t know it was necessary,” I said breathlessly, arching my neck for him to continue on. “You read the books after all.”
He made a small growling noise. “Not the same. I need to hear you say it.” His fingers dug into the plump flesh of my bottom, causing me to yelp.
“’Draven wasn’t that rough,” I said.
“Not wanting to emulate him, Shakespeare. Just perfect him. He needed more edge,” Ransom said, then sank his teeth into the curve of my neck.
I wasn’t sure there was a time I hadn’t loved him. Even in my youth, he’d made my pulse race and stirred something inside me that no one else ever had. Perhaps our souls had known it before we did. That they belonged together. We had just needed to grow up, become the people we were today.
“I love you,” I said, causing him to still.
His head lifted, and his golden eyes met mine.
We stood there like that for several moments. Silence surrounding us. The outside noise faded away.
“I know, but, fuck, I like hearing you say it,” he finally said. Then his eyes darkened, and he lifted his chin slightly in the direction of the sitting area behind me. “Go grab the back of the sofa and stick out your juicy ass for me.”
This version of Ransom I was familiar with. Willing to do anything the man asked of me, I turned and went over to it and obeyed.
“Did he touch what’s mine?” he asked. His tone was hoarse and edged with something dangerous.
I shook my head. “No, I wasn’t with him. That’s one of Jellie’s brothers. He was just here so I wouldn’t be a third wheel. Jellie had asked him to come. Not me.”